(day 2) lunch!

I was pretty hungry and thirsty after seeing the Basilica Cistern, so I walked to a nearby restaurant Sultanahmet Koftecisi Selim Usta, which I had read about in a guidebook, for lunch.

A köftecisi is a place that sells köfte, which gets described as a Turkish meatball.

The summer salad, which was really light and refreshing. So far it seems like Turkish cooking uses really fresh ingredients, I think I've had fresh, ripe tomatoes with every meal so far. It was only 5TL = $1.70, and it was really very good.

This is the köfte, served with some pickled peppers (taste just like pepperoncini but shaped differently), I don't remember what they're called. I think this dish was maybe 18TL = $6. I think the meat is ground and then grilled, so it has the texture of meatball, but not so crumbly, since it's grilled.

In search of dessert, I found this display of beautiful cakes and puddings...

Closeup.

But in the end I found what I was looking for, dondurma (Turkish ice cream)! No, there was no trollish man, and no, I was not made to look like a fool :< maybe next time. It was delicious though, kind of like gelato, but has a sticky quality to it. 3 scoops was a medium, 9TL = $3USD.

After this I was getting a bit tired (jet lag...) and honestly I was getting quite fed up with being hassled and heckled constantly by people trying to sell me things or bring me to their restaurant, so I decided to head back to the hostel. With the intention of going back out, of course, but I ended up passing out until nighttime. With no prospects of finding food outside, I went up to the rooftop terrace and they made me a really delicious pasta. Stayed up late reading a book and hanging out with other travelers.

Days survived = 1.

Bombs encountered = 0.

Times hassled = 15+.

Annoyance level = 8.5.

2+2 = 4.