(day 6) lunch snacks

After the Arasta Bazaar I was feeling pretty hungry, as I hadn't eaten all day. I went off in search of a toastie (they're called tostu in Turkish, so I think of them in my head as toasties, even though that's not a real word), those flat panini sandwich things. They sell them out of kiosks (along with other sandwich and fast foods) for just like $1.50 and they look super good.

On my way I was waylaid by this cafe/kiosk selling fresh squeezed juice. Turkish people really do love fresh fruits and vegetables. You can find fresh squeezed juice being sold everywhere, and for really cheap too! I sprung for the pomegranate, which was expensive at 10TL = $3.50, but the orange juice is just $1. Pomegranate juice is alright but has a slightly acrid/bitter after taste that I don't like.

Instead of getting a tostu, I decided to try a simit. There are lots of little food carts around the streets, and most say "simit" on them. A simit looks something like a bagel, it's a round circle of bread with a hole in the middle, and sprinkled with poppyseed, usually priced at ~1 TL = 25 cents.

This is a simit cart. They sell various other kinds of breads too, usually very simple, not pastries with filling inside, just bread.

Ok I changed my mind last minute. I wanted to try a simit because it seems like such a ubiquitous food around here, but looking at it again I just didn't want it. It looks to plain and bland.

So I opted for this guy instead, though he was more expensive at 3 TL. I was like yum! Cinnamon bread!

No. :< Bland. Barely any sugar or flavor. I ate it anyway so I didn't waste but it was disappointing.

There are tons of tiny food stands everywhere in Istanbul, kind of like Taiwan, but unlike Taiwan they all seem to sell the same few things. There are simit carts, chestnut carts, mussel carts, and carts selling boiled corn. This one looks like a corn + chestnut hybrid.

There are other quick food options, like tostu, but those are usually sold in more permanent looking kiosks.