On a rainy day in Istanbul, I was walking across Galata Bridge when I noticed a few very colorful boats by the pier:
As you can see from the picture, it was pouring rain, pretty cold and I was just uncomfortable. Although Carrie said, “I bet those fish sandwiches are some goooooood eats,” I wasn’t inclined to hang out in the rain testing the theory. I dragged her off for some more shopping and sightseeing.
A few hours later, I was pretty hungry, having only had a slice of bread in the morning. As we were making our way back across the bridge, I saw a small crowd surrounding the boat on the far left. We could smell the wonderful aromas coming off the boats, with a lot of men munching in great satisfaction on the sandwiches [I have no idea where the women are in this town]. We decided there was nothing ventured by NOT trying these sandwiches, so we hunkered down to mini tables & chairs that I haven’t sat in since pre-school.
But oh…when I sat down with the warm sandwich in my hand seeing the puffs of steam coming out into the cold air, I took a deep breath. Crisp white onions and green leaf lettuce snuggled the juicy white fish all tucked safely into the soft bun surrounded with a crisp crust. After adding a little sea salt & lemon juice, it was the perfect sandwich on a cold day.
Here’s a short video on how crazy rockin’ the boat was that day – I was getting sick just watching it…Note that at the 18th second, I pan AWAY from the guy who leans over with a sharp knife to cut the sandwich in half as the boat rocks wildly. No fingers were lost during the taping of this short clip.
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I’ll put this on my list of must-eats. I’m planning to visit Istanbul in the near future, probably when it’s cold too.
it was fantastic – i think all those boats are great, whichever one you choose!
If you’d have gone across the bridge to the fish market, you could have sat on dry land – without the rocking. 🙂 We love the fish sandwiches in Istanbul. It was the first thing we ate when we arrived there recently.
Julia
oh, yes!! i did go!!! I wanted to have some fried fish but it was raining too much – the seating area was soaked! 🙁
I love the idea of getting a fish sandwich from a rocking boat, sounds like a fun adventure.
Yum- I love fish sandwiches, especially in Florida.. .but I can’t say that I’ve ever had them actually on a boat?!
the miniature chairs and tables are so cute… i can only imagine “plus” sized people dining (hilarious!) but if i have the picturesque turkey in my background? i wouldn’t mind at all.
Yum! Sad we missed out on these when we were there…
Wow! That sandwich has a lot of onions o_O It is interesting to see how they cook on the boats and not get sea sick. x_X eek I agree, I felt sea sick just watching the video too..
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