Breakfast @ Filozof

Turkey has a very strong breakfast culture. Cafés, bistros, and other venues that specialize in breakfast abound in cities, towns, and villages all over Turkey. So, when we’re visiting family, we’re always up for going to one of these places for breakfast.

At Aylin’s suggestion, today we went to Bostanlı to have breakfast at Filozof, a breakfast place they had enjoyed previously. The place is small … with a quaint decor that includes a mural of well known philosophers and scientists, and a two-story high bookcase filled with books that you can actually pull off the shelf to peruse.

Since Murat’s car won’t accommodate six people, Deniz, Mui, and I took the ferry from Pasaport to Bostanlı. While there is direct service on weekdays, none is available on weekends. No matter. The stops in between — in Alsancak and Karşıyaka — are just long enough for passengers to get off/on, so they didn’t add much time to the trip across the bay.

Once we disembarked at the Bostanlı Ferry Terminal, it was just a short walk to Filozof. Aylin, Murat, and mom, who drove over from Alsancak, were right behind us. We were also joined by my nephew, Hakan, who’s a bachelor this week while Serenay visits family in Bursa. Some of us ordered the “serpme kahvaltı” [think a private buffet of small breakfast dishes]; Deniz and Mui ordered sucuklu göz yumurta [fried eggs over easy with Turkish Sucuk; I ordered pişi [a deep fried dough not unlike fry bread] with cheese. All good … all tasty.

After breakfast, we decided to check out the Hatay Culture Festival a few blocks away … heavy emphasis on the foods from Antakya, the alternate name by which the Province of Hatay is known … though there were a number of other towns from around Turkey represented as well. Our timing was good as there were very few people in the venue … which is normally used for the weekly farmer’s market on Wednesdays.

We wrapped up with tea … which Hakan hosted at their apartment.Read more