Turkey Street Food | CZN Burak Restaurant | Old Istanbul & Taksim Square | Kebabs, Doner

 Turkey's beautiful city, Istanbul!

It's so beautiful that I can't even begin to describe it!

It's a fascinating city.

And Turkey has a really rich history.

It was the home of the Ottoman Empire till 1923.

And in 1923 it became the Republic of Turkey.

It has an awesome heritage, culture, it's streets and views.

And of course, their street food! Their doner and seekh kababs.

Their seafood and breakfasts are also very renowned.

We'll explore quite a lot of things in this trip, Insha'Allah.

But I'm not alone as I also have my friends Adeel, Ahad and Sabir!

We'll have breakfast right now, then head for the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

Try the local food, and share it with you! So let's go (#Chalain)!

Breakfast's in the basement.

They're making our breakfast.

Quite a lot of olives they've got.

Many types of cheese too.

Some veggies.

Thank you.

So I brought my breakfast upstairs.

Restaurants here usually have breakfast included in their packages.

They told us that these are the traditional items of Turkish breakfasts.

There are quite a lot of vegetables here too.

They have a lot of varieties of cheese in their breakfasts too.

We also have some olives and yoghurt.

And here we have some bread, a boiled egg and jam.

A rather large cake slice here too.

And then some scrambled eggs with potatoes and sausages.

Tea and coffee of excellent qualities are also available.

All these items are pretty healthy and this is what I like about Turkey.

And in other middle-eastern nations is the have olives in their diet.

And salad too is realy healthy for you.

Should we leave (chalain)?

Yep!

We've left for sightseeing.

And these streets make you want to stop and start taking pics immediately.

Everything is maintained so beautifully.

And everything looks so artistic as if someone.

Has literally measured and weighed every brick before laying it.

And the entire city looks this way, awesome!

What is this column about?

Something written here.

So there are three columns here.

There's two there and one over there.

This short one was built in 500 B.C.

And these date back to the times of the Roman and Persian Empires.

They all have their unique history that you can read up on Google.

I too didn't about these either, and I'll read up on them Insha'Allah.

The history here I simply cannot summarise in like four sentences!

This one, for example, has hieroglyphs engraved on it.

And all of them are really ancient.

A few shops here too.

You'll see a lot of these corn and hazlenut stalls here.

Kinda like our corn sellers back in Pakistan.

They pack these hazelnuts like this.

These are grilled.

It's like corn, a bit sweet.

Tastes nice when warm!

That over there is the Aya Sofia.

And that's the Blue Mosque.

The massive and gigantic Blue Mosque is in front of us!

I had seen it until today only in pictures.

Let's head in and see it from the inside!

After getting inside, we got to know that the mosque built in 1616.

Known as Sultan Ahmad Mosque, AKA the Blue Mosque.

IS mostly closed-off because of renovation purposes.

Therefore, we prayed Dhuhr and headed out.

These bread stalls are also a fairly-common sight just like the corn ones.

They also have cakes here of many types.

Cream and nutella are also applied to them.

And these are pretty famous.

Very hot very fresh, and with nutella?

Okay this one does.

So this one has nutella and that one doesn't.

One with Nutella.

This is simet!

Long live Pakistan! Long live Pakistan!

Your welcome!

Thank you thank you.

This cosst 6 Lira with nutella and 2.5 Lira without nutella.

Let's taste it!

I think we should also try the plain one that's fresh.

This one's a bit hard for me.

But if you have your family and kids with you then they will love it.

Its nice, this is traditional Turk street food.

People love it and there's nothing wrong with trying it!

Istanbul's old name was Constantinople.

This city has been a hub of religion, culture and power for the last 2500 years.

Completed in 1637, this architectural marvel has had a significant cultural impact.

It first was used as a church.

But in 1453 after Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror conquered the city.

Turned it into a mosque.

It was made a museum by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after the creation of the Turkish Republic.

But the current Turk President Erdogan made it a mosque again in 2020.

So we visited the Aya Sofia, and we're leaving now for Doner Kabab of...

...Asim Ustad.

And if you don't try that, that you didn't eat anything!

But how will we get there?

We'll go in a tram from there.

Okay.

It's right next to Aya Sofia, we'll change trams later.

We'll use two trams, and be there in the next 25 minutes.

So we've checked all of this on Google that he's told us!

Two trams will get us there, the metro system's great.

We got our metro cards created yesterday, so let's go (Chalain)!

Chalain!

Its about 4 PM and we've been out since early morning, we're pretty hungry.

This is basically a fairly long food street.

With different types of cuisines.

How are you?

My name's Murat.Where you from?

Sorry?

Which country are you from?Pakistan!

Pakistan.

We're from Pakistan!Okay!

What's this?

Kokrich. Kokrich?

What is it made of? Organs?

Lamb?Lamb!

We're out to eat Doner Kabab and saw this small seafood market.

Some vegetables here too.

Pretty good place.

All these vegetables are fresh.

Awesome.

This is it, Karadeniz Doner.

And that's the famous doner kabab uncle!

Assalam-u-Alaikum, can I come in?

Assalam-u-Alaikum, how are you?

Assalam-u-Alaikum

How are you?

Good good.

Okay.We're from Pakistan!Oh wow!

Is it finished?

Yeah, about 5 of these have already been finished.

Wow really?

You'll find cafes and restaurants in this entire area.

Pretty lively area, and that doner is the most famous!

This meat chunk is huge at 10 AM which gets sold out by the evening.

We got here a bit late as we were sightseeing.

We've ordered just right now, let's see the taste.

Uncle here makes it all by himself, his doner is pretty old here.

He's obviously pretty busy right now.

Even though its almost the end, there's still a queue here.

And in the afternoon you'll see even more people here.

Awesome.

So we finally have it.

I've ordered it in a sandwich.

Let's taste it, bismillah-ir-rahman-ir-raheem.

Pretty good.

The meat here is basically made in its own fat.

There's also some salt and maybe some spice in there too.

The real flavor is of the meat.

A few tomatoes and pickles in there as well.

Not that spicy, which is how Turkish cuisine is.

I've ordered this in a traditional Turkish bread.

Getting all that authentic flavor.

Pretty good.

Another doner here.

This is of chicken.

Quite a few people here as well.

How are you?

Fine, you?

This chicken doner is ahead of the last one where we were.

Their method is very interesting.

Because it has sauces, fries and much more.

Let's taste it.

Right from the get-go do you get an awesome spicy flavor.

Chicken's also marinated.

Both are good in their own right but there's a long queue on that one.

I believe the locals like that one much more.

But if we compare them then I liked this one more.

You may compare them both to whenever you come here.

Which one are you getting?

They have pineapple as well as pomegranate.

Just got this juice that looks very different.

Its because it has pomegranates, grapefruit and ginger.

It got dark by the time we got to our hotel.

Where we rested and now we're at Taksim Square.

And it won't be wrong if you called this place "the Heart of Istanbul".

It's like the Times Square of NYC.

Its pretty famous.

This monument is also really ancient.

There are many restuarants and cafes all around it.

Istanbul's tram also starts from here, Istiklal Street is up-ahead.

That's where we're going, that place has its own unique vibe.

Awesome restaurants there and I'm fairly hungry too.

It's 11:30 PM, let's see all of it and share it all with you!

Chalain!

You'll come across this stall quite often here.

No matter the time or place, you'll see it everywhere!

Istiklal Street starts here and goes there, as far as I can see.

Many awesome items here.

Pahlivan Lokantasi.

Check this.

Assalam-u-Alaikum.

Walaikum-as-Salam!

Are you an Arab? Pakistani!

Okay!

Very nice!

What are these can you tell me?

That's kabab, that's rice.

That's lamb?

Yes.

Okay.

What is this called?

Bostan Kabab.

Bostan Kabab?

Yes.

Eggplant inside meat and vegetables.

One of this and one chicken.

This is seni?

Seni means tray!

Shafiq Ustad!

Pehlivan is owned by Shafiq!

Chicken?

Yes please.

Thank you very much!

So we have the chicken here.

With some rice.

Let's taste it.

Really soft meat!

Breaks the moment you touch it.

Too good!

I couldn't get the name of this kabab but it looked nice.

It has cheese on top, meat below, and vegetables in the middle.

Different types of veggies in here, eggplants, tomatoes etc.

Smells good too.

Thick layer of cheese and the veggies taste great with the meat.

Best to eat it with bread as with the vegetables it's got a bit liquid.

A unique but awesome item.

Thank you!

Let's move!

Istiklal Street has its own unique vibe.

Turk flags are all over here.

The buildings have beautiful lighting.

It's packed with tourists.

Fantastic!

Turkey has two famous chefs, Nusret and CZN Burak.

They're also internet sensations.

I've been following CZN for quite a while who makes videos while smiling.

His recipes are really entertaining.This is his restaurant.

To come to Istanbul and not eat here would be almost like injustice.

Let's see what do they have in store?

Tons of pictures of celebrities are on both sides.

All throughout the stairway!

Check this!

This looks like our Pakistan's Afghani Roti's Turk version!

Salads are a key part of their diet.

This is the kitchen and BBQ and the rest are going on inside.

I asked them and obviously we can't go inside.

Interesting scenes, let's see what do we order?

There's a video of CZN there.

Everything is made there, then comes here, and then gets served.

Damn!

Putting out the fire now.

Very nice.

Meat that's stuffed within!

Very nice. 

Once more? 

I think this was a birthday celebration.

This is our first dish, the kabab, and the second is this.

Okay! 

Very nice!

Dinner's here, their menu is pvery rich.

Both in terms of menu and prices.

As these restaurants, Nusret and this one are on the expensive end.

We've ordered these two dishes.

This one costs 250 Lira.

The other one is of course the kabab.

This is of 210 Lira.

Then there are the rotis/bread that we saw in the kitchen.

Sabir, please have some!

Thank you.

I'll try these kabab first.

Really warm, bismillah-ir-rahman-ir-raheem.

Fabulous taste! 

Fantastic! 

Really awesome tikkas.

But the taste, the marination, the serving with the sauces.

Is just right!

And this is the kabab.

Seekh kabab more or less.

As this is all lamb, the fat of that meat has emulsified it.

Kababs are made of a coarsely-grounded mince meat.

Its not thinly-grounded.

Which is making the texture of the meat very good.

And the taste is excellent.

Awesome.

No doubt, this is hella awesome food!

We've tried a lot throughout the day but this meal is

Undoubtedly is this. Excellent!

Let's try this dish with its own bread.

Very warm, looking very scrumptious.

Its good!

This is good too but hadn't we had the kabab earlier.

Then this would have tasted even better.

As the bread's flavor can be felt in the rest of the meat.

But the kabab and the meat no doubt are just too good!

Awesome.

Oh damn! Thank you This is great!

Thank you! Tight! 

Too good! How much is this?

Four ice creams? 

Yes.120/.30 Lira each? Thank you!