Exploring the Flavors of Izmir's Street Food

So today we are in Esmir, a lesser known city here in Turkey but still the third most populated city in the entire country. So come along with us while we explore and of course eat our way through Esmir because eating is traveling. So we just made it to Kanak Square, the most famous square here in the city of Esmir and it's mainly because of this clock tower which was built in the early 1900s. It was a gift to the sultan of the time presented from the German emperor to celebrate the sultan's 25th years of reigning on this region of the world and it is 25 meters tall because of this 25 years of reigning. So behind me you can actually feed the pigeons too. There's like two stations where you can buy some birdseed or corn I think it is and yeah if you like birds come feed the pigeons. But first in Canada pigeons are more like flying rats so I don't feel like I need to feed them. For our first food stop we are stopping at Al Sankak Dostlar Firini. Sorry for the pronunciation it's probably all over the place but we're going there for a boyoz and what is a boyoz? Boyozi. So I'm not gonna lie we couldn't make up our mind we were only supposed to get two we ended up getting three. So we have an original, we have a mozzarella and a chocolate and then of course two tea. So the boyoz is originally a Jewish pastry that over the years became synonymous with Izmir. What it is? Well it is basically just flour, sunflower oil and tahini mixed together. The plain one is the most popular one but we had to you know like Tracy said we couldn't make up our mind so we picked three. That's very nice and flaky. That's perfect. Inside they had probably almost like 20 different types of I say flavors but there's everything from too sweet so yeah there's definitely ones that you are going to love. It's like a croissant but on steroids. It's so much better. So much more chocolate than I was expecting. Take that chocolate tea. So I'm sure you can get these all day especially in a place like this where they specialize in those they actually make them fresh every single day in the back of the restaurant but people normally eat those for breakfast and well it's not even 11 so it's still breakfast time. These were so good and so fresh. They're still warm even when we got them. So now we're off to the next spot which is something that I've been waiting to try. These are called Bombay and the best place to have them is here at Sellybee. They have over almost 13,000 reviews at 4.5 out of 5 which is absolutely amazing. Let's eat a Bombay. Let's go. It is so good. It is so rich. For me who loves a sweet tooth to call it rich. Wow. There's literally more filling than envelope around it. Like it is so much chocolate but it's good chocolate. It's like Nutella but better. Of course you couldn't just get one right. We also have a caramel one and this one I picked just because it was original. Basically it's the same thing but inside instead of chocolate it is peanuts and tahini. Wow we thought the chocolate one was rich. Just wait. So what I'm learning is like I've had tahini in the past which is more like a sesame seed paste but your brain really thinks it tastes like peanut butter. By adding a little bit of peanuts in here I just feel like I'm eating crunchy natural peanut butter. It's very good though. It looks like it's like lined with chocolate on the inside or something. Not what I expected but so good. It's good but it's my least favorite out of this. You know in all our Turkey video I'm always talking about the dogs that are everywhere but it's not just in the streets. No no no. In the stores too. Hi buddy. So we're coming up to the historic elevator and the street that leads up to it is super cute. So welcome to the Izmir historical elevator and I know an elevator doesn't sound that special but this one was built in 1907 and back in the early 1900s building an elevator like that was quite an achievement and the purpose of this it was to skip the 155 step that joined this neighborhood to the upper neighborhood. So now even in 2024 people are actually taking the elevators not just for tours people are actually taking it to like switch neighborhoods. So we just made it at the top of the elevator and there's a few cafes and restaurants and shops and whatever but the view that you get is beautiful I mean it looks like a drone shot. So we still have more things to do however life duty calls we need to go change our laundry because we finally have a laundry machine after about 18 days so that's needed but yeah so let me go back and show you our apartment but first let's climb some stairs. Talking about apartment hotels and places where we stay did you know that in the link down below in the description you can see all the places that we've stayed at around the world. If we like that place it's on the list so you just click on the country and you'll see them you'll be able to book them directly on booking.com at the best price and this is no exception we really like this place it is in the best location. Agreed but I think the most important part of that is like when you book that yes we do get a small permission but it is no extra fee to you. It supports us and it makes you Welcome to our little home away from home. Welcome to our I think we call it like a stone apartment it is perfect and everything we need for staying here. We have a bathroom in here with a washer that has been getting a lot of good use of it and then we have our bedroom in here bedroom everything we need but we've been staying in small hotel rooms and there's nothing wrong with that but I just have to say it is nice to have some extra space so you're not walking over top of everything that we have put on the ground because that happens. So we have a living area here coach David's been working there we have a tv and then in here so we can cook ourselves some yummy food when we're off camera. This is our little kitchen so again location ac washer everything you need it is pretty affordable especially for the area here so for now now the laundry's changed we're gonna go back up. So while in Izmir for sure go walk along the water and the bazaar and the public squares it is beautiful so unique but don't forget to come in the upper neighborhood and see like how do people live it is very interesting because there's a very very high concentration of people it's mainly like apartment complex and stuff in the street which are very old some are colorful it's very beautiful but it's also super cool to see like all the little hole-in-the-wall restaurants and tailor and shoe shop and all these things you know that like people living here they go to the same few stores every single day to get what they need and everything and it's just I don't know I feel like there's a big sense of community here. So we are now entering the Kameralty Bazaar one of the oldest bazaar in the entire world it was built over 2,400 years ago as thousands of store and you can literally found everything you want here from like jewelry to little souvenir to a lot of food we're looking for food right now but yeah it is a place that you cannot miss if you come here to Izmir. So we just entered a beautiful nut store which is completely nuts yes pun intended but we're definitely gonna buy some stuff like it is super nice thank you very much is it good I just got invited to try some Turkish coffee it's very very strong and it's fresh so it's gonna be very hot oh wow that is strong but is it good it is it's a very different flavor of coffee that I haven't had before let's just say it that way it tastes like thick coffee you guys know I don't like coffee and this is a strong one according to Tracy so it's not gonna be good but if it's part of the experience I always try it oh wow that is strong and yeah the taste is different yeah it's like as strong as like Ethiopian coffee but with a different taste that is definitely the place for like dried fruit and nuts I really wanted some of their avocados but they're a little more than I wanted to spend but I'm sure they would have been great on top of that they just keep feeding you when you're in the lines and stuff they keep passing you like Turkish delights we got free coffee like generous business ploy because you try them you taste them you buy them so our next food spot is inside the bazaar it's called Koftesi and basically we are here for a true Izmir kofte which is basically a spiced burger party with some tomatoes and other vegetables and stuff hopefully it's not too too spicy because in this part of the world when they say spicy it's normally very spicy but it is one of the most popular dish here in Izmir so we have to try we love these types of authentic restaurants because there's no menu at all there's seven menu items they're just all up on the wall below the name of the restaurant and you just point and you just get that that's it to be very honest I'm not sure how to eat it am I supposed to eat it like as a burger or like as a sandwich maybe that's pretty good not as good as Tracy's kebab but it's very very nice so the kofte is definitely their specialty dish and I'm looking around like how other people eat it and I think I'm fine people seem to be eating like a little bit of onion and like the sides and putting like the meatballs on the bread I think I'm eating it the right way but it's really really nice Tracy the kebab is still good oh my gosh it's amazing I think this is my favorite one yet it was super cool so definitely a little family restaurant the guy who served us was showing literally photos of him in black and white on the wall of the restaurant that was him as a kid when he was like coming to like help his dad with the business so it's super cool something that you have to get when you're in Turkey in general is pomegranate juice it's so delicious they grow them here it is so fresh such a unique place I'm a fan so good a little bit tart I'm a big fan have a sip that's the way it should taste we had one in Cappadocia that was mixed with orange juice and in my opinion a little bit watered down this one's much better thank you I'm not somebody who goes for bread very often but like these Turkish bagels called simit are just so good to be honest I prefer them to like a normal like Montreal and New York bagel something else that we see everywhere for street food it's actually corn um I guess you can have it spiced or not spiced obviously with a little bit of language where I wasn't sure what the spice was but we got it anyway it's perfectly buttery and salty the spice is good me someone who doesn't like a lot of black pepper I would probably go without the spice but overall the flavor is really good definitely black pepper heavy but that's good this is really good corn well this definitely turned more into a food tour than anything else but like I said in the beginning eating is traveling or traveling is one or the other um I would definitely say if you're able this city was a lot more walkable than I thought it was like we walked from like one end straight to the other what did help that I'm not gonna lie is where we're staying yeah um I highly recommend this place but yeah I hear the metro is really easy to use as well but there's also ferries that are crossing from one side to the other there's a lot of other options but if you're able to walk like it is beautiful it is easy it is great to walk and you just I feel like you see more when you're walking absolutely my personal favorite was the bazaar I love this a little bit of busyness a little bit of chaos a little I just love that so definitely do not miss that and otherwise I mean we could have been here for like many days like exploring there's like some monument that we didn't see in the Agora which is like ancient ruins and a bunch of different things so highly suggest Izmir when you come to Turkey Istanbul is great but just get out of Istanbul and like see a little bit more talking about Istanbul just wait yeah my number one food of the entire day oh yeah where is it has to be the first thing that we have oh boys boyos boyos if you try one thing try those they're savory and sweet so keep going yeah that's it and talking about Istanbul this year we're going in the next video and until then see you guys in the next one