Some friends of mine have this habit of jogging the Belgrade forest and get all sweaty early on Sunday mornings.

I’m no particular early bird, so I save my efforts for the second leg of the ordeal: The brunch at Cuppa in the Cihangir district. While they go on about how great their exercise was, I get my self lost in the incredible list of fresh juices and smoothies.

Should I go for the ’S.O.S juice’ with apple, lemon, lettuce and orange or the ’Energizer juice’ with strawberry, banana and orange, or should I take two and also ask for the ’Vegi-rizer juice’ with beetroot, carrot, parsley, red pepper and spinach? It’s not an easy call, and then comes the choice of breakfast.

Here I tend to stick to the bread rolls with smoked salmon, poached eggs and sauce hollandaise, but the traditional Turkish egg dish, menemen, and the yoghurt with muesli are also extremely tempting.

Regulars to Cuppa bring their laptops and have the coffee last for hours while they shift their attention between their emails and the Radikal newspaper – a favourite reading with Turkey’s leftist and globalised intellectuals.

Cuppa, Yeni Yuva Sokak, 26/5, Cihangir, Istanbul

 

The Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi restaurant represents by all means a corner in Turkish cuisine. This is where you will find kebabs of one meter, burning clay pots with the most tender chicken or lamb and a load of other pleasant surprises. It’s located on a horrible boulevard between the conservative Fatih and the run down Aksaray districts of Istanbul, where few tourists venture unless they are in a taxi taking a detour to the airport.

Hatay is the name of the province clinched between Syria and The Mediterranean which has been under Ottoman, French, Syrian and now Turkish rule as well as heavy Armenian influence. All have left their mark on the local kitchen and the Hatay Sofrasi has taken the best of Hatay and added extravagant designs so that the food is not only a show of excellent taste, but also a show by itself.

The best among equals is the Pasha Kebab that stretches over one full meter and is served on an equally long skewer. It’s made of hand minced lambs meat, pistachios and Hatay spices, and is probably the tastiest kebab you will find in Istanbul.

Given it’s location in a conservative neighbourhood it’s a no alcohol restaurant which attracts Turkish families with head scarf women as well as diplomats from Arab consulates, but it’s very much a love all, serve all kind of place.

Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi, Iskenderpasa Mahallesi, Ahmediye Caddesi 44/A, Fatih, Istanbul