Lunch at Last!

Finally, a yoga person interested in more than drinking coffee! Eric and I went to The House Cafe (http://thehousecafe.com.tr/) for lunch, after his Ashtanga basics class, where I was a student. Amongst locals and foreigners feelings are mixed about the House Cafe. It's basically a local chain, here in Istanbul. There are five locations. I've been to two, the one today in my neighborhood, Tunel and the original, in Tesvikiye, near one of the other yoga studios.

The original is actually in a house. As with most of the locations there is a communal table, in what would have been the front room. There is seating in all the other little rooms, and small hallways. Out back there is a beautiful terrace, that makes you think you are on someone's country estate. According to a very nice gentleman I met there drinking coffee on my first yoga teaching trip, in January of 2006, Istanbul's literati, perhaps even Orhan Pamuk, who lives up the street, gathered there when the first one opened in 2002 to talk, drink coffee and tea, smoke cigarettes, and likely carry on as is their nature. In fact I enjoyed a glimpse on that particular visit, as this kind Turkish gentleman introduced me to some of his friends. You see, I was the early crowd, as were they. 9AM. Yep, that's the early crowd. This guy, whose name escapes me, admitted that he goes to Starbucks for coffee upon waking, and then comes to House Cafe when they open at 9 for tea and breakfast. I generally enjoy their cappucinos. Anyway, at that early hour, I was the youngest and only female at the communal table. So they put up with me.

I think that like with all things, some people remember the good ole days(even if that only goes back to 2002) and now House Cafe has gotten too big, etc. But they carry a nice variety of fresh, beautifully prepared food, international with Turkish roots. It is, however, a tad bit expensive. For example, I had the lentil salad, and Eric chowed down on the hamburger with fries(yes the yoga guy.) He also had an iced tea then a latte(coffee again!) and the bill was 48 lira, and that's before tip. That's $40.

But, I must tell you about this salad! I'd pay for it all over again and likely will. It consisted of a scoop of cooked green lentils with a few slivers of roasted red and yellow peppers, in a mustard seed sauce. Mixed in were some generous hunks of goats cheese. Then on top perched a pile of fresh purslane. Purslane is a widely used green here and also in the Middle East. You would recognize it, it grows as a weed in the Midwest. It sort of looks like rose moss. Thick stems with succulent looking oval shaped leaves. I love it. The entire dish was drizzled with pomegranate sauce and then, gasp, TRUFFLE OIL! I could smell it the minute the waiter placed it in front of me. Completely delicious.

After that, I took care of some business, then back to the hotel for another hamam (more on that later) and then to the lobby lounge where I'm enjoying watching all the tourists go out for dinner. My last night at the Pera Rose. Sigh.