Turkish Breakfast In South Africa

in #travelfeed6 years ago

If you ask me what I miss about Turkey the most, I will shout "Turkish Breakfast" without a doubt. Unlike many countries in the world, Turks take breakfast very seriously. A typical Turkish breakfast consists of many types of cheese, jam, butter, omelette, bologna sausage, olives, vegetables and simit (ring shaped bread covered with sesame seeds). 

image source

Just take a look at this photo! I thought I would never ever see this again...until one day, a friend of mine told me about a place in Stellenbosch called Turkspirit. According to the myth, this place had amazing Turkish breakfast, so I decided to give it a shot taking any risk of disappointment.

This was the entrance of the restaurant. It doesn't look fancy on the outside but the inside is another story. The decoration from the motifs to the music was all Turkish!

The owner of the restaurant, Dilek Hanim has been in South Africa for 14 years. She first left Turkey during the aftermath of the 1999 earthquake. She first moved to Germany with her friends and then moved to South Africa while her friends stayed in Germany. Another interesting fact about her was that she graduated from chemical engineering just like me (and this made me grow even more sympathetic of her and the place).

The menu had everything I needed, although a bit more pricey than the prices in Turkey. For example, a traditional Turkish breakfast for two people was 300 Rands. In Turkey, the price would be at least half of that. On a side note, you normally have to make a reservation beforehand for Turkish breakfast. So, I tried Pide (Flatbread with veggies, melted cheese and omelette), which was decent and filling. Home made simit was a bit different from the traditional Turkish version but was very flavory.

The Turkish Tea that came along with it was beyond amazing, I couldn't get enough of it!

After the breakfast, Dilek offered us some Turkish coffee. Interestingly, her chemical engineering knowledge helped her in the making of the coffee, because she actually came up with a formulation that would give the coffee the exact texture and taste of a Turkish coffee. And boy, was it successful!

Next to the Turkish Coffee was flour-based halva-my all time favorite- although I found it to be a bit too dry and westernized (the unnecessary addition of the chocolate sauce).

We made the grand finale with the Turkish delight. Turkish delight is in fact very commonly sold in Cape Town, except it would be much more juicy and much less sticky than how a proper TD should be. The Turkish Delight here had just the right texture. It turns out that Dilek Hanim and her family were also running a small factory in Western Cape for the mass production of this brand.

Overall, my long-awaited desire for a complete Turkish treat was fulfilled that day. I ate so much that I wasn't able to eat anything else for the rest of the day!

Have you ever tried Turkish food and what did you think of it? Drop me a comment below.

Cheers!

Haritakurdu.

Sort:  

I had to order food late at night while I was writing this article lol

I have seen others post about Turkish breakfast. I will have to find a place. If you can find one in South Africa, surely I can find one in California

Hahahaha we are everywhere. My friend used to study at UCLA and I think she mentioned visiting a few Turkish restaurants.

What a charming cafe. I love Turkish food and traveling to Turkey is definitely on my bucket list. There is Turkish cafe in NYC that opened a couple years ago that specializes just in simit. It's so good. Sounds like you had a fun day.

Oh really? I think I heard about it from friends, is it called Simit Sarayi, which means Simit Palace?

That's it! I didn't know it meant Palace. Thanks for teaching me something new. My favorite dish is ezme salad. It is so simple but so good and the flavors are incredible.

When we were living in London we did some shopping in Turkish markets and we love their cheese :) Is Turkish tea similar to Marrocan? Sweet and full of mint?

I haven't tried Moroccan tea but I would say Turkish tea is closer to Ceylon. I also visited the Turkish markets in London but it was a bit pricey in my opinion :)

Prices in Europe are always higher than in countries like Turkey or Morocco because of taxes and import.

Breakfast looked like a great treat, will have to be on the lookout for a Turkish establishment, have never tried their food @haritakurdu

There are few places in Cape Town but I don't know about the other cities :)

Considering that I can barely eat something in the morning that looks like a hella consistent breakfast! But definitely a place to remember and to look forward to try one day :)

Hahaha I could never go on with my day without proper breakfast, that's my favorite time of the day :)

That's a good thing because breakfast is the most important meal of the day :)

I have recently been to Istanbul and a Turkish friend of mine lead to a bar in Besiktas we ate together Turkish breakfast It was delicious and it was similar to what you show in your post !!!

Oh my word, that sounds awesome! Do you remember the name of the place?

Oh my word, that sounds
Awesome! Do you remember
The name of the place?

                 - haritakurdu


I'm a bot. I detect haiku.

The name was Cakmak kahvalti salonu in Besiktas .. by the way I will post about my stay in Istanbul very soon!!!