The title of this post seems redundant and silly because there’s so much good Turkish food in Istanbul. But after eating in several restaurants over five days in this beautiful city, I have to single out Çiya Sofrasi as my favorite place. Strictly speaking, Çiya serves Anatolian food: red lentil soup, purslane with barley and lentils, lamb stewed with eggplants, stuffed roasted eggplants and more. You start out with mezes, small plates of appetizers. You go up to the counter, choose your mezes from among a large variety of appetizers, they weigh it and serve it at your table. You are charged by the weight of the food on your plate, a smart way to stop people from overeating or wasting food. After the mezes, you go back and choose your main dishes. You can have them in large or small format so if you are dining with several people, it makes sense to choose four to five small plates of the main dishes. It was nearly impossible for us to choose what to eat because everything looked delicious. Turks cook meat, especially lamb, better than anyone else. Again they weighed our plates and brought them to our table.

Finally, dessert. The fruit desserts are nothing I’ve ever had before: they took whole walnuts (shell included) and candied them. The result is a candied whole walnut that is soft, luscious and sweet (but not overly so). They did the same thing to quince, figs, slices of tomatoes, chunks of pumpkin, and olives.

What I like about Çiya is that it’s a relaxed, informal place to eat. You can sit outside if it’s warm, as we did, and watch people going by. Or you can park yourself upstairs on the roofdeck.  It is located very close to the fish market so the area itself is worth a trip across the water (it is in Kadiköy on the Asian shore). Check out this article about Çiya in Food and Wine.

To get to Kadiköy from Sultanhamet, go to the docks at Eminönü and take the ferry. There are several ferries a day to and from Kadiköy (and the views from the water are stunning).

Çiya Sofrasi
Guneslibahce Sokak 43
Kadikoy
Istanbul, Turkey
+90 216 330 3190
www.ciya.com.tr

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Related articles:

Witt Istanbul Suites: fabulous boutique hotel in Istanbul (recommended)

Mapplr’s favorite hotels in Istanbul

Mapplr’s favorite restaurants in Istanbul

Go to our Google map of Istanbul favorites.

Milan is a favorite destination for the fashion and design crowd. The city is a great place to shop for Italian clothes, shoes, accessories, and home furnishings. With events such as the Salone Internationale del Mobile (the Design Furniture Fair) and the annual spring/summer and fall/winter fashion shows, there’s a big demand for boutique hotels that are reasonably priced. Unfortunately, they’re difficult to find, unlike in cities such as Paris and Barcelona. Most of the hotels I have listed here are very expensive, however, during these difficult economic times, you should negotiate for lower rates.

3 Rooms
Corso Como, 10
Milan, Italy
+39 02 626 163
www.3rooms-10corsocomo.com

Foresteria Monforte
Piazza Del Tricolore, 2
Milan, Italy
+39 02 7631 8516
www.foresteriamonforte.it

Hotel Spadari
Via Spadari, 11
Milan, Italy
+39 02 7200 2371
www.spadarihotel.com

Hotel The Grey
Via San Raffaele, 6
Milan, Italy
+39 02 720 8951
www.hotelthegray.com
Reserve a room online

Straf
Via San Raffaele, 3
Milan, Italy
+39 02 805 081
www.straf.it
Reserve a room online

Enterprise Hotel
Corso Sempione, 91
Milan, Italy
+39 02 318 181
www.enterprisehotel.com

Antica Locanda Solferino
Via Castelfidardo, 2
Milan, Italy
+39 02 657 0129
www.anticalocandasolferino.it

Town House 12
Piazza Gerusalemme, 12
Milan, Italy
+39 02 8907 8512
www.townhouse.it

The Virtus (Chedi)
Via Villapizzone, 24
Milan, Italy
+39 02 363 1888
www.thevirtusmilan.com
Reserve a room online

Nhow Milano
Via Tortona, 35
Milan, Italy
+39 02 489 8861
www.nh-hotels.com

Hotel Milano Scala
Via dell Orso 7
20121 Milan
Italy
+39 02 77 48
www.hotelmilanoscala.it

Click here to see a Google map of Mapplr’s hotels in Milan

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Related articles:

Mapplr’s favorite restaurants in Milan

Istanbul is one of those cities you must visit at least once in your life. At the crossroads of the Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, there’s no shortage of historical monuments: the Aya Sofia mosque (formerly the basilica of Constantine), the grand Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the underground cisterns near Aya Sofia, the Suleyman mosque and more. But where does one stay? I recommend the Witt Istanbul Suites in the trendy Cihangir district across the Bosphorus from the Sultanahmet district (the “old town”).

Witt Istanbul Suites is a luxurious, modern boutique hotel with large suites that have a small kitchen equipped with a microwave oven, sink, refrigerator, utensils, cutting board, wines and spirits, and snacks. The decor is contemporary: beautiful wood closets and stylish furniture. There is also free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel. If you are looking for a good restaurant for dinner, the staff are quite knowledgeable in finding places that suit your tastes. The restaurants that they recommended to us were excellent.

The location of the hotel is perfect. The Cihangir district is young and lively, and not touristy at all. There are many cafes close to the hotel that are packed day and night, and are ideal for snacks, lunches, coffee and people-watching. Far away from the tourist crowds, you get a much better feel for Istanbul than if you stay in the Sultanahmet area.

• Vibe: chic design hotel with contemporary interiors, large luxurious suites and views across the Bosphorus.

• Pros: great location on a hill in the Cihangir district, away from the tourist crowds but close to many good restaurants and within easy access of the tram stop; excellent service – the hotel staff know many good places to eat and hang out; rooms are quiet and airy; wonderful healthy breakfasts; free Wi-Fi.

• Cons: not for those who hate walking up a hill (although the hotel is only halfway up so it’s not that difficult); the Wi-Fi connection is slow.

Witt Istanbul Suites
Defterdar Yokusu No. 26
34433 Cihangir
Beyoglu
Istanbul, Turkey
+90 212 393 7900
www.wittistanbul.com
Find out more and book online

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Related articles:

List of Mapplr’s favorite hotels in Istanbul

List of Mapplr’s favorite restaurants in Istanbul

Google map of Mapplr’s favorite hotels and restaurants in Istanbul

If you are looking for very good, reasonably priced sushi in San Francisco, make sure you check out Otoro Sushi on Oak Street and Gough. I went with two other people last week and ordered four starters, sashimi dishes (lost track of how many), several large sushi rolls, and beer: the cost was $139. The quality of the fish was outstanding and I know that we would have paid so much more in other SF sushi places. No wonder it was packed on a rainy Sunday night.

• Vibe: simple Hayes Valley modern style, lots of young people and Asian customers.
• Pros: very good fish, reasonably priced.
• Cons: crowded, reservations necessary and even then, you might wait.

Otoro Sushi
205 Oak Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
+1 415 553 3986

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See full list of SF restaurant reviews and Google map of SF favorite restaurants and cafes.

I’ve finally gotten around to posting my favorite hotels in Stockholm. Some of you who have read the post about my favorite restaurants have been wondering about where to stay in this beautiful city. So I have put together a short list for you.

Lydmar Hotel
S. Blasieholmshamnen 2
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 22 31 60
www.lydmar.com

Hotel Rival
Mariatorget 3
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 545 789 00
www.rival.se

Hotel Birger Jarl
Tuleg. 8
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 674 18 00
www.birgerjarl.se

Hotel J
Ellensviksv. 1
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 601 30 00
www.hotelj.com

Nordic Light Hotel
Vasaplan 7
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 50 56 30 00
www.nordiclighthotel.se

Hotel Diplomat
Strandvägen 7
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 459 68 00
www.diplomathotel.com

Berns Hotel
Näckströmsg. 8
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 566 322 00
www.berns.se

Villa Källhagen Hotel and Restaurant
Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen 10
Stockholm, Sweden
+46 8 665 03 00
http://www.kallhagen.se

Story Hotel
Riddargatan 6
11435 Stockholm
Sweden
+46 (0) 8 545 03940
www.storyhotels.com

Related articles:

Favorite restaurants in Stockholm

Google map of Stockholm restaurants and hotels