After grabbing more than our share of food form the Saturday Market in Selcuk we had a well earned nap. Waking later in the afternoon, we headed down the hill to Isa Bey Camii (Mosque) built around 1375, it is one of he few remaining Anatolian Beylik structures.
The Mosque was almost completely destroyed by earthquakes, but after serious refurbishing reopened in 1975. As it is a functioning mosque we approached it respectfully….
I walked up the steep and worn stairs and took a few photos of the courtyard.
Soon enough the call to prayer began, and we decided to leave the mosque to the faithful……. plus, I was getting hungry.
We walked up then back down the hill to the center of town, which is a pedestrian only area…..
Lest you think this a tourist only area, you'd be wrong….this is literally the center of town, and this was where all the older men hung out, drinking tea and coffee, playing backgammon, reading the paper, talking politics and what not……..
After looking around a bit, we decided on a restaurant called Ejder. The owner was very friendly and when the Missus requested a selection of mezes, was happy to oblige.
Seating in the public dining area across the restaurant we were soon joined by some very eager guests.
Can you see the remnants of the aqueduct in the background?
I went with, what else, the Adana Kebab (12 TRY – $9):
The kebab was very moist…. in fact almost all the kebabs we had in Turkey was way more tender and moist than most of what we get here in the states. This one was slightly gamey but not very spicy. The rice was too wet for my tastes. The grilled peppers were wonderful…..the char brought out some sweetness and some were a very sneaky hot.
The Missus's selection of mezes were pretty good, especially the red pepper dolomar (stuffed pepper).
The ezme was too watery and mild in flavor, I liked the beets, but the missus thought they were too sour.
Overall, this was a satisfying meal, the food was far from bland and put me in a good mood. The very friendly owner who came over to check on us several times also made for a pleasant meal. I even gave the cats some of my adana kebab….. I was a bit worried that the spices would be bad for them, but they seemed to love it!
We returned to the hotel full and happy, and had a wonderful night of sleep. We woke early the next morning and headed down the street past the parked tractors……
And caught our train to the airport in Izmir. Of course, no one in Turkey can even think of going a morning without simit (sesame bread), thus the vendor who got the train at one stop walking thru the cars selling bread, then got off a couple of towns later.
Selcuk and the surroundings sure had charm……
But it was time to move on to our next stop……
Stay tuned….
Thanks for reading!