Tuesday, December 18, 2012



It’s a shopping mall.

No, it’s a restaurant and beer garden.

No it’s a wine and book store.

There’s a new place in Istanbul that’s actually all of these things. This new high-end gourmet food market, complete with a dozen restaurants, flower shop, wine store, fish market and more all rolled into one, just opened last week. Mahalle, which means neighborhood in Turkish, is located on the top floor of City's Mall in Nişantaşı.
Last week on my way home from the metro, I popped into the top floor of City’s and checked out the newly opened Mahalle. It's strange, expensive but still kinda cool! As one of my expat friends here exclaimed, Mahalle is like the Turkish version of Eataly in NYC!

The gigantic open floor plan contains the likes of NYC Nathan's Hot Dogs (the 1st in Turkey), Günaydın Steakhouse, Wagamama for Asian cuisine, Rigatoni for Italian, Mano Burger for a hamburger and fries, Komşufırın for freshly baked bread, Namlı Şarküteri (without having to go all the way to Eminönü) and Malatya Pazarı for bulk dried fruits and nuts.
It’s like they took many of my favorite stalls around the the Mısır Çarşısı and fancified it all! Honestly, I'd still prefer to go to the former, but it was fun to look around.

You can even get Guinness and Hoegaarden on tap at the small beer garden area in Mahalle!
To complete the neighborhood feel, you’ll also find a baklava stand, a coffeeshop by Caribou Coffee, a (pricey) döner stand by Yanar Döner and a few other random stands throw in at Mahalle.

After you’ve emptied your wallet and filled your stomach or shopping bags, you can even stop by the section called Home Delivery; and what else, but have your bags delivered to your home whenever you choose. You may finally be able to have wine delivered to your front door in Istanbul!

For anyone who's a foodie, Mahalle is worth checking out in Istanbul! 

FYI: tomorrow's blog post will take you back to sunny North Cyprus.
Rigatoni Restaurant located at the new Mahalle in Istanbul.
Warm and comforting ev manti for a cold wintery day!
Not sure how I feel about this very odd selection of döner kebab being offered at Mahalle.


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5 comments:

jaz@octoberfarm said...

that place looks like fun. there was something like that when i lived in toronto. are the hot dogs all beef? i guess no pork!

Manya said...

Not so sure about the chocolate doner either! Sounds like a really fun place to explore.

Unknown said...

Guinness just 10 minutes from us! You are always providing vital information!! I had no idea about this place.

Joy said...

@Joyce, Fun to look around! All beef hot dogs but at least Nathan's is a decent hot dog. :-)

@Manya, Yeah, the chocolate doner and the Mexican one kinda turned me off. A doner should be plain and simple.

@Julia, you are welcome! I'm glad my blog is helpful at times. You see so much more when you walk around in Istanbul.

Cuisine de Provence said...

For Wagamama alone I'd go there every day.... jealous sigh....