Breakfast is a big deal in Turkey. There has to be fresh bread, and cheese, and tea, and multiple types of jam. Often you get more than that: vegetables (e.g., fresh cucumbers and tomatoes), eggs, sucuk (spicy beef sausage), honey, olives, olive tapenades, etc.
Breakfast is taken especially seriously in rural villages. The little country kitchens seem to be engaged in a competition to see who can do the biggest servings and have the widest variety of food.
When my mum and dad were here recently we took them to our favourite breakfast place: Köy Sofras? in the village of Kirazl? (one valley over towards the sea). They were not disappointed…
The restaurant is set in the gardens where a lot of the food is grown; the chickens that lay the eggs share the undergrowth with a few cats. You lounge on a traditional sedir (Turkish low sofa) and enjoy the shade while you wait for your order.
They brought us a truly ridiculous amount of food, but it all tasted fantastic. My favourite was the spicy olive tapenade (top centre in the photo above) but the soft cheese drizzled with cherry jam was also excellent.
This place is a great reference point for us: once our own rooms are open and we’re serving breakfast as part of the package, we hope to do as well as this. It will help a lot that there’s so much great produce available in our village.
Ooh that is making me hungry, I could enjoy that right now despite it not being breakfast time. Xx
Looks delicious! We love big breakfasts!
They do make a good (and huge) breakfast. We went again yesterday with a fresh round of visitors. :)
Very good pan to make rice
Agreed. Imagine the socarrat! :)
Ah so that’s why you wanted to have a bed & breakfast place – the emphasis is definitely on breakfast! :-) Reminds me a little of the Sunday brunches we used to have in Berlin … something we need to institute here in Southampton …
Hope you are both well and happy. Keep up the good work! We shall continue to follow your progress and continue to be envious :-)
James keeps walking into your office to talk to you and finding you are not there … ;-)
Mandi, James, Leo & Alex xxx
Thanks, all. We are busy but happy, I’d say. Come and check out the breakfast action for yourselves. :)