On Saturday afternoon we took a ride to the Asian side to a place near to Şile which is around 70kms from Istanbul. Many Istanbul residents have houses in Şile where they go during the summer. The name of the place in Turkish is "kendin pişir, kendin ye", but the literal translation is exactly "cook yourself, eat yourself", which had us all laughing.The place we went to was set up for people to go and have a bbq but the unique thing about this place is that it provides everything from the bbq itself, meat, salad and drinks. It's kind of a strange concept to an Australian who would usually go to a bbq in their own backyard or a friends, however, for most Turks who may only have a balcony or small garden, it's a great way to barbeque in the great outdoors without smoking out your neighbours.
It was beautiful to sit outside with my toes in the grass with trees all around with the smell of grilling meat, tomatoes and peppers filling the air. We were served fresh yoghurt and salad and after the meal we had our own çay samovar set up next to our table where we had endless tea on tap. It was a really nice change from going to a restaurant and enjoying the great outdoors!
