And my lunch, dinner, snack and dessert too. I realize that starting a discussion with those words is a good indicator that one is a step away from going into a nursing home – but I'm willing to run the risk. And let me tell you why…..
Because people have asked. And because we're Jewish. And because we love food. 
Now that it's all out on the table, let's talk about what's really out on the table.
Yogurt in more forms than we've ever seen. Breakfast yogurt, yogurt dips, yogurt and garlic sauces, flavored yogurt and just plain yogurt. If there's a way to use yogurt which our hotel hasn't discovered, I think it can only come from a high level research university.
The same can be said for eggplant. Not only have we seen it in at least a dozen salads but in numerous entrees. It's been served with meat, in dips, on skewers, in pans, baked, fried, as a skin for dolmas, as the featured item in a salad and as an accompaniment to a salad. 
Cheese too comes in many varieties – mostly the white, crumbly ones typical to the Mediterranean. Besides feta, there seem to be a number of feta cousins and even some soft mozzarellas and a few sliced cheeses that may have a distant relationship to muenster. Some cheeses have spices sprinkled over them, others black sesame seeds or herbs, and others lie plain. Often the many platters of cheese on our hotel buffet come accompanied with olives of all sorts in magnificent displays.
Along with these is an entire buffet section of beautifully displayed Mediterranean salads employing all sorts of herbs, sauces, spices and a number of them employing egg in one way or another. The poached eggs in a cold garlic yogurt sauce with chili oil on top is a personal favorite at breakfast. The Turkish salad here (which the natives can just call salad) is much spicer and pepper filled here than it is at many of the Israeli restaurants serving it in LA.
And speaking of breakfast – while they offer soft boiled, hard boiled and fried eggs as well as pancakes, hot and cold cereal, breads and other western breakfast favorites, the piece de resistance for us is always the inordinate number of spreads. Jams and jellies of all varieties from things as tame as orange and grape to the more regional specialties like rose and fig, the flavor options are confusing at best. But the thicker spreads like the molasses and tahini spread has rocked our world. So simple, so brilliant. So good on dark bread. It's vaguely like peanut butter and honey only 100 times better.
Yet dinner is always the most impressive. Besides the usual assortment of salads and western style hot entrees like pastas and some very average meat and veggie dishes you probably make in your own home like sauteed chicken and veggies, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, hamburgers, fries, pastas, etc – they offer a line of freshly made Turkish specialties outside the dining room. Every night, something is grilling on the barbecue – usually different kinds of beautifully spiced kebabs some nights they have chicken shwarma rotating on a spit. Fried specialties like a spicy beef dish that made Emily's mouth burn so hot she loved it. And always freshly made pide – Turkish pizza which different combinations of meats, veggies, cheeses and spices. 
Of course, if the food isn't spiced well enough for your tastes, then they have a bar of Turkish herbs and spices sitting at the edge of the salad buffet so guests can experiment with their own flavors.
Anyone who knows me knows that dessert is my favorite. So, I have taken the heavy responsibility upon myself to taste and rate the desserts to save others from wasting their time with low-grade, unworthy dessert. The results are clear. The baklava is the best – and very similar to Marrakesh in Studio City. The little bit of tahina inside sets off the flavor in an amazing way.
In fact, all of the Turkish desserts – different cakes, cookies, and donut-ish pastries saturated with honey are excellent. The European style desserts should not be touched. It may look like a really chocolate-y cake or brownie, but it's all tricks and lies. Each Turkish dessert will amaze and mesmerize, even the macaroons soaked in honey. 
When you combine these with the huge selection of breads, savory soups at every meal, and unlimited beverages including local beers, wines and raki – it makes for a fantastic value in our all-inclusive package and better yet, an amazing entry into the vast offerings of Turkish cuisine.
Sent from my iPad
