- I ordered a portion of the doner. Oh and I'm gonna make it
a bite that, that counts. Ho ho ho ho look at that. Just get a closeup on that. Oh wow. That's like caramelized beef. (upbeat music) Good morning everyone. It's Mark Wiens with migrationology.com. Ying and I are riding
in style this morning. We ordered an Uber and
this is our last morning. We are leaving in the
middle of the day to go to fly to Rome today but
we thought we could fit in one last meal. (techno music) - We've taken Uber a couple
times so far in Istanbul and they are really nice vehicles. We always have gotten a Mercedes van. (techno music) That thing is the most... - Hello. (customers chatter in foreign language) - We arrived to this restaurant. They are now open. And a lot of people order
takeaway and just stay downstairs and get takeaway but they also
have a dining room up here on the second floor. And I was just watching him carve and work that piece of meat, that's okay. And I was just watching him
downstairs work and carve that piece, that hunk,
that circle of meat, and it literally it's
like a merry-go-round or a ferris wheel of a doner kebab. It's so thick and so gigantic. It's like an entire animal of meat or maybe multiple animals of meat just rearranged and stacked
in a different shape. It is literally, and I took a really closeup
look at that meat, and... If you look at it really closely because of all the drippings
and all of the juices, all of the fats and oils
flowing from the meat, it actually looks almost like a cave. You can actually see little
stalagmites and stalactites comin' off of the doner kebab. As I'm sitting here
anticipating that doner that is just about to arrive to our table, I got this recommendation from Tuba. She is a blogger over at IstanbulFood.com. Check out her blog. And also from FoodieHub. She's the FoodieHub.tv
representative for Istanbul. So she says this is the
absolute best hands down doner in all of Istanbul. Oh here it comes. - [Waiter] Iskender? - Oh Iskender, okay. I ordered two different things. One is the iskender which
is something beautiful. And the other is just a,
I got a plate of doner. So this is just a plate
of the thinly shaved meat that he so expertly sliced
off of the merry-go-round. And you can see that little
slight char on the outside. The thin shavings of meat. There's nothing I can
do but just take a bite and that first bite right there. Oh and I'm gonna make it
a bite that, that counts. Ho ho ho ho look at that. Just get a closeup on that. Oh yeah. That is a doner. Oh wow, it's like perfectly salted. It is kind of juicy but slightly like dry at the same time. And that crispy bit on the edge. That's like caramelized beef. The other dish I wasn't gonna
leave Istanbul without trying. This is called iskender and
this is the same doner meat but then I think it's tomato
sauce and butter and cream. I think those are the
extra ingredients added to make things even better. So this will be my first time. I'll try a little bit
of cream, a bit of meat. Oh and there might be some
extra vegetables in here, too? Maybe? Or mostly tomatoes. Wow. That is rich. I didn't notice this at first. There's bread on the bottom here, too. Which has soaked up all
of that butter and sauce. And so it was almost like
a crouton below there. And then all the meat is on top. That extremely good meat. And then I think that has
a yogurt flavor to it. It's like sour, creamy and
then with tomato, buttery. Wow that's just, that is insane. Okay I'm gonna take a sip of my ayran. Wow, that tastes almost the same as that blob of white... Yogurt, I think? On top of the iskender. That is really really thick
and not too salty this time but it has a sour, a
sour yogurt taste to it. And this is their specialty bread here in the shape of a heart. This actually, bread looks fantastic. Oh wow, yeah that's like
really puffy but you can see it's kinda, maybe it will
be kinda gummy as well. This meat is amazing. Stick it into the center
there with a chili. Bread does have a little
bit of a gummy texture to it but it's like fluffy and gooey. I'm going to put some
of this into my bread. And with a little bit of that as well. Oh I've gotta have that chili. Gotta have that chili on there. Is this a one biter? I think it will be. (Ying giggles) The best doner I have ever, I've ever had. - Okay. - Thank you. It set the new standard for me. I've never had a doner this good. It was incredible. That merry-go-round of meat that you see at the entrance will, is the first thing that will impress you. And then eating it, it
will just blow your mind. It was so good. And also the owner, and they are really
really nice here as well. Friendly and jolly as well. That was delicious. I am happy this was our
final last meal in Istanbul. And also thank you to Tuba. (car honks) - [Ying] Hello. - [Mark] Thank you! (techno music) We've packed up all of our stuff and we are checking out at the hotel now. Hello. - Hello, sir. I'm sorry. - Alright, okay. Ah it's okay I'll hold it. So, thank you. Thank you very much. We are in a taxi on our
way to the airport now. Thank you to the Ritz-Carlton. That was a great stay. I'm gonna miss that view over
the Bosphorus that's for sure. (techno music) We made it to the airport. Now looking for our counter to check in. We're flying with Turkish Airlines. The lady who just checked us
in was really really nice. (techno music) Okay, we got all checked into our flight. We got through Customs and Immigration and we have just now checked in to the Turkish Airlines lounge. This lounge is huge. What did you get you? - Cake chocolate and hot chocolate. (giggles) (Mark laughs) - But the lines at the
airport are really long. Security is very very tight. And so well of course I'm
excited to fly business class. Any, anytime or any chance I have. Today it's a really really good thing because we just passed
through the fast lane and got into the lounge really quickly. Thank you very much to Star Alliance and Turkish
Airlines for, for this. And if you're just joining
me on these videos, or about this round the
world trip for food. This entire trip was put
together by Star Alliance and Star Alliance is
sponsoring this airfare. And so we are on our way next to Rome. We have a couple hours in
the airline lounge here and I'm gonna spend it doin' some work but also taking advantage of all of the things to eat and drink. Oh this is like a racing
game or something. Yes, please. Manti? Is it called Manti?
- Yes, man. - [Mark] Yes, please. - [Server] Small? (speaks
in foreign language) - Ah, just one bowl. Nomo bowl is okay. (dishes clinking) Thank you. (techno music) There are so many things to eat. So many little stations. So many bars. There is one dish that I haven't, or a Turkish dish that I
haven't had a chance to try yet on this trip. And that is Manti, which
is Turkish-style ravioli and I also got a selection of drinks. So the ravioli are all down
here and then she put on, I think it's yogurt and tomato sauce. Mmmmmm, that yogurt makes
it really really rich. But yeah those are little noodle pockets of some kind of minced meat in the middle. That is good. That, that yogurt though
is extremely rich. Okay, coffee? Turkish coffee. Oh yeah, that's good stuff. (soda tab pops) Ahhhhhh. I'm gonna have to admit
to you that I have been, well, you've probably already seen but I've gone pretty
heavy on the meat so far since being in Turkey. And so, I'm really ready
for a lot of salad. And lentil soup. Like I've mentioned this probably
already a couple of times, Istanbul is a city that I've
wanted to visit my entire life. And despite the circumstances
during this trip, it was still an amazing trip. The history that we got
to see here, the food, and then just meeting so
many of the restaurant owners and people working at the restaurants that we met and interacted with. That is what I think
traveling is all about. And Istanbul was amazing. - [Airline Agent] Gate passengers, would you please proceed
to gate number 306. (techno music) - It's gonna be about a two
and a half hour flight to Rome. I think I'm gonna watch a movie. (techno music) Thank you.
- You're welcome. - [Flight Attendant] Enjoy your meal. - Thank you. It is early dinner time. And this is just the first salad course. There are tomatoes and mozzarella and I think that's some
kind of avocado puree. I'm not sure what's on the bottom. And then a number of different salads. Whoa, got a lotta, got a
lotta silverware in here. Okay here we go, spoon. Let me try some of this avocado. Oh I think that's avocado and eggplant. Mmmmm. Yeah, that's avocado and eggplant. Tomato and mozzarella,
or some kind of cheese. Yeah that's really good. The fresh mozzarella. Pepper. I have to tell you that Ying
ate so much in the lounge that she's not hungry at all. And so she gave me her entree. So I got two entrees here. This one is the poached fish and then this one is the adana kebab. And so one last kebab
before leaving Turkey. Okay I'll start with this fish though. Poached fish, there are a
bunch of vegetables down here. And eggplant and zucchini, I think. And tomatoes. Oh (laughs) just fell out. Okay. And the menu says that it's sea bass. That is good fish. And one last kebab. Oh yeah, kebabs are just
definitely a gift to the world. - [Chef] Milk and sugar inside? - Black coffee.
- Just black. - [Mark] Just black, yes. - For you, sir, black coffee. - [Mark] Thank you. - [Chef] Thank you. This is your Turkish coffee. - [Mark] Thank you. - [Chef] And, you're water. - [Mark] Oh, yes. - [Chef] I'll take this and... - Thank you. Okay. And to end the meal I'm
having two cups of coffee. Got a regular cup of coffee
and a Turkish coffee. Let me start with the Turkish coffee. Oh, there's a bit of turbulence right now so it is, it is a shaking cup of coffee. Oh yeah. Turkish coffee, a fantastic thing. The other type of coffee. Yeah that is just a straight
brewed cup of coffee. And also on the Turkish coffee plate they gave me a little piece, I think this is Turkish Delight, and I didn't really have a
chance to try Turkish Delight when we were in Istanbul. We didn't make it to the
famous Turkish Delight place. Turkish Delight. Yeah, that is very gummy and sweet. (techno music) (flight attendant speaks
in foreign language) Thank you very much, Veli.
- Have a good day. - Thank you, thank you very much. That was a very good flight. Thank you very much Turkish Airlines and also Veli and Porcini. (techno music) I love how Turkish Airlines has a chef on the business class airplane. They have their priorities right. Welcome to Italy. (techno music) Bus station. We made it through Customs and Immigration and got our bags in like record time. I think it's only been like ten minutes since we got off our flight. There are a number of different
ways to get from the airport to the center of Rome. But I think we're gonna go for the bus. (techno music) That was fairly simple. You just walk outside of Terminal Three and walk all the way
to the right hand side and then we just bought our bus ticket. (techno music) That bus ride just took about 30 minutes. We have arrived to Termini Station where I think we're gonna
take the Metro two stops and that will be closer to
our hotel where we're staying. (techno music) We are just stepping out of the Metro and we're very close to a park. And immediately I could just
smell like the aroma of herbs. (techno music) Whoa, a lot of mirrors. What's our number? - Something high, vee. - Oh, it's right here. Alright, come in. We got all checked in to our hotel. We are staying at the Marriott and just getting into our room now. How do you turn on the light? Ohhhhhh. Okay Ying I'm gonna do a
quick tour walkthrough. It's about 9 p.m. so I
don't think we're gonna do anything else for today. Probably just gonna call it a night here and wake up early tomorrow and start a full day
of sightseeing in Rome. But let me just give you a
really quick tour of this room. Have a desk over here in this corner. The big bed right in the center. The TV. The cabinet. And then moving on over here. We got Ying. Ying is emptying out the
bag and putting everything into the closet like she
always does (Ying giggles) whenever we get to a hotel. Got the safe over here. And some shelving. The tea and coffee station. And then over here we've got the bathroom. I'm gonna end the video
for today right now. It was an excellent final day in Istanbul and then a good trip here to Rome. We have made it safely. Thank you all for watching today's video. Tomorrow is gonna be a full
day of sightseeing in Rome and I have a lot of planning
to do later tonight. Or right now. If you enjoyed this video please remember to give it a thumbs up, leave a comment below and also make sure you subscribe for lots more
food and travel videos. And I will see you on the next video. (beep) I think I'm gonna watch a movie. Ying, help? No, pull one side. Can you put it on? Okay. (percussion music)
