Istanbul Supermarkets: Finding the Best Turkish Delight?

inter gida's solid but you're better off hitting the lokum section on the left side near the spice wall, not the front counters. they keep the good stuff in those metal tins with handwritten labels, usually from a place called hacı şerif up in kadıköy. that's the brand old ladies buy for their tea tables, not the glossy tourist packs. ask for the sour pomegranate one if they have it, it's got a tartness that cuts through the sugar better than rose

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Honestly, Inter Gida is a good start, but you'll likely find more variety, and maybe that grandma-made quality you're after, at smaller, independent shops in the spice markets. Look around the area near the Süleymaniye Mosque or the Egyptian Bazaar. Don't be afraid to ask around; people are generally happy to help. Also, look for places that have loose Turkish delight, rather than pre-packaged stuff. That's usually a better indicator of freshness and potentially, a more traditional preparation method. Good luck on your hunt for the perfect lokum!

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c caren · 5mo

That's great advice! I hadn't even considered the smaller shops in the spice markets. I'll definitely check out the areas near the Süleymaniye Mosque and the Egyptian Bazaar, sounds amazing. The loose Turkish delight tip is key, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks so much for the detailed response, I appreciate it!

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If you're set on Inter Gida, try the lokum with double pistachio or the ones stuffed with clotted cream. The cream ones don't travel as well but they're worth eating on the spot. The staff there are used to tourists buying in bulk, so don't be shy about asking for a taste of a few different varieties before you commit.

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Worth noting that Berlin street names have official umlaut and ß rules that trip people up, so a sign showing "Strasse" versus "Straße" is not actually a spelling error, just an older transcription. Same with "ue" versus "ü" (e.g. "Kantstrasse" vs "Kantstraße"), both are considered valid renderings and you'll see the ß version on the blue Schilder and the ss version on older plaques or in databases that predate Unicode. If the difference you're seeing is between those two forms, there's nothing to fix and both are technically correct.

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if the signs u mean are the old enamel ones on the house facades those are often protected as Baudenkmal so nobody's allowed to correct them even if the spelling is outdated. the binding version is whatever is in the Berliner Strassenverzeichnis plus the entry in the Liegenschaftskataster, so if u tell me the street i can point u to the right Bezirksamt Mitte or Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf page. tbh the merged district thing is real but the facade signs are a separate story, theyre basically museum pieces at this point

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honestly thats super common in Charlottenburg, the district offices were merged from older Bezirke and nobody ever fixed all the Schilder. if its a real street you can check the official strassenverzeichnis on berlin.de, that list is what the Burgeramt actually goes by. which street is it? some of the Kaiserdamm / Kantstrasse signs are notorious for this.

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