Barbaros Yoğurtçusu

In Fatih, right beside the Hırka-i Şerif mosque, Barbaros is one of İstanbul's old yoghurt shops. The sign says “established 1918”, and the logo carries the galley of the Barbaros it is named after. Staying open in İstanbul for more than a hundred years is neither easy nor something we are used to seeing.

The window is milk puddings from end to end: kazandibi, tavuk göğsü, keşkül, sütlaç, zerde, aşure, chocolate cream. Each is filled into its own tub and lined up tray by tray — eat standing at the counter, or have it packed to take home. On the shelves there is the shop's own full-fat yoghurt as well.

We had the kazandibi and the tavuk göğsü under its dusting of cinnamon — both of them classics of the house.

Address: Akşemsettin Cd. No: 9, 34080 Fatih.