Gorgeous eggs benedict. Bacon is a relatively new thing in Antalya restaurants.

Refreshments around the clock.

The passion fruit margarita at The House Café. One thing I really love about this place (besides the amazing food and cocktails) is that they never give me a hard time about the camera.

Vanilla Lounge have revamped their menu for the 2012 season, and if you thought their food was spectacular before, you should really drop in and try some of the new dishes.

Oh, and they still have amazing cocktails.

There are few meals I enjoy more than the sushi boat. I love taking friends to SushiCo for lunch.

Americano, black, no sugar, lots of cinnamon.

I was given a lovely gift of Chilean Merlot… perfect for a late winter’s evening.

If this seems like a blatant ad for Krispy Kreme, so be it. I was disappointed not to find any branches in Minnesota… luckily Krispy Kreme is alive and well in Istanbul.

So many good places to eat and drink in Istanbul.

The most expensive drinks on the strip, but also the best view.

You can’t go wrong with a sign like that.

I finally got a chance to try out the wonders of Kitchenette, and I have to say, I was impressed with the food, the service, and the cocktails. A great experience all around. I’ll definitely be a regular visitor.

Blueberry mascarpone cookie loaf, with handmade spiced Baileys cream. The delicacies of winter.

Just some of the fantastic holiday offerings.

Beauty inside and out.

Now that I’ve finally joined the modern smartphone world, I have access to the full spectrum of fun retro photo apps. I know a lot of people have let these apps replace all their other photography, and others refuse to use the apps at all, but I just see them as a way to take quick-and-dirty snaps at times when it’s not necessarily appropriate or convenient to be whipping out a larger camera. It’s just creativity of a different kind.

This is the Başoğlu fish market on a Sunday morning.

Now that it’s not hot anymore, it’s a great time of year to spend time at sidewalk cafés. Most have free wifi and almost all have great coffee, which is a nice change from five years ago when all you could get in Antalya was lukewarm Nescafé.

People complain about the quality of desserts at Starbucks. I’m wondering if I’m eating at Starbucks in a parallel universe, because their desserts are amazing.

My friend and I ate at YOMA last week.

This is what you get when you order the risotto frutti di mare. That’s a deep fried crab puff on top.

This is what you get when you order the cheesecake.

The setting.

The autumnal foliage.

The private side of the marina.

The commercial side of the marina, featuring the spectacular Odessa Star.

All of the above was visible from our table. Lovely day out.

Things are really shaping up around here on the supermarket front. There are now several places in Antalya where one can buy reasonably-priced caviar. It’s fantastic for an afternoon snack. I like it on toast with cream cheese.

I’d heard fantastic things about the fresh fish market at Canyon/Mini-City, but when I went last week, the place was virtually abandoned. No one in the fish market, no fish, no nothing. They did have a lovely pond with some intentional faux-rural decay, which made for good photos, but I still don’t have any fish to eat.

I know I say a lot of negative things about summer, but holy cow, the tomatoes are good.

Okay, it’s a bit warm still for lentil soup, but sue me, I’m looking forward to autumn.

I have no idea why I thought turning on the oven in August would be a good idea, but I was in the mood for a baked meal and a savoury mushroom cobbler hit the spot. I have to admit, it was tasty, but it basically turned the entire house into an oven, which wasn’t terribly fun. I think I’ll wait for October to do any more baking.

In the summer, it’s best to keep breakfast simple and as cold as possible. “Mostly fruits and vegetables” is a good rule of thumb.

My house guest made french toast for breakfast. It was unbelievably good.

I bought myself a walnut wine rack a few weeks ago (my first sort of grownup furniture purchase), and now friends have been bringing me bottles of wine as gifts. Wonderful.

I’m not sure how long Waffle Art has had a branch in Antalya, but we went to visit it today, and it was well worth it. Anika in particular enjoyed her waffle enthusiastically.

Ready…

Aim…

Fire.

My friend Anika and I went and had cocktails at the Hillside Su. It was a crazy week and we needed to end it right.

One of the restaurants at TerraCity has crème brûlée on their menu. If there are any other restaurants in Antalya that serve it, I’m not aware of them.