Retail therapy: Istanbul ShoppingFest begins March 18

Every year, many people visit Istanbul to shop in the historic Grand Bazaar to haggle over carpets, Turkish tea glasses, and souvenir t-shirts. But most locals do their shopping in Istanbul’s many malls, markets, high streets like Istiklal near Taksim Square and Bağdat on the Asian side, and neighborhoods such as posh Nişantaşı and funky Çukurcuma. This year, from March 18 to April 26, travelers can take advantage of the best of all worlds with the first Istanbul ShoppingFest, also celebrating the 550th birthday of the Grand Bazaar. For 40 days, shoppers can get special discounts and win prizes, shop late into the night (with bigger discounts after 10pm), and be entertained with performances and events. Each Saturday, one mall each on the European and Asian sides will stay open until 2am, and all malls will be open until 11pm daily during the fest. In addition to sale prices, foreign travelers can get tax back on purchases at various malls around the city and enter raffles with each 40 TL (about $25 USD) spent.

Already established in India, Singapore, and Dubai in usual sale seasons, Istanbul’s promotion will hold a special draw as discounts will apply to new season merchandise and take place over several major holidays including Easter, Passover, and Iranian Nowruz. With this festival, Turkey hopes to carry over some of the momentum from last year’s European Capital of Culture designation, and become the destination of choice for travelers from nearby countries such as Russia, Iran, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Rumania, Syria and Iraq.

Check out more details and events at www.istshopfest.com and follow their Facebook page and Twitter @istshopfest. See also the March issue of Time Out Istanbul in English for feature guides to the fest and the Grand Bazaar.

[Photo courtesy Flickr user antonystanley]

Yekta

Towards the end of my work week last week sometime while working in Rockville, Maryland I decided to pop into Yekta, a restaurant specializing in kabob and other fine Persian dishes. It was a good decision too. Normally I would have tried the koobideh (skewered lean ground beef) or kabob-e barg (flattened strips of marinated beef), but since I’m shying away from red meat temporarily I went for the white meat. The chicken kabob was well done. From time to time I find chicken can just be a little too boring for my tastes, but the cooks seasoned this to perfection. I was impressed and the serving was of a decent size which included rice, tomato, and bread. Only thing that didn’t seem to impress me or the person who referred me to the spot were the prices. For kabob it seemed as though they could have lowered the cost by a buck or two, but a meal at Yekta won’t send you into debt either so give it a try!

Yekta is located at 1488 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. (Easily accessible from Washington D.C.) Ph. 301.984.0005. www.yekta.com