Is it safe to eat in Turkey?

[BRUCENLYNN]

Our private driver (Nejat) will be including lunch in our tour. Are most restaurants in Turkey safe to eat in? Should we avoid the water/ice?

 

Thanks for your help,

Lynn

[LILynn]

We had Nejat too when we were in Kusadasi. After toruing Ephesus he took us to a little restaurant where we sat outside - we had no clue what to order so we let him choose for uis. HE ordered a bunch of different dishes that we all shared. The food was wonderful - everything was so fresh. I did not drink the tap water so I cannot comment on that.

 

Hope this helps....

 

Lynn

[tomko2]

http://www.exclusivetravelturkey.com/10-things-to-do-in-turkey.htm

 

http://www.ekoltravel.com/turkey/info/practicalinformation.html

 

Above are a couple of the many websites we have found about Turkey. The second site says the water is clorinated but you should check with local authority -- I read this as better to drink bottled water and not worry. I did read somewhere that the water is safe but has an unpleasant taste so drink bottled water.

Kathy

[MVPinBoynton]

Lynn,

Thanks for the info on the lunch with Nejat. I had never heard anything before on it. It sounds like it is of a fine quality like the rest of his tour is supposed to be.

[happyscot]

Is it safe to eat in Turkey?

 

 

 

No. Every single Turkish person died of food poisoning in 1837.

 

Sorry. Follow usual rules about water if you're in doubt. Food there is great, and very cheap. People are great too, just don't mention the Greeks...... Ephephephus is impossible to say but amazing to look at. Very hot - I expect they had good air conditioning back then.

[twscott1961]

I'm so glad that you brought this up, because I have thought the same thing. We are touring with Nejat, and he says we will go to a BBQ. I think there is more than one Nejat. We are touring with Nejat Incedogan in Ephesus, and in Antalya. In Antalya, he says our lunch would be seafood. I wonder about Egypt, too. I have a friend that travels in Egypt, and she said that you have to be careful. We were thinking about doing a dinner cruise on the Nile. Hopefully, we will keep getting responses.

[VaTraveler]

I think the general rule I'm going to follow will be the same one we have followed when visiting China, Russia, etc. We don't drink the water and don't eat anything that hasn't been cooked or that we don't peel ourselves. We have followed that rule and have never had a problem. I also have a prescription for Cipro just in case.

[NAS-KARR]

ABSOLUTELY !!

[Liv4cruzin]

I have spent a fair amount of time visiting Istanbul. The restaurants we ate in (including some street side vendors) had incredibly fresh, well cooked & delicious foods. I felt safe brushing my teeth w/ the tap water; but tended to stick w/ bottled water to drink. I also spend a good bit of time on the TripAdvisor message boards. There is a lovely woman who's screen name is "LemonLady" who is one of the country's local experts (she lives there & IN NY). She has some great insight & advice into all things Turkish. Below is a link to their Turkey message boards. If you have the time, I'm sure you'll find some very interesting info there.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293969-i367-Turkey.html

[franu]

We went to dinner and show in 1990. The food was delicious Things have probably improved since then but while on a full day's excursion we cane back to the ship for lunch. At this point I would have no problem and would do as VaTraveler said.

 

twscott1961,

Although we were only taken to the best places for meals such as the Cairo Hilton, The Nile Hilton and the Movenpik Hotel our guide arranged our dinner tour. We took the Nile Dinner Cruise in 1998. The food was not a problem and the entertainment was good. Especially if you are taking it through a tour from the ship or a reputable tour company, I wouldn't worry. They have a reputation to uphold.

[gdayhoff]

We had Nejat Incedogan for tours in Istanbul and Ephesus last July.While in Istanbul we stopped at a small open air fish market.The fish/seafood was the cleanest and best looking seafood I have seen in a long time.Couldn't believe how fresh it was.Having growing up in a port city believe me I can tell good fish from bad.Still can't believe how clean that market was.Probably took a dozen pictures of it.

Don't think you will have a problem with any eating place Nejat takes you.We had lunch in Selcuk at a local cafeteria.Very good with a lot of local items.My family enjoyed it including our 12 year old granddaughter who is a picky eater.

Anyway,enjoy it

[BRUCENLYNN]

Thank you! I feel better now. :)

 

~Lynn

[twscott1961]

Thanks for everyone's imput. I feel better about eating, too.

[threeofus]

The best thing to do is to - always drink bottled water when you are in another country. Your body gets use to the microbes you live with every day and drinking water somewhere else can possibly introduce you to different ones.

Also different countries have different standards - so it's best to eat cooked food as an earlier poster wrote. Good advice.

[franu]

I will not drink plain bottled water in any country but the US or Canada. Many years ago I read how people in various countries refill the bottles with water of dubious origin and recap them to look new. I will only drink water that has bubbles as there has been no ability to produce carbonated water in small ways. At home I drink seltzer or club soda and when in Italy I ask for acqua minerale frizzante or con gas. I will drink water from the ship as they have a good water purifying system.

Fran

[JeannyCT]

I will not drink plain bottled water in any country but the US or Canada. Many years ago I read how people in various countries refill the bottles with water of dubious origin and recap them to look new.

If you have doubts just check the caps of the bottles, it's easy enough to tell if they have been opened or not.

Although I’m sure these things can happen with street vendours, you'd probably be safe buying bottles in supermarkets.

 

Concerning food in Turkey: I love happyscot’s post (Is it safe to eat in Turkey? No. Every single Turkish person died of food poisoning in 1837.).

Yes, it is safe and it tastes very good, especially the desserts.

[franu]

Please don't get me wrong, I was referring to most places not necessarily about Turkey. It is easy to by a new set of tops and the capping device. It doesn't look tampered with when you see it.

 

I will be going to a big Reunion Cruise party given by the cruise line in Istanbul. There will probably be about 700 people for dinner. If the cruise line is not worried why should I? I plan to enjoy the evening and the food.

Fran

[snowmouse]

Does anyone have an email contact for Nejat?

[Host Karen]

Does anyone have an email contact for Nejat?

 

You can find an e-mail address by doing a Google search.

 

Karen

HostKaren@CruiseCritic.com