HoodTip field notes
Good places don’t stop at the edge of the usual city guide.
Discover HoodTips from smaller cities, islands, mountain towns and far-flung places around the world—all recommended by people who went there.
Beach Club · Assos, Turkey
“Simurg Sea is the beach club arm of Simurg Inn, a small Turkish hospitality group on the Aegean coast. Spend the day reading a book by the Aegean. Eat grilled sardines. Have a boozy lunch with raki or white wine. Swim. Have a nap. Etc. The setup is straightforward — thatched umbrellas, wooden loungers, a beach in front, a restaurant behind.”
Travel · Bodrum, Turkey
“Charter a boat on the Turkish Aegean in summer or September. Jump in for a dip. Read the New Yorker in your towel. Il Fratello is on the higher end but incredibly nice. Getting on a boat in Turkey in September, life is about as good as it gets. September is bonito season on the Aegean. The crew will fry it whole the Turkish way — like tuna, delicious. If it's fresh out of the water, ask them to fillet it and serve it as sashimi. The guys on Il Fratello hadn't done it before — Turkey doesn't do much raw fish. They figured it out. Best meal we had on the boat.”
Restaurant · Çerkezköy, Turkey
“Filinta sits on a wooden deck on the Aegean coast, in Küçükkuyu near Assos. Traditional Turkish raki-balık — mezze, grilled fish, raki, the sea three feet from your table. If you like mezze, fish, raki, and eating all of those things next to the sea, you will love this place. Plenty of places do raki-balık. What makes Filinta different is that the chefs put that extra something into all of it. The mezze isn't just mezze. The fish isn't just grilled. Each plate has been thought about. It's Michelin-star worthy in a setting that's the opposite of a Michelin-star room — paper napkins, blue chairs, sun on the water. Just go to Filinta if you are ever near this place. It's so good.”
Drink · Türkiye
“You're in Turkey. You want a drink that isn't alcohol. You want something cold, something with bite, something that won't quit halfway down. Order a Beypazarı. Perfect-sized bottle, perfect level of bite on the bubbles. There is no better soda water in this world than a crisp cold Beypazarı. Comes in a small green glass bottle with a label that hasn't changed in decades. Drink it from the bottle or pour it into a small glass — both correct. Every restaurant has it. Every kiosk has it. Every gas station has it. There are other Turkish sparkling waters. None of them are this.The dose: five a day in summer.”
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