Menu
Pide in Istanbul Airport

Turkish Airlines Lounge in Istanbul

, , , ,


If you’re passing through Istanbul, and have a few hours at the airport, the Turkish Airlines lounge is the best place to spend some time in the otherwise extremely crowded airport. The sprawling two-floor lounge has something for everyone, including traditional Turkish food, massage, games, entertainment, theater playing soft music videos and more. My personal favorite is watching the chefs make the delicious Turkish pide breads.

The Spacious Turkish Airlines Lounge in Istanbul

While we’ve stopped over in the Istanbul lounge on several occasions, I wrote this article during our long layover at the beginning of our fun Balkans tour and epic road trip. My first impression was, Wow! How spacious is this lounge! It’s certainly a lot larger than the lounges in San Francisco or the one in Paris or Delhi and many more. Here are some photographs to share a sense of size –

The center of the Turkish Airlines lounge has a space-age look with a 3-way staircase.
Looking up from the lower floor is one of the curvy stairs and the glass elevator on the left.
Pianos for the musicians or music admirers at the Turkish airport lounge in Istanbul.

Even the women’s bathroom is spacious, modern and beautifully appointed.

Even the bathroom is thoughtfully designed.

Making Turkish Pide Bread in Istanbul Lounge

When we visited Turkey in 2013, one of our favorite destinations was Istanbul’s spice bazaar. The Turkish flavors and colors in the market are memories forever etched in my mind. Ever since we look forward to layovers in Istanbul as the Turkish airport lounge does an amazing job in the kitchen.

The lounge offers some popular Turkish staples and many international flavors.

The pide is popularly called known as Turkish pizza. But, I think it’s more like the ftira in Malta. They are all base of dough, topped with stuff and baked. The similarity ends right there. The texture and taste are completely different.

Our favorite is the pide that made live every half an hour. The cheese and parsley pide topped with basil sauce is my family’s favorite.
Our favorite is the pide that made live every half an hour. The cheese and parsley pide topped with basil sauce is my family’s favorite.

One of my favorite activities is chatting with chefs at the live counter where they make pide. They are always so relaxed and friendly. Here is a 3minute video of how they prepare a batch of Turkish pide bread.

Time needed: 20 hours.

Pide is the stable, delicious Pide bread that can be found all over Turkey. We loved it during our trip to Turkey but we absolutely love the ones they make at the Turkish lounge in Istanbul. The process of making Turkish Pide takes about 20min with about 10-12 min of preparation time and 8min of baking time. This does not include the time to prepare the fillings.

  1. Prepare toppings

    For the vegetable filling – finely chop several vegetables and marinate them with salt and seasonings. Optionally cook them briefly.

  2. Make a very thin-crust

    The first step is to roll the dough into a thin crust, in an elongated oval shape.

  3. Add toppings

    Place the mixture in a line along the long side of the disk. The lounge had 3 mixtures – vegetables, cheese, and some meats.

  4. Fold the sides

    Fold the long sides of the dough to give its edging.
    Repeat the process for all the disks of dough

  5. Place the pide into the oven

    Place the prepared uncooked Turkish pide bread into the oven. Cook for 8min at a very high temperature.

  6. Slice the Turkish pide bread

    Once the pide is ready, cut diagonally for single piece servings.

  7. Enjoy the delicious Turkish pide bread

Here is a longer version of the video.

Friendly Chefs of Turkish Airlines

All the chefs are very friendly but few speak English. The young chefs at the Japanese counter were fluent in English so we chatted a while.

It turns out that many chefs in the lounge are also in-flight chefs as you might have seen in the business or economy class. Many of them have a rotation schedule with some days on the ground and some in the air every month.

The young chef at the Japanese station had me loving the Teriyaki vegetables and rice.

This chef likes the idea of being in his home base or taking flights with longer layovers. His colleague, a young female chef loves the travel and the opportunity to catch some sightseeing.

He loves my city, San Francisco. I totally agree with my new friend, the air in the city is so clean and crisp. He shared some fond memories of San Francisco, Yosemite, Napa, Tahoe and around. I almost felt homesick.

These days most of the layovers are short one-night stays in a hotel in Burlingame. I can understand that it’s a lot less expensive for Turkish Air.

In a quiet corner of the lounge, a Turkish Airlines chef insists I try the Turkish ravioli. Unfortunately, she had only one option and that was beef. So, I had to pass.

The pide chefs are so fun that we take share jokes and take pictures while barely understanding each other’s languages.

The chefs in the lower open kitchen in the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul are even so much fun to hang out.

Traditional Turkish Food

There are at least 20 food and drink stations all over the huge Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul. My favorites are the traditional Turkish foods but the International flavors are great too. Here are some examples –

  • One of at least half a dozen delicious baklava options.
  • The classic baklava that tastes nothing like the one in stores.
  • More traditional desserts are served in the Turkish Air lounge in Istanbul.
  • A beautiful cake with delicately torched icing topped with fruit in the Turkish Air lounge in Istanbul.
  • The Turkish Air lounge also has a stall of colorful western desserts.
  • Not to forget the Turkish Air Lounge has the popcorn and pretzel mini carts like those in movies theaters.
  • About a dozen unique flavors of olives are attractively displayed in the Turkish Air Lounge. The attention to detail with the small serving dishes, cutlery and wooden mini tongs add to the presentation and practicalities.
  • Olives I chose to try.
  • The fruit cart in the Turkish Air Lounge is perfect for a refreshing snack.

Loads of Activities in Lounge

Guests have many more options in the Istanbul Airport Lounge provided by Turkish airlines. Following is a list –

  • Loads of Turkish food and live food stations for some foods like Turkish pide bread.
  • Library.
  • Video game stations.
  • Remote-control cars for racing on the mini race track.
  • Pool table for some physical activity.
  • Walls of screens with TVs & headsets.
  • Tables lined with iMacs.
  • A movie theater that’s mostly used for sleeping in the comfortable reclining seats.

More Articles from our Balkans Roadtrip

The stop at the lounge was the first step of our Balkans road trip. We had an amazing time visiting the Balkan countries. I’ve shared some of the stories below.

Awesome Food Ideas for Vegans


Related Posts

error: Content is protected !!
Verified by ExactMetrics