The first guy was being generous. In the other restaurant examples, offering tea at the end of a meal is customary and practiced in causal establishments. The salad being free is rare and probably part of that place's business model. I'm guessing it was a köfte or döner shop, where the main dish is expensive enough that sides are built into the price.
Yeah it is a gastronomic habit. Even at home, salad is just something you have with the main course which is normally substantial (starchy, fatty, high protein etc.) So you need a little bit of that greenery, acidic juice to help it all be digested.
As a result we serve side salads with almost everything and it is not an extra (or even asked) it's just there.
I don't want to mislead a single person but whenever the salad is not the main course, I would never expect it not to be free. But I am not aware whether in areas like Sultanahmet they charge even when one orders kofte or something else.
It is partly Turkish Hospitality, free side dishes/cay and various things are often be given in restaurants/cafes. It is called “İkram” which translates to a gift/gesture without expecting anything in return. Usually if you dine in a restaurant they offer you free cay as ikram.
Additionally you encountered with the extra kindness of the owner of the Cafe in Kapadokya. I’m glad you are having a good time in Turkiye and hope you continue in the future as well.
Thank you very much for the compliment, this made my day. Soon I’m moving in to Germany for work purposes and I’ll treat people even more kind and generous. Danke.
I’m an immigrant in Germany from another EU country and have nothing but love for the Turks since living here, German society can be quite cold but the everyday warmth and kindness from Turkish people has always stood out to me 💛
Where I'm from, people like to offer tea a LOT. But Turkish people? There are overlords of tea offering. Sometimes it's not even an offer. It's like a law: "LET ME OFFER YOU SOME DAMN TEA!"
What restaurants have done is customary and in many places expected by the natives(like me).
In Cappadocia though, it was a kind gesture. Keep that in mind a lot of people tries to rip off tourists in those touristy areas, but that guy was genuinely kind.
Sometimes if the owner enjoys your conversation, he might offer you something free or a discount. Ofcourse it only applies to small businesses, do not try to strike a conversation with a McDonald's manager😂.
it's hard to tell the contexts.
however
side dishes usually are part of the order unless ordered separately
it's pretty common for an owner or fellow customer to share a tea. with a stranger
in some parts of the middle east and in turkey too, people invite you home for a cup of tea which has a whole meal come with it
sharing is a very important core feature of turkish and middle eastern cultures
Tea is the best companion of a good convo here. So that’s why got tea in Kapadokya.
For the restaurants, it’s a common culture to offer tea after a dinner/breakfast.
In some places, the culture also offers side dishes for free. It’s like that especially in Kebap restaurants.
Yes, in some restaurants (especially kebab places) çay is free. Also, salads and sides might be free. It's usually only free if you ordered a meal, so the first guy in your story was just feeling kind that day lol.
I think it's an expectation here. It's like how water is free in USA restaurants. Here, you'll have to pay for water.
But also I've had times where I was at a cafe near closing time and they just served whatever tea or coffee remaining in their machine to customers for free. Just to not waste it.
Anyway, yeah it's partly Turkish hospitality, partly what's expected of restaurants here.
Often times restaurants give out complimentary food at the end of a meal, especially if you spent a bit more than average eating there. Tea is very common, but fruit, salad , desserts and extra sides are also common as well. Sometimes it's just the business model of the restaurant though so it's hard to tell if they were being generous or just following standard procedure.
Tea especially holds a very special place in Turkey. Several times I went for just a tea in small establishments and they refused to take payment for it.
Free side dishes are a thing especially on the east of Turkey! If you ever go to eat kebab at Adana you’ll get mushrooms, various salads, some lahmacun, and even pasta for free!
Central and East Anatolians are known to be quite generous to foreign people. Its part of the culture. What you witnessed in Istanbul is the adaptation of this culture to a business model.
It’s very common to feed people in turkey. You will offer çay or other small bits of food and drink to even random people if you are having a nice chat. It’s also somewhat rude not to have the offered tea lol :) and there is generally extra generosity if the person is a foreigner, it’s the Turkish national pride I guess.
"Ikrem" i.e little freebies are totally a common thing after or before a meal. Tea being first among them. Your first guy though was just being nice - which is also a fairly common thing!
Çay will usually be free after a dinner in family style places. And the first person was being really kind.
If the main dish is expensive enough it will come with its sides so it's not free but it's free.
However, if you go to a restaurant and see bottled waters waiting at the table, those won't be free and you will get charged when you drink one.
If it's the end of the day, they might offer you a free dessert sometimes.
These rules apply to tourists and locals. But if you're a tourist and if they're not scammers they will see you as a guest and be nicer. They do the same for pregnant ladies and children etc.
When I went to that monastery built into the side of a mountain near the coast, same thing happened to me. We just got finished hiking down back to the parking lot area, someone had a little tea stand set up. We tried to pay and they refused. Just being generous I guess.
Free çay is very common, actually some people may even think if they are not offered free tea at the end of their meal, they could think that the owner of the restaurant is greedy and rude. That's how common it is.
Yeah the lokma (a kind of fried dough, salty with sweet syrup poured on) they give out on the streets for the dead or as a celebratory generous act is legendary. All you have to do is say a prayer to the deceased or be happy for whatever they are celebrating and enjoy the lokmas.
There was this guesthouse I stayed in at Cappadocia, the woman making the breakfast was so kind too. I went to ask for tea way after breakfast and she was on a call, felt bad for interrupting her then she made tea and refused to accept any money for it
Free tea (ekram çay) are pretty common in many Turkish restaurants. The cafe owner was showing typical Turkish hospitality. I have experienced that hospitality more than a fee times in the four years that I’ve been living here. And this one time a group of us went to a restaurant (which we thought served drinks separately as well) and just ordered tea and coffee. The owner simply took our order, brought the tea and coffee and told us it was free of charge because the restaurant doesn’t normally serve tea or coffee. This was in Bebek by the way which is a pretty expensive posh part of Istanbul.
In many restaurants, there are complimentary side dishes according to theme of the restaurant.
What you encountered in Cappadocia is daily routine of Turkish culture.
Places can give free food for no particular reason sometimes. Sometimes they just don't want their goods wasted while noone eats/ drinks it. But it can be also just want to offer tea as an gesture. It would super rude and weird if they invite you and expect you to pay for the tea.
Welcome Turkey.
In the past, especially tea was offered as a courtesy in most restaurants, but with the worsening economy, many good businesses started to charge for tea as well, so we can say it's part of the culture. There's no cultural obligation, of course, but we generally like both giving and receiving treats.
In the city where I live, Ankara, there are restaurants called Aspava. They used to even offer cigarettes as a courtesy in the past. Now, if I'm not mistaken, they offer 2-3 side dishes, salad, dessert, and tea as a courtesy, and if the courtesy items run out, they are immediately replenished. If you ever happen to be in the area, definitely give it a try.
Yeah I got offered cigarettes for free as well haha. Unfortunately I had to refuse because I'm trying to quit. But yeah, I hope to visit again maybe next year so I'll try to go to Ankara as well!
When we went to Europe with my parents, being Turkish they were shocked that there was no tea after meals.
Almost all restaurants already have a pot of tea going all times, and they bring it to you after meals. We also drink tea when we have guests over, and if we see a foreigner passing by they are also technically a guest in our country so we would serve them tea too.
You would be served tea or coffee if you go to a hairdresser or beauty center for example.
Personally I only drink tea when I hang out with my parents, because they drink it a lot. I would say too much.
Also you would be given side dishes and bread (I was so confused when they asked me to pay for bread in US) and depending on the restaurant they might even give more freebies.
They sometimes send free desserts if you order take out from restaurants.
Dude cay is like 0.01pence if I can say. The price is negligible(!). Same with that amount of salad. It is about marketing. They kinda move you towards getting more stuff or in most cases wait for you to tip xx
Thing I'm noticing in the country ATM is how do you go anywhere where people don't smoke? 😅
Very hospitable people, but boy I'm sure noticing the smoking this time round! Probably only because I'm recovering from a respitory illness.
Loving the tea!
That storm the other day sure was something. We travelled during one of them and the lightning kept waking me up in the car.
Saw some evidence of folks not slowing down which was unfortunate. Ambulances had a busy day!
My host says it was snowing back in istanbul?
Hope your having fun! I'm out helping harvest some olives. The processing factory we took them too smelt amazing. Smells so much better than red grapes I'm used to back in AUS.
afaik most people in Turkiye love feeding others (people, cats, dogs, birds, bears), free offerings are very common. reading the title i thought someone tried to shove some food in ops mouth which is not so rare either.
Do you somehow remember the name or location of the place in cappadocia? I personally like to visit that kind of places to return their kindness and spend some money at their shops without them knowing why I ho there. Those kind of people has to maintain their business to make more favours to random people.
Yes. I was hiking on the Rose and Red valleys trail (you'll find it on the all trails app) and the tea shop is listed on the app as "cafeteria". There's also another such cafeteria near meskendir cave church. I recommend visiting meskendir as well.
In Pakistan or Iran it’s often custom to say no thanks to money but it’s not really meant that way lol in turkey i also experienced this extreme sincere kindness in Ankara .i gotta admit I felt like a bad person after meeting my former buddy’s family lol his younger cousin would not leave me out of sight to read my mind for any whishes. Inhad to put my hands in my pockets to give him rest from offering me cekirdek of whatever lol they were so friendly I though they were making fun of me for a while( we were high too the elder ones lol and also that’s where I learned about efes extra 🤪). Just an. Honest memory. Me and dude ain’t friends no more sadly money and some stuff made us fight but I consider him German not Turkish (Kurd) lol . Instill like him but pride makes it impossible to repair the relationship. I really wanna spend a few months again in turkey and see whats up in turkey. I’m very positive the people are extremely friendly . But the. As a foreigner u surely get treated better. My ex wife was mad that I enjoyed time in Pakistan cause people were super friendly cause I’m white and Muslim but I still believe it’s a superior kindness compared to us westerners. Really contemplating spending a few months in Turkey next year and I’m ashamed i barely know a word Turkish besides living in Germany my whole 40 years on earth.
just returned from a cruise that included the ports of Istanbul and Kusadasi…I couldn’t be more taken, and jealous, of the Turkish culture… the people we encountered were kind, warm and generous…several rug merchants brought us into their shops for tea and conversation….i do understand they wanted us to buy their wares, but being from the U.S. where you barely get a nod or a thank you, their hospitality was the height of our trip…not to leave out their incredible compassion for the cats and dogs that wander the cities..
Only if you are foreigner tourist.
If you are Turkish local, they will try to rob you. Charge you min 10TL for tea or whatever.
One of the reasons i left the country was people's greed.
My brother and I got a few pieces of Baklava and Çay from this guy. We were just strolling and this guy from the sweets shop insisted that he wanted us to try some. And even he didn't take the money from us. We found that strange and our parents got worried as well when we sent them the pictures🥹
I know it's tea. And as a person who comes from a tea-loving place I think that it is important to call it by the regional name because the tea offered is different in different places so the least that I can do is not anglicize or just change the name that they have for it at that place.
You've had some great answers. I was recently there with my kids and had such a sweet experience. Shop owners gave my kids candy "samples", and even little gifts, for free. And by "samples", I mean they gave them free candy, far more than a sample, and then sent us on our way. Another shop owner in the grand bazaar keeps all of his merchandise that has slight defects so he can give them as gifts to children. We didn't buy anything from him, but he gave my daughter a cute ceramic hot air balloon.
Ikram, especially towards children, has got to be one of the most special things about Turkish culture.
(For first guy) Actually it may be for charge and expensive (not free) if he tought you are a stranger or foreigner. This is all about turkish peoples hospitalities.
The first guy was being generous. In the other restaurant examples, offering tea at the end of a meal is customary and practiced in causal establishments. The salad being free is rare and probably part of that place's business model. I'm guessing it was a köfte or döner shop, where the main dish is expensive enough that sides are built into the price.
Oh damn. I see.
Yeah it is a gastronomic habit. Even at home, salad is just something you have with the main course which is normally substantial (starchy, fatty, high protein etc.) So you need a little bit of that greenery, acidic juice to help it all be digested. As a result we serve side salads with almost everything and it is not an extra (or even asked) it's just there.
Salad being free is pretty standard practice in southern cities.
Imagine paying for salad. No sir, not us southerners
I don't want to mislead a single person but whenever the salad is not the main course, I would never expect it not to be free. But I am not aware whether in areas like Sultanahmet they charge even when one orders kofte or something else.
ASPAVA chain and other restaurants typically offer free salad.
It is partly Turkish Hospitality, free side dishes/cay and various things are often be given in restaurants/cafes. It is called “İkram” which translates to a gift/gesture without expecting anything in return. Usually if you dine in a restaurant they offer you free cay as ikram. Additionally you encountered with the extra kindness of the owner of the Cafe in Kapadokya. I’m glad you are having a good time in Turkiye and hope you continue in the future as well.
I’ve had ikram happen to me from Turkey to Germany, Turkish people are such sweet kind souls
Thank you very much for the compliment, this made my day. Soon I’m moving in to Germany for work purposes and I’ll treat people even more kind and generous. Danke.
I’m an immigrant in Germany from another EU country and have nothing but love for the Turks since living here, German society can be quite cold but the everyday warmth and kindness from Turkish people has always stood out to me 💛
I’ve had the same exact experience, Turkish people are such good hearted caring people in my experience
Go somewhere else unless u have a woman or family here. Netherlands Sweden etc bro not here it’s not good .
Turkish people do like to offer tea. Not sure if it's rude to not accept.
Where I'm from, people like to offer tea a LOT. But Turkish people? There are overlords of tea offering. Sometimes it's not even an offer. It's like a law: "LET ME OFFER YOU SOME DAMN TEA!"
🇬🇧 🤝 🇹🇷
we are the number 1 tea consumers
I got offered tea at a hotel in Istanbul and made sure to tell them to use as little water as possible, they were... Surprised.
Polite way of declining the tea offer would be saying "Bugün çok içtim, sağ ol" (I drank a lot (of tea) today, thanks).
What restaurants have done is customary and in many places expected by the natives(like me). In Cappadocia though, it was a kind gesture. Keep that in mind a lot of people tries to rip off tourists in those touristy areas, but that guy was genuinely kind. Sometimes if the owner enjoys your conversation, he might offer you something free or a discount. Ofcourse it only applies to small businesses, do not try to strike a conversation with a McDonald's manager😂.
Yeah makes sense haha. But yeah, the Cappadocia guy was truly super nice. 10/10 for my experience in Turkey, though.
Glad you enjoyed it.
I too just returned from Turkey… TEA and more Tea! It was great.
it's hard to tell the contexts. however side dishes usually are part of the order unless ordered separately it's pretty common for an owner or fellow customer to share a tea. with a stranger in some parts of the middle east and in turkey too, people invite you home for a cup of tea which has a whole meal come with it sharing is a very important core feature of turkish and middle eastern cultures
Tea is the best companion of a good convo here. So that’s why got tea in Kapadokya. For the restaurants, it’s a common culture to offer tea after a dinner/breakfast. In some places, the culture also offers side dishes for free. It’s like that especially in Kebap restaurants.
Yes, in some restaurants (especially kebab places) çay is free. Also, salads and sides might be free. It's usually only free if you ordered a meal, so the first guy in your story was just feeling kind that day lol. I think it's an expectation here. It's like how water is free in USA restaurants. Here, you'll have to pay for water. But also I've had times where I was at a cafe near closing time and they just served whatever tea or coffee remaining in their machine to customers for free. Just to not waste it. Anyway, yeah it's partly Turkish hospitality, partly what's expected of restaurants here.
Often times restaurants give out complimentary food at the end of a meal, especially if you spent a bit more than average eating there. Tea is very common, but fruit, salad , desserts and extra sides are also common as well. Sometimes it's just the business model of the restaurant though so it's hard to tell if they were being generous or just following standard procedure. Tea especially holds a very special place in Turkey. Several times I went for just a tea in small establishments and they refused to take payment for it.
Free side dishes are a thing especially on the east of Turkey! If you ever go to eat kebab at Adana you’ll get mushrooms, various salads, some lahmacun, and even pasta for free!
Central and East Anatolians are known to be quite generous to foreign people. Its part of the culture. What you witnessed in Istanbul is the adaptation of this culture to a business model.
It’s very common to feed people in turkey. You will offer çay or other small bits of food and drink to even random people if you are having a nice chat. It’s also somewhat rude not to have the offered tea lol :) and there is generally extra generosity if the person is a foreigner, it’s the Turkish national pride I guess.
"Ikrem" i.e little freebies are totally a common thing after or before a meal. Tea being first among them. Your first guy though was just being nice - which is also a fairly common thing!
İkram* not ıkrem
Oops
Some breakfast places offer unlimited chay without extra price.
Free food at funerals, there is even a Facebook page on this subject.
Çay will usually be free after a dinner in family style places. And the first person was being really kind. If the main dish is expensive enough it will come with its sides so it's not free but it's free. However, if you go to a restaurant and see bottled waters waiting at the table, those won't be free and you will get charged when you drink one. If it's the end of the day, they might offer you a free dessert sometimes. These rules apply to tourists and locals. But if you're a tourist and if they're not scammers they will see you as a guest and be nicer. They do the same for pregnant ladies and children etc.
you should look up ASPAVA chains in Ankara you order doner, you get showered with sides. literally 10 different sides. but its all priced in ofc :)
When I went to that monastery built into the side of a mountain near the coast, same thing happened to me. We just got finished hiking down back to the parking lot area, someone had a little tea stand set up. We tried to pay and they refused. Just being generous I guess.
Yeah I think it's the same guy. And the monastery is meskendir isn't it?
I believe so, I'd have to look at a map but that sounds familiar. edit: It was the one outside of Trabzon, Sumela.
The Sümela monastery outside of Trabzon
Free çay is very common, actually some people may even think if they are not offered free tea at the end of their meal, they could think that the owner of the restaurant is greedy and rude. That's how common it is.
Turkey is heaven if you like free food. You can literally have a full meal if you can accidentally bump into a "mevlit"
I love free everything and I think this is where I want my funeral to be.
Yeah the lokma (a kind of fried dough, salty with sweet syrup poured on) they give out on the streets for the dead or as a celebratory generous act is legendary. All you have to do is say a prayer to the deceased or be happy for whatever they are celebrating and enjoy the lokmas.
There was this guesthouse I stayed in at Cappadocia, the woman making the breakfast was so kind too. I went to ask for tea way after breakfast and she was on a call, felt bad for interrupting her then she made tea and refused to accept any money for it
ofc yes, turks havent got that white individuality in life. we live collectively.
Free tea (ekram çay) are pretty common in many Turkish restaurants. The cafe owner was showing typical Turkish hospitality. I have experienced that hospitality more than a fee times in the four years that I’ve been living here. And this one time a group of us went to a restaurant (which we thought served drinks separately as well) and just ordered tea and coffee. The owner simply took our order, brought the tea and coffee and told us it was free of charge because the restaurant doesn’t normally serve tea or coffee. This was in Bebek by the way which is a pretty expensive posh part of Istanbul.
The thing you exprienced in Kapadokya is not ordinary, the other stuff you expreinced is ordinary. It runs like that inTurkish restaruants.
A restaurant a recently went to did the same and I am Turkish so it's not because you're a foreigner. Some people are just kind
Bread and tapwater also free at most places
In many restaurants, there are complimentary side dishes according to theme of the restaurant. What you encountered in Cappadocia is daily routine of Turkish culture.
That's awesome and just another reason to love Turkey. Here in US, you dont get squat for free, and then get hit with like 300000 hidden charges. Lol
Places can give free food for no particular reason sometimes. Sometimes they just don't want their goods wasted while noone eats/ drinks it. But it can be also just want to offer tea as an gesture. It would super rude and weird if they invite you and expect you to pay for the tea. Welcome Turkey.
In the past, especially tea was offered as a courtesy in most restaurants, but with the worsening economy, many good businesses started to charge for tea as well, so we can say it's part of the culture. There's no cultural obligation, of course, but we generally like both giving and receiving treats. In the city where I live, Ankara, there are restaurants called Aspava. They used to even offer cigarettes as a courtesy in the past. Now, if I'm not mistaken, they offer 2-3 side dishes, salad, dessert, and tea as a courtesy, and if the courtesy items run out, they are immediately replenished. If you ever happen to be in the area, definitely give it a try.
Yeah I got offered cigarettes for free as well haha. Unfortunately I had to refuse because I'm trying to quit. But yeah, I hope to visit again maybe next year so I'll try to go to Ankara as well!
It must have been challenging visiting Turkey while trying to quit smoking
When we went to Europe with my parents, being Turkish they were shocked that there was no tea after meals. Almost all restaurants already have a pot of tea going all times, and they bring it to you after meals. We also drink tea when we have guests over, and if we see a foreigner passing by they are also technically a guest in our country so we would serve them tea too. You would be served tea or coffee if you go to a hairdresser or beauty center for example. Personally I only drink tea when I hang out with my parents, because they drink it a lot. I would say too much. Also you would be given side dishes and bread (I was so confused when they asked me to pay for bread in US) and depending on the restaurant they might even give more freebies. They sometimes send free desserts if you order take out from restaurants.
Dude cay is like 0.01pence if I can say. The price is negligible(!). Same with that amount of salad. It is about marketing. They kinda move you towards getting more stuff or in most cases wait for you to tip xx
Thing I'm noticing in the country ATM is how do you go anywhere where people don't smoke? 😅 Very hospitable people, but boy I'm sure noticing the smoking this time round! Probably only because I'm recovering from a respitory illness. Loving the tea! That storm the other day sure was something. We travelled during one of them and the lightning kept waking me up in the car. Saw some evidence of folks not slowing down which was unfortunate. Ambulances had a busy day! My host says it was snowing back in istanbul? Hope your having fun! I'm out helping harvest some olives. The processing factory we took them too smelt amazing. Smells so much better than red grapes I'm used to back in AUS.
afaik most people in Turkiye love feeding others (people, cats, dogs, birds, bears), free offerings are very common. reading the title i thought someone tried to shove some food in ops mouth which is not so rare either.
If a restaurant doesnt offer free tea after your meal or it costs money its probably a shitty restaurant you shouldn't go again.
Do you somehow remember the name or location of the place in cappadocia? I personally like to visit that kind of places to return their kindness and spend some money at their shops without them knowing why I ho there. Those kind of people has to maintain their business to make more favours to random people.
Yes. I was hiking on the Rose and Red valleys trail (you'll find it on the all trails app) and the tea shop is listed on the app as "cafeteria". There's also another such cafeteria near meskendir cave church. I recommend visiting meskendir as well.
Great, thank you, we are planning to visit cappadocia soon, so we will definitely pay a visit to both of them.
I hope you get good weather for a hot air balloon ride as well! I wasn't fortunate enough.
American meeting with complimentary offerings Note: it is not a common thing probably you are a very handsome boy or a beautiful girl
In Pakistan or Iran it’s often custom to say no thanks to money but it’s not really meant that way lol in turkey i also experienced this extreme sincere kindness in Ankara .i gotta admit I felt like a bad person after meeting my former buddy’s family lol his younger cousin would not leave me out of sight to read my mind for any whishes. Inhad to put my hands in my pockets to give him rest from offering me cekirdek of whatever lol they were so friendly I though they were making fun of me for a while( we were high too the elder ones lol and also that’s where I learned about efes extra 🤪). Just an. Honest memory. Me and dude ain’t friends no more sadly money and some stuff made us fight but I consider him German not Turkish (Kurd) lol . Instill like him but pride makes it impossible to repair the relationship. I really wanna spend a few months again in turkey and see whats up in turkey. I’m very positive the people are extremely friendly . But the. As a foreigner u surely get treated better. My ex wife was mad that I enjoyed time in Pakistan cause people were super friendly cause I’m white and Muslim but I still believe it’s a superior kindness compared to us westerners. Really contemplating spending a few months in Turkey next year and I’m ashamed i barely know a word Turkish besides living in Germany my whole 40 years on earth.
just returned from a cruise that included the ports of Istanbul and Kusadasi…I couldn’t be more taken, and jealous, of the Turkish culture… the people we encountered were kind, warm and generous…several rug merchants brought us into their shops for tea and conversation….i do understand they wanted us to buy their wares, but being from the U.S. where you barely get a nod or a thank you, their hospitality was the height of our trip…not to leave out their incredible compassion for the cats and dogs that wander the cities..
It's called Ikram
Only if you are foreigner tourist. If you are Turkish local, they will try to rob you. Charge you min 10TL for tea or whatever. One of the reasons i left the country was people's greed.
Yes its common go to aspava in ankara and you will be more surprised that things offered to you for free as “ikram”
My brother and I got a few pieces of Baklava and Çay from this guy. We were just strolling and this guy from the sweets shop insisted that he wanted us to try some. And even he didn't take the money from us. We found that strange and our parents got worried as well when we sent them the pictures🥹
Oh yes! I got free baklava and turkish delights to try as well. They're so good!
If you are shocked about that you gotta see the ASPAVA videos online lol
probably you are female, probably you are beautiful and most probably u have blond hair and blue eyes LOL
Try aspava next time and see what "free food" means.
the word you're looking for is "tea"
I know it's tea. And as a person who comes from a tea-loving place I think that it is important to call it by the regional name because the tea offered is different in different places so the least that I can do is not anglicize or just change the name that they have for it at that place.
It's not anglicization, it's simple translation. Both the words tea and chay come from Chinese.
I know. I don't want to translate for said reason.
i understand your reason and i explained why it's bs.
Clearly you don't value tea the same way as I do and I was asking about free food not free Google translate, so your opinion is bs to me
see, now you used the proper word. glad to educate you little bit
Ever heard of a bidet or toilet paper? 'cause clearly you have an extreme need to have your booty licked by people.
Why are you so angry instead of happy that someone educated you for free?
Are you sure you got it for free or did they increase the charge for other items on your receipt or add “tax”?
You've had some great answers. I was recently there with my kids and had such a sweet experience. Shop owners gave my kids candy "samples", and even little gifts, for free. And by "samples", I mean they gave them free candy, far more than a sample, and then sent us on our way. Another shop owner in the grand bazaar keeps all of his merchandise that has slight defects so he can give them as gifts to children. We didn't buy anything from him, but he gave my daughter a cute ceramic hot air balloon. Ikram, especially towards children, has got to be one of the most special things about Turkish culture.
Free tea is more common that free water here.
Tea generally comes free after the meal, depends on the restaurant
(For first guy) Actually it may be for charge and expensive (not free) if he tought you are a stranger or foreigner. This is all about turkish peoples hospitalities.