The Istanbul El Torrito

I had a dream a few nights ago.  I was cutting into a warm flower tortilla wrapped around beans and guacamole, it was so good, everything I wanted right then.   But right at the hight of my illusionary food experience I awoke, hungry and dismayed.  Turkey doesn't have mexican restaurants, there isn't even taco bell.  But the dream was gone quickly, and it doesn't re-enter this story for several paragraphs.
What happened last night was a long time in bringing about.  One of the teachers and I have been meaning to go out and chat and spend some time together.  We talk at school, sure, but that's always the passing and momentary kind of chatter.  We seem to talk well with each other, always having stuff to make each other laugh, so why not magnify it into an evening?  But we didn't leap at this, no, it must have been two months ago we decided to have a little adventure together, sometime.
On to this weekend, a three day weekend from school, the perfect time!  Now, I love walking and seeing new parts of Istanbul, and we did plenty of both yesterday evening.  Swapping stories about adventure in Istanbul, the prejudices we both had coming here, what we think of Turkish lifestyle, etc.  Our mission was a restaurant, but our selection was limited, no Turkish food, no fish.  Why no Turkish food?  You ask.  Because we've both eaten so much we're growing sick of it, that's why!
The exciting places weren't open yet, and as we walked I began to feel a bit desperate, would we find a non-Turkish, non-fish establishment walking along the Bosphorus?  The options were places like Blackk, one of the hippest places, where everything inside is black, even the washroom.  It's so hip that you bump into furniture, destroy your eyes trying to see where you were walking, and must navigate the bathroom by smell alone.  We didn't go to Blackk.
As we walked my heart sank lower, maybe we should just hit a kebab place, but my companion turned to me.  "Hey, do you like mexican food?  There's an El Torrito's here."  Music to my ears, the dream came rushing back bringing with it waves of saliva.  It was decided, El Torrito, the franchise mexican restaurant I remember going to a few times in Sacramento near the Arden Fair Mall.  There is one in Istanbul, in fact it is right next to T.G.I. Friday's.  Now, it was fun hearing the Turkish waiters try to pronounce Spanish words, (Tortilla and Fajita get mangled) but the food was the same as in my dream.  And it was delicious!
Good exercise, good food, good company, heck it was an excellent evening.