What to Eat in Istanbul: A Food Lover's Local Guide

The short answer to what you should eat in Istanbul is: everything that comes in small portions, again and again, from early breakfast to a late meyhane table. The city's cooking joins Ottoman palace recipes, the village dishes of Anatolia and the fish of the Bosphorus, and it is easiest to enjoy when you eat by neighbourhood instead of chasing a single famous restaurant. This guide follows a route that works for a first visit.

How eating works in Istanbul

Think in three layers. First there is street food, which is cheap, fast and often the best thing you will eat all day. Then there are the lokanta, simple restaurants where workers lunch on stews and rice from a steam counter. Finally there are the meyhane, tavern-style places where a table fills slowly with cold meze, fish and raki and the evening is the point. Mixing all three in one day is the classic way to understand the city.

Prices change quickly, so this guide does not quote any. Opening hours also shift with the season and with religious holidays, so check a venue's own page or map listing before making a special trip. If you would rather see how the food fits around the big sights, our Istanbul food theme page lists the places on a map.

Breakfast: menemen, cheese and endless tea

A proper Turkish breakfast is a spread rather than a dish: white cheese, olives, tomatoes and cucumber, honey with clotted cream, jam, eggs and bread, with tea poured in small tulip glasses until you wave it away. Menemen, eggs scrambled with tomato and peppers, is the dish to order if you can only choose one. Locals argue about whether onion belongs in it, and every cook has a view, so just taste and pick your side.

Eat breakfast slowly and late if you can. Weekend brunch spots in Beyoğlu and on the Asian side fill up, while a quiet table in a side street of Sultanahmet is easier on a weekday. Fresh simit, the sesame bread ring sold from carts, is the quick alternative when you are already walking.

Eminönü and the Golden Horn: fish, spice and kebab

The waterfront beside Galata Bridge is where the Eminönü fish sandwich (balık ekmek) is sold, with grilled fish tucked into bread with onion and greens. Squeeze lemon over it and add pickles, and ask for a glass of şalgam, the sour purple turnip and carrot juice that locals drink with it. Eat it standing by the water, watching the ferries, and do not expect a refined experience: the charm is in the noise and the smell of the grill.

A few minutes inland, the covered Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), built in the seventeenth century, is crowded with spices, dried fruit, Turkish delight and cheese. Compare prices between stalls, ask to taste before you buy, and be wary of anything that is sold only to tourists in decorative bags. For a sit-down meal nearby, Hamdi Restaurant is a classic for southeastern-style kebabs, and its terrace above the Golden Horn is best booked ahead for sunset.

Sweet stops: baklava, lokum and milk puddings

Turkish sweets are a category of their own. At Karaköy Güllüoğlu the baklava is thin, crisp and generous with pistachio, and you can order it by weight to taste several kinds. Try it with a spoon of kaymak, the thick clotted cream, if you want the old-fashioned pairing. Go in the morning, when everything has just come out of the oven.

Hafız Mustafa 1864 is the other well-known address, with baklava, lokum and milk desserts in the old shop style. The milk puddings are an underrated corner of the menu: sütlaç is baked rice pudding, and kazandibi is a dense caramelised milk dessert with a slightly burnt base, one of the most Ottoman sweets still in daily use. Tell the staff how sweet you like it and they will gladly suggest a plate to share.

Coffee the Turkish way

Turkish coffee is made in a small pot and served with the grounds still in the cup, topped with a thick foam. At the tiny Mandabatmaz near İstiklal Avenue, the foam is the whole reason to come. Sip slowly and do not stir the grounds, and leave the last mouthful in the cup. A glass of water usually comes alongside, to reset your palate before the first sip.

Coffee is a social break, not a takeaway habit, so sit for a while. If you are on İstiklal for shopping or for the art galleries, it fits naturally between two stops, much as the cafe pauses do in our guide to the best things to do in Amsterdam.

Kadıköy: the market where Istanbulites eat

Take the ferry across to the Asian side and you arrive almost at the doors of the Kadıköy Market. Fishmongers, pickle sellers, cheesemongers, spice shops and small taverns share the lanes, and the best plan is to arrive hungry and graze. Stop for olives and cheese, a bag of fresh fish from a stall, a stuffed mussel, and a pickle or two.

Then walk to Çiya Sofrası, a famous lokanta that revives regional Anatolian dishes you will rarely see elsewhere in the city. Choose from the counter and ask the staff what is seasonal. The kitchen leans on herbs, spices and slow cooking from different regions of the country, so it is a good place to learn how varied Turkish food is beyond kebab.

Evening snacks and a meyhane dinner

Along the Bosphorus at Ortaköy, stalls pile toppings onto huge baked potatoes: that is kumpir. Pick your fillings, such as cheese, corn, olives, pickles and sausage, and eat it by the water near the mosque. It is filling enough to count as dinner, or it can be a cheap start before a longer evening.

For a proper dinner, find a meyhane in Beyoğlu or on the Bosphorus. The table starts with a tray of cold meze to choose from, usually followed by grilled or fried fish, and the conversation is part of the meal. Raki, the aniseed spirit, is diluted with water and sipped slowly; it is optional, and a glass of ayran or tea is perfectly fine. Reserve on weekends, and let the waiter guide the order if you are unsure.

A simple one-day food route

• Morning: breakfast with menemen and tea, then baklava at Karaköy Güllüoğlu.
• Midday: fish sandwich and the Spice Bazaar in Eminönü, then a ferry to Kadıköy.
• Afternoon: graze Kadıköy Market, then lunch at Çiya Sofrası.
• Evening: Turkish coffee near İstiklal, then a meyhane table or kumpir at Ortaköy.

Leave gaps between meals, because the portions add up. If you travel with someone who does not eat fish or meat, vegetables cooked in olive oil, stuffed vine leaves, lentil soup and cheese pastries make the city friendly for vegetarians as well, though it is wise to ask about broth and animal fat.

Build your own food days

Food looks best when it is placed around the sights you actually want to see. Tell the planner your dates and interests and it will arrange stops by area, so you are never crossing the Bosphorus for a snack twice. If you want to see how another historic Mediterranean city is paced, read our Athens guide, or see how a short coastal break is organised in our two days in Dubrovnik plan.

For the wider picture, start from the Turkey country page or the Istanbul day-by-day plan, and keep your first day light: jet lag and a heavy lunch are a poor combination, and you will want the room to try the next stall.