The 17 Best Things to Eat in Istanbul and Where to Find Them
I’ve made it my personal mission to taste as many wonderful foods in Istanbul as possible. This is a list of the absolute best things I’ve had (and none of the bullshit tourist-y foods) and where to find them. See my map at the bottom for exact locations
1. Stuffed Peppers at Ciya Sofrasi
Ciya Sofrasi is a restaurant by famous chef Musa Dagdeviren, featured on Chef’s Table. The goal of the restaurant is to bring foods from all of the different regions of Turkey to peoples’ plates. The spicy rice and meat stuffed red peppers were our favorite but because they have a rotating menu, it may not always be served. No worries though, everything is tasty and the service is great. They will point out each dish and explain what it is which is nice because the lokantasi* experience can be overwhelming.
*A lokantasi is a cafeteria style restaurant catering to tradesmen and workers. You essentially point at what you want across the counter which isn’t always easy in a loud, busy place where you don’t speak the language.
2. Spicy Olives at Godze Sarkuteri
There are A LOT of olive vendors at every market you go to in Istanbul. My absolute favorite olives were at at Godze in Kadikoy Market. They stuff green olives with spicy peppers. The flavor it creates is incredible. I often have to take out the pepper and just eat the olive but there still is significant residual spiciness. Definitely a must for people that like their food with a kick. A kilo of the olives is about $2.50 USD
3. New age Durum wraps at Basta!
Former fine dining chefs opened this fast food restaurant to make high end durums. A durum wrap is a common street food that is essentially grilled meat wrapped in a lavas (la-VASH) bread, which is like a tortilla or flatbread. The chicken and beef durums here are mind bogglingly good. You can get it to go, sit in the very small interior, or grab one of the patio tables outside. We didn’t try their burger but it looked amazing also. If you come on a Saturday afternoon, there is also a decent amount of open air bars to grab a beer at in the neighborhood. The durums here are more expensive than you’ll find elsewhere in the city at about $5 USD.
4. Baklava and Lemon Curd pastries at Bizim Ev
This mom and pop pastry shop is seriously too cute. You can get a bunch of different cookies, cakes, or baklava to go. We chose about 8 different things and paid around $3 USD total. The baklava was amazing but my favorite were the soft cookies with a sweet, tangy lemon filling.
5. Menemen at Lades Menemen and Van Kahvalti Evi
I think my favorite food in all of Istanbul was menemen. It is an egg dish cooked in a small pan. It has a heavy emphasis on tomato and green pepper. I usually choose to add cheese, but you can also add sausage. It’s always served with fresh, crusty bread. It is a breakfast food but often had for lunch as well. The best places to find it are Sades Menemen off of Istiklal Street or at Van Khavalti Evi in Cihangir. It cost about $3 USD. (If you go to Van Kahvalti also order the deep fried dough because its delicious.)
6. Tantuni at Besalti Kirvem Tantuni
Tantuni is similar to Mexican carne asada meat wrapped in a huge greasy tortilla. The beef is thinly sliced cooked in a wok-like pan and served in a tortilla like wrap, usually with onion, tomato, and herbs. It costs around $2-3 USD. They’re very thin and tasty, so probably order 2 or 3 of them. This is street food, but they usually have small tables to sit at and most people have their wraps with a Coca Cola.
7. Adana Durum at Durumzade
This is an Anthony Bourdain recommendation. As mentioned earlier, durum is similar to tortilla or flat bread and often wrapped around kebab meat. The Adana style kebab is from the Adana region of Turkey and is a minced lamb with chili cooked on a shish skewer over a grill. Order the Adana kebab with double meat. Try it with their “salgam” which is pickled turnip juice, if you’re feeling brave. This meal will cost you around $5-6 USD
8. Kaymak
Kaymak is the fatty cream from water buffalo milk that has been chilled and rolled. It is essentially “clotted cream” which is some sort of mix between heavy cream and butter. It literally melts in your mouth and is often served with honey at breakfast. It usually costs around $2-3 USD. My favorite breakfast spot is Çakmak Kahvaltı Salonu in Beşiktaş.
9. Avya Tatlicisi at Sakarya Tatlicisi
This may be one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. It is the quince fruit, which has an apple/pear like texture. It is baked until soft and caramelized, then topped with creamy kaymak. Between the flavors, textures, and the combination of hot and cold, all of it is perfection. Quince is a winter time fruit, so this dessert may not be available if you visit during the summer months. It will cost around $4 USD
10. Sultans Delight/Hunkarbgendi at Karakoy Lokantasi
This dish gets it’s name because apparently a Sultan really liked it. The Karakoy Lokantasi is a more upscale lokantasi, so it does have a changing menu/they may run out of items, but you don’t have to order at the counter. This dish is a smokey, cheesy eggplant puree topped with slow cooked lamb (or chicken) cubes. Enough said. Costs $4-5 USD
11. Midye at Uskudar Market
Oh Midye! These little things are a delight! All over Istanbul you will see big buckets of mussels sitting outside seafood restaurant with a bunch of lemons on the side. Well, if you walk up, someone will come outside and serve you. They are mussels that have been cooked with rice and then re-stuffed. They also taste like heaven. You don’t need to sit down to eat them, the server will just crack them open one by one, drizzle with lemon, and then pass it to you to eat. You can stand there repeating this for as long as you want. I consider 4-5 to be a good snack. They cost about 1 lira or 20 cents, so your whole snack will be about a dollar. The best place to try this dish is at the Uskudar Market on the Asian side of Istanbul but if you can’t make it there, make sure to try them elsewhere.
12. Borek at Cukur Meyhane
Borek is a flaky pastry that is usually filled with ground meat or cheese (cheese is obviously my fav). So this dish is already inherently good because all cheese pastries are, but Cukur took it a step further by making their cheese a gooey herb-y/garlic melt-in-your-mouth creation. It’s really incredible.
Cukur Meyhane is also a great place to get the true “meyhane” experience where you sit around for a few hours ordering lots of small “meze” plates, drinking their anise flavored liqueur raki, and enjoying the evening with friends. Meyhane restaurants usually only take one reservation per table a night because most Turks will stay at their table for 3 or more hours. The meyhanes along Istiklal street are where you will find most hip young Turks on Friday and Saturday nights. (If you go to Cukur also get the grilled red pepper with walnuts, SO good).
13. Simit at.. wherever
My love for carbs is only second to my love for cheese. That said, simit is essentially a circular bread that has been covered in sesame seeds and then toasted. They are sold by street vendors EVERYWHERE and cost 1-2 lira, or 20-40 cents. They are a good breakfast option if you are on the run, or if you need a middle of the day snack.
14. Atom Suslu Kopoglu Mancasi at Sahrap
This is another dish for people who like a little spice. This is the restaurant of a famous Turkish cookbook author, Sahrap Soysal. This dish is actually really simple but tastes amazing. It is a garlicky yogurt covered in hot peppers and olive oil, served with crusty bread. If you go to the restaurant also get the sea bass with crispy beetroot and the lamb shoulder tandoori.
15. Liver and beef skewers at Canim Cigerim
This is another meal that reminds me of Mexican cuisine. At Canim Cigerim you will be escorted upstairs to sit at low-to-the-ground tables. You order by meat and by portion, so you choose liver or beef, and full portion or half portion. The full portion is about 10 skewers of meat. Then they cover your table in accouterments like pickled onions, a spicy salsa, greens, and lavas bread which is tortilla-like. To pull the meat off the skewers like a local, take a piece of lavas in your hand and grip the meat, then slide the metal skewer out, leaving the meat in the lavas bread. Then you essentially create your own taco. No booze served but I will forgive them for that because it’s a fun and tasty experience. A full portion of liver or beef costs 35 lira or $7 USD.
16. Cocktails at The Bar with No Name
Not exactly a food item but this cocktail bar is SO DAMN PERFECT! It’s really dark and covered in candles, tucked into a cobblestone alleyway. The bartender has tinctures everywhere, they are mostly homemade bitters and syrups. The cocktail menu is one page of their creations and one page of traditional cocktails. I think we had two cocktails each and none of them let us down.
17. Okuzgozu or Bogazkere varietals at Solera Winery
Solera wine bar is another hidden gem. It’s got an extensive wine by the glass menu that tells you the varietal, producer and which region of Turkey the wine is from. My favorite Turkish grapes were Bogazkere (bow-aahz-keh-reh) and Okuzgozu (oh-cooz-go-zoo). The glasses are around $3-5 USD each.
That’s it so far! What do you think? Have you been to Istanbul and have any recommendations for me? Let me know! If you are planning a trip to Istanbul, pin the photo below for safe keeping!
Note: I put the approximate prices in USD so people can grasp the cost but you will need to pay in Turkish lira, which at the time of this post is hovering at just over 5 lira to 1 USD.
Thanks so much for this. I am going there for my fourth time soon and needed some vegetarian options.
Enjoy! I miss Istanbul so much! The food, the atmosphere!