Eating in Istanbul: far more than kebab
3 h route4 stopsBest: Kahvaltı from 9 to noon. The meyhanes, at nightUpdated July 2026
If you come to Istanbul thinking about kebab, you’ll eat well but you’ll miss 90% of what’s here. Turkish cooking is one of the world’s great cuisines, and here it crosses with Greek, Armenian, Arab and Balkan: meze, Bosphorus fish, stews, and a breakfast that is practically a national sport.
Here’s what to eat and where to eat it. And a warning: the restaurants in Sultanahmet with menus in five languages and a waiter at the door are exactly what they look like. Cross the bridge, or cross the Bosphorus.
The route, stop by stop
4 STOPS- 01
The Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı)
The kahvaltı doesn’t pass for breakfast, it runs two hours and works as a social event: the table fills with little plates (cheeses, olives, tomato, cucumber, honey with kaymak (clotted cream), eggs with sucuk, jams, simit) and black tea is refilled without you asking.
It’s done with family or friends at weekends, unhurried. Neighbourhoods like Beşiktaş, Kadıköy and Moda are full of kahvaltı places.
If you have one proper Turkish meal, make it this one.
- 02
Balık ekmek and the Galata Bridge
At the foot of the Galata Bridge, in Eminönü, you eat balık ekmek: a grilled mackerel sandwich with onion and lemon, served from moored boats or stalls by the water. It costs little and it’s an institution. On the bridge above, meanwhile, a row of anglers dangle their rods from first light, and underneath there are restaurants. Eat the sandwich standing, watching the ferries. It’s the purest Istanbul there is.
- 03
Meze and rakı in a meyhane
The meyhane works as Turkish tavern and proper dinner: the waiter brings a tray of cold meze (smoked aubergine, garlic yoghurt, vine leaves, cured fish) and you choose by pointing. Then come the hot ones and the fish. It goes with rakı, the local anise spirit, served with water so it turns white: hence "lion’s milk". It isn’t a quick dinner: it’s hours at the table, and that’s the point. Beyoğlu, Karaköy and Kadıköy have the best ones.
- 04
The Kadıköy market
Cross to Asia: the Kadıköy market is where Istanbul shops and eats. Fishmongers, pickles, cheeses, nuts, sweets, and a density of good places with no equivalent on the European side. There are no five-language menus here and nobody touts you in the street. It’s the best food in the city and the cheapest, and you get the best ferry ride thrown in.
Frequently asked
What should you eat in Istanbul?
The Turkish breakfast (kahvaltı) with its twenty small plates, balık ekmek (grilled mackerel sandwich) by the Galata Bridge, and a meze dinner with rakı in a meyhane. Kebab is only a small part of Turkish cooking.
What is rakı?
It’s Turkey’s national anise spirit. It’s served with water, which turns it white (hence "lion’s milk"), and accompanies meze dinners in the meyhanes. It’s drunk slowly and with food, never alone.
Where to eat well in Istanbul without traps?
Away from Sultanahmet: cross to Beyoğlu and Karaköy, or better still, take the ferry to Kadıköy on the Asian side, where the city’s best market is and where locals eat. Avoid places with five-language menus and a waiter touting at the door.