With most Istanbul sightseeing spots only open from 09:00 till 17:00, you of course want to make most of the day and not waste any time by having a timely lunch. Luckily, eating on the street is very much a part of local life. You can’t walk from corner to corner on a street, cross a bridge, enter a square or park without coming across one or more snack shops, street stalls (büfe) or street vendors. Most of the snacks on display are delicious, cheap and innocent. But there are a few you may want to stay clear of to avoid the Sultan’s revenge (diarrhea).

Street Vendors

Street vendors are omnipresent on Istanbul’s street. They display their goods in a variety of ways, going from a plain upside down box used as a table to a more professional glass-fronted push-car. Here’s a sample of what they have to offer.

• 

  Street vendor selling simit and açma.

  Simit – A crisp, ring-shaped, savory roll covered with sesame seeds. Delicious when fresh and preferably washed down with ayran (salty liquid yoghurt).

• Açma – This doughnut lookalike is ring-shaped just like the simit, but doesn’t have a crust. It’s soft and oilier, hence less dry.
• Poğaça – A flaky, savory pastry. They come in different versions: plain (sade) or stuffed with pieces of cheese (peynirli), mince (kıymalı) or olives (zeytinli).
• Mısır – During the summer, you can find street sellers offering freshly boiled or grilled corn (mısır) on the cob. Unless you want it generously sprinkled with salt, make sure to tell the seller in time to go easy on it.
• Kestane – Street vendors selling corn in the summer, mostly shift to roasted chestnuts in winter time.
• Su – Water. With temperatures well above 30 C all summer long, you can’t go long without it. It’s perfectly safe to drink the bottles they offer, as long as you make sure the cap has never been opened before.

Street Stalls (Büfe)

Near busy public transportation hubs or in popular (tourist) areas, you’ll find plenty of small kiosks on street corners. These büfes typically sell cigarettes, phone-cards and non-alcoholic cold drinks in cans or small bottles, but most of them also sell inexpensive, tasteful thin roasted sandwiches (tost) and hot dogs (sosili sandviç). Do try out the kaşarlı tost, a sandwich with melted cheese.

Pastry Shops (Börekçi)

Plate of börek

These too are excellent places for a quick breakfast or lunch, although you normally don’t enjoy it while standing in the street. A börekçi is usually a tiny shop, with only a handful of chairs and tables, offering tea, coffee or a small selection of cold drinks and börek.

Börek is a flaky pastry existing of several thin layers. There are different kinds, based on their shape, filling and cooking method. You may want to try out the juicy su böreği (something in between a pastry and a lasagna), peynirli börek (with cheese filling), patatesli börek (with potato filling), ıspanaklı börek (with spinach filling) or kıymalı börek (filled with minced meat).

Most of these shops also sell pide which is a pita like baked dough with the same filling options as börek.

Kebap, Köfte and Döner

These typical Turkish cheap but delicious eateries couldn’t be left out of this list. Here you’ll find an overview of the different kinds of kebap and 14 types of köfte. In the Sultanahmet area, you simply must check out Sultanahmet Köftecisi.
If you’re wandering around in Taksim, try out Çılgın Dürüm – my favorite döner eatery at the beginning of Istiklal Caddesi. Try out their excellent dürüm, a thin roasted sheet of bread, stuffed with döner, salad, a (hot) tomato sauce and french fries. You can have it spicy (acı) or not too spicy (orta).

Fish Sandwiches (Balık ekmek)

Fish sandwiches being prepared on a boat

Balık ekmek is another typical Istanbul snack, and pretty tasteful and safe when prepared fresh. It’s pretty straightforward – a grilled or fried fresh fish inside a large piece of bread. The best way to explore this snack is in Eminönü, left from the Galata Bridge.
You’ll see them prepare the sandwiches on the nicely lined up boats, after which they hand them to customers on the shore.

Street Food to Stay Clear Of

Unless you want to have an army of bacteria for lunch, pass for the following major offenders:

• 

  Street vendor selling midye dolma

  Midye dolma – These are stuffed muscles. Nothing wrong with them and even delicious, but a huge risk when bought on the (sunny) streets. If you really want to try them, order them as a starter for dinner in a respected restaurant.

• Çiğ köfte – This is raw meat, kneaded by hand for hours, seasoned with plenty of spices. A delicacy, but not when sold on the streets. No matter how long you kneed it, it still stays raw meat exposed to high summer temperatures.
• Kokoreç – Lamb intestines cooked with herbs and spices, roasted horizontally on a skewer. Maybe not so much a bacteria heaven, but still… intestines?

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The Turkish national dish is undoubtedly the kebap. Kebap refers to a variety of meat dishes, consisting of grilled or broiled meats (usually lamb or beef) on a skewer or stick.

The word kabab is ultimately from Arabic and originally meant fried meat, not grilled meat. Only in the Turkish period, did kebap gain its current meaning. Turkish tradition has it that medieval Turkic soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open-field fires invented the dish.

One of the most famous kebap dishes is undoubtedly döner. But the kebap comes in many forms, of which you’ll find a wide variety in Istanbul. Take a look at the list below so you know what to order … and to expect.

Grilled Kebabs

• Adana Kebabı – Minced meat (lamb), dried red and green hot pepper, garlic and fresh red pepper are kneaded, coated on the skewers and grilled.
• Antep Kebabı – Minced meat is kneaded with red hot pepper and salt, grilled and served with pide (pitta bread), onion, tomato and green pepper.
• Çağ Kebabı – Very thin sliced lamb meat is rested in onion, yogurt, salt and pepper for a day, put on a skewer, and then grilled. Thin slices are cut like döner and served on skewers with grilled pepper, tomato and onions.
• Döner – Pieces of meat and minced meat are put on a big skewer, cooked vertically by spinning it next to the grill. If you know that dönmek means ‘to turn’, then you understand the origin of the word döner. Thin pieces are cut like leaves with a big knife. Can be served on a plate, in between bread or with pide. Döner dürüm is wrapped in lavaş (tortilla like thin leaves of bread) with some tomato, lettuce, pickles and fried potatoes.
• İskender Kebap – Döner meat is laid on pieces of pide dressed with butter. Yogurt is served on a side of the plate and if preferred tomato sauce and extra butter can be used for dressing. It is also known as Bursa Kebabı.
• Patlıcan Kebabı – Minced meat, salt and pepper kneaded and meatballs are put on the skewer in turns with big pieces of aubergines. Served with grilled tomatoes and peppers.
• Şiş Kebap – Small cubes of lamb meat are rested in onion, yogurt, salt, pepper and olive oil for two hours and then grilled with cubes of pepper and tomato.
• Urfa Kebabı – Minced meat (lamb), dried red hot pepper, onion, tomato and parsley are kneaded, coated on the skewers and grilled. Served on small pieces of pide and dressed with gravy.

Stove or oven cooked Kebabs

• Alinazik – Roasted small chopped pieces of steak or minced meat are served on top of the mash of broiled and peeled aubergine, yogurt, garlic and spices.
• Beyti Kebap – Minded meat is kneaded with tomato, tomato paste, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Wrapped in lavaş (see above), baked and served with tomato sauce and yogurt.
• Buğu Kebabı – Small pieces of lamb meat are cooked with tomato, shallot (small onions), thyme, daphne, salt and pepper in casserole (clay pot) covered with dough not to let the steam go out.
• Kağıt Kebabı – Sebzeli kebap (see below) is cooked, wrapped in fireproof paper and oven cooked some more.
• Sebzeli kebap – Pieces of meat cooked in a pot with various vegetables like onion, potato, carrot, tomato, aubergine, pepper.
• Tandır Kebabı – Lamb chops (legs) are baked with lemon, onion, tomato and green pepper, served with fried potatoes.

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Köfte is commonly translated as meatballs – but this is selling the Turkish versions a bit short. It is believed that there are 291 different kinds of meatballs (köfte) in Turkey. However, originally meatballs came from Iran. They called a mixture of vegetables and eggs covered with meat küfte. Once the Turks got their hands on them, they increased the diversity of the dish enormously and called it köfte. Make sure to eat at least once this Turkish delicacy.

Köfte Ingredients

The diversity comes from a number of sources, such as:

• the minced meat used: lamb or calf
• the onion: grated or chopped
• the cooking style: fried, grilled or baked
• variety and preferences in spices
• type and amount of oil or butter used for frying
• amount of the fat the meat has

Most Common Köfte Dishes

Below you will find the most common meatball dishes (köfte çeşitleri) that you can find in Istanbul (or Turkey for that matter).

• Kuru köfte – Kuru means dry because there is no dressing or sauce, just kneaded and pan fried rolls of minced meat, onion, egg, bread (soaked in water and squeezed), parsley, pepper and köfte baharı (spices mixed for meatballs). Cumin and garlic are optional.
• Dalyan köfte – It is prepared as kuru köfte and rolled as a big loaf with carrots, peas and even hard boiled eggs in the center. Baked in the oven and served in slices.
• İzmir köftesi – The kuru köfte and potatoes cooked with tomato sauce in a pot on the stove or in an oven.
• Çiğ köfte – Fatless minced meat kneaded with grinded wheat (ince bulgur), onion, tomato or red pepper paste and spices like cumin, paprika, pepper, mint, coriander, cinnamon. This is a raw dish, served with lettuce and is ordered as a starter.
• Şiş köfte – It is prepared as kuru köfte, wrapped around a skewer and grilled (originally on a charcoal fire).
• Harput köftesi – Small balls of kneaded minced meat, wheat, onion, parsley, pepper and sweet basil cooked in a sauce of butter, water, tomato and/or red pepper paste.


İçli Köfte is served with lemon and parsley.

• Mercimek köftesi – Red lentil and grinded wheat kneaded with onion, parsley and tomato paste. Served with rocket or lettuce.
• Izgara köfte – It is prepared as kuru köfte only the egg doesn’t participate in the game and it is grilled.
• İçli köfte – Roasted minced meat, onion and walnut with a coating of wheat, flour, egg and red pepper paste. Generally served as a starter. It looks like a big egg, mostly fried but can be boiled as well.
• İnegöl köftesi – Balls of very thoroughly kneaded minced meat, onion, pepper and sodium bicarbonate are cooked in the oven. To get the taste of the meat, very few spices are used.
• Kadınbudu köfte – Big balls of kneaded roasted minced meat and onions with boiled rice are fried after being dipped in flour and eggs.
• Tekirdağ köftesi – It is prepared as kuru köfte, only the bread is used as dry small pieces.
• Sulu köfte – It is a soup like dish. Small balls of kneaded minced meat, grinded wheat or rice, onion and parsley are cooked in a sauce of butter, tomato paste and water. Some prepare the sauce with small cubes of carrots and potatoes as well.
• Ekşili köfte – It is called terbiyeli köfte, too and prepared as sulu köfte. The difference is the additional sour (ekşi) taste. An egg, lemon, yogurt and flour mixture is used to get the sour taste.

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The map below shows you where my favorite restaurants in the modern part of Istanbul are located. The following restaurants (in alphabetical order) can be found on it:

• Nevizade Restaurant

Just click on the corresponding icon on the map below to see more information about the restaurant. With the arrows on the top left-hand side of the map, you can also zoom in and out, or pan in any direction you like.

View My Favorite Restaurants in the Modern Part of Istanbul in a larger map

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The map below shows you where my favorite restaurants in the historical part of Istanbul are located. The following restaurants (in alphabetical order) can be found on it:

• Hamdi Meat Restaurant
• Mozaik Restaurant
• Rumeli Café & Restaurant
• Sultanahmet Köftecisi

Just click on the corresponding icon on the map below to see more information about the restaurant. With the arrows on the top left-hand side of the map, you can also zoom in and out, or pan in any direction you like.

View My Favorite Restaurants in the Historical Part of Istanbul in a larger map

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