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?

No related posts.

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.

No related posts.

If you’re a carnivore, you should at least eat once in The Hamdi Restaurant (Hamdi Et Lokantası). Located on Eminönü Square, close to the New Mosque (Yeni Camii) and more or less next to the Spice Bazaar, this restaurant has turned grilling meat into an art. Combined with a panoramic view of the Golden Horn, it’s an opportunity you simply can’t afford to miss.

Hamdi Restaurant (Hamdi Et Locantası)
Location
Tahmis Caddesi Kalçın Sokak, Eminönü
on Map with My Favorite Restaurants in the Historical Part of Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 528 03 90 / +90 212 512 54 24
Open
Daily till midnight.
Credit cards are accepted.

What started out as a one-man show by Hamdi Arpacı himself after moving from Urfa to Istanbul in 1960, grew into one of the locals’ favorite restaurants.

Besides the obligatory and delicious mezes and an assortment of hot starters, the Hamdi Restaurant offers nothing but meat dishes. You can choose from twelve different kebap dishes, grilled to perfection on the charcoal fire (mangal). A glass of cool rakı is the obvious choice to go along with it, but there are of course plenty of other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available.

The Best Spot in the House

Since the place is so immensely popular, despite the fact that it consists of 5 floors with a total capacity of 500 people, you should make reservations.

If the weather is hot, try to get a table on their small terrace. These seats are just priceless. But even if those are no longer available, there is no need to panic. The entire top floor offers a great panoramic view over the Golden Horn and is especially during summer very enjoyable with the windows opened completely. And even if they can’t fit you in there, you can still opt for a table in the Oriental saloon, reflecting the south-east culture.

Starters are TL 5-10, main course TL 13-18.

No related posts.