Istanbul Food Guide: Street Food, Meze and the Best Breakfast

Istanbul is the kind of city where I plan my day around meals and fit the sights in between. This Istanbul food guide is how I actually eat here, from the first glass of tea to the last piece of baklava, across both the European and Asian sides. The food is the reason I keep coming back.

The city straddles two continents, and the kitchen pulls from all of it. You get Aegean olive oil dishes, southeastern kebabs, Black Sea cornbread and seafood off the Bosphorus, often within a few streets of each other. Come hungry and give it a few days.

The Turkish breakfast in Istanbul

If you do one thing, make it a proper Turkish breakfast. It is not a plate, it is a spread that takes over the whole table. You get white cheeses, olives, sliced tomato and cucumber, eggs, honey poured over clotted cream (kaymak), jams, warm bread and tea that never stops coming. On weekends locals turn it into a slow morning that runs for hours.

I usually eat breakfast on the Asian side in Kadikoy, where the cafes are relaxed and the quality is high. Order menemen, soft eggs cooked with tomato and pepper, and let the tea keep flowing. It sets you up for a long day of eating.

Istanbul street food

The street food is where this city really shines, and it runs all day. Simit, the sesame bread ring, is the classic snack from a red cart, best with tea or a wedge of cheese. Balik ekmek, a grilled fish sandwich eaten by the water near the Galata Bridge, is a rite of passage. Squeeze lemon on it and eat it standing up.

Then there is lahmacun, a thin flatbread topped with spiced meat that you roll up by hand, and the doner you already know but done properly. Look out for kokorec if you are feeling brave, and midye dolma, stuffed mussels sold by the piece with a squeeze of lemon. For a sweet break, grab a slice of warm pastry from a bakery or a bag of roasted chestnuts in winter.

Meze and raki

Dinner in Istanbul can be a long, slow meze affair, and it is one of my favourite ways to eat anywhere. A meyhane, the Turkish tavern, brings out small cold and hot plates: smoky eggplant, yogurt dips, stuffed vine leaves, fried calamari, white cheese and melon. You pick as you go and the table fills up.

The drink that goes with it is raki, the aniseed spirit that turns cloudy with water. It is strong, so sip it slowly alongside the food and plenty of water. This is a meal to settle into for the evening, not rush. The neighbourhoods around Karakoy and Beyoglu have the atmosphere for it.

Baklava, sweets and coffee

Save room for the sweets, because Istanbul takes them seriously. Baklava is the obvious one, layers of thin pastry with pistachio or walnut and syrup, sold by weight and best from a busy shop where it is still crisp. Try kunefe too, a hot cheese dessert soaked in syrup and topped with more pistachio, eaten with a spoon straight away.

Finish with a Turkish coffee, thick and served in a tiny cup with a glass of water and often a small sweet. Do not stir the grounds at the bottom. If you want something lighter, salep in winter is a warm, creamy drink that locals swear by.

Where to eat: neighbourhoods

I spread my eating across the city rather than staying in the old town. Fatih, around the historic peninsula, is good for traditional spots, lokantas serving home style stews from a counter, and classic kebabs. Karakoy, down by the water, mixes old bakeries with newer places and has great seafood nearby.

My favourite base for food is Kadikoy on the Asian side. Its market streets are packed with fishmongers, delis, bakeries and small eateries, and the whole area feels lived in. Take the ferry across the Bosphorus, wander the stalls and eat your way through an afternoon. The crossing alone, with a tea on deck, is part of the meal.

Budget and practical tips

Istanbul rewards eating like a local. Street food and lokanta lunches are cheap and filling, while a meyhane dinner with raki costs more but is worth doing once. Prices move with the exchange rate, so check current costs before you go and carry some cash for carts and small places.

A few habits that serve me well. Follow the queues, eat where turnover is fast, and do not fill up at the first stop. Spread meals across both sides of the city, and always leave a gap for one more glass of tea.

Planning the wider trip? My Turkey guides cover the coast, Cappadocia and the southeast, and if you love food, Gaziantep deserves a detour. Browse all my Turkey travel stories and tell me where you are eating next.