Food And Drink in Istanbul

Eating in Istanbul starts with breakfast, which here is a meal rather than a habit. A full kahvaltı arrives as a table of small plates: white cheese and aged kaşar, olives cured two ways, tomatoes and cucumber, honey with clotted kaymak, jams, and eggs done as menemen with peppers. The Van-style houses in Beşiktaş serve it until afternoon. Street food runs on a shorter list: simit from a cart, balık ekmek at the Eminönü quay, stuffed mussels sold by the piece, and kokoreç for the brave.

The evening belongs to the meyhane. Rakı is ordered with a spread of meze, then fish, and the table is meant to last three hours; Nevizade in Beyoğlu, Asmalımescit and the back streets of Kadıköy are where the format lives. Kebabs split by region: Adana with chilli, Urfa without, and İskender under melted butter. For sweets, baklava is judged by its pistachio, künefe by whether the cheese still pulls, and lokum by whether it was cut this week. Tours usually pair the Spice Bazaar in Eminönü with the market at Kadıköy, which is a working market rather than a display.

Practical: alcohol is served in licensed restaurants and meyhanes, not in every café, and a food tour that includes rakı will say so. During Ramadan many kitchens do not serve during daylight, while the iftar table is the best meal of the year. Vegetarians eat well on meze alone; vegans should say so at booking, because most of the sweets and many meze are made with dairy. Market tours are worth taking in the morning, before the fish counters are picked over, and cooking classes usually run three to four hours including the shopping.