Breakfast spreads, meyhanes, street food and where locals actually eat.
Turkish food is regionally vast, but Istanbul's own food culture — a mix of Ottoman court cooking, Black Sea, Aegean and Southeastern influences, all layered onto a genuinely serious street-food and market tradition — is a proper cuisine in its own right. Start here; a full district-by-district eating guide is being built out week by week.
The dishes, categories and eating customs that actually define a meal in Istanbul.
Read the guide →Why breakfast (kahvaltı) is treated as a serious, unhurried event — and what's actually on the spread.
Read the guide →The Asian side's market district, and why it's the food-value tip most repeat visitors share.
Read the guide →Simit, balık ekmek, midye dolma and the rest — what to actually order from a cart or stand.
Read the guide →How easy it actually is to eat meat-free here, and the dishes already built for it.
Read the guide →How a traditional rakı-and-meze evening actually unfolds, and the etiquette worth knowing.
Read the guide →Baklava, künefe and Turkish delight — what separates a good version from a mediocre one.
Read the guide →
