Food and dining in Istanbul

You will not stay hungry in Istanbul, but in order not to go broke on food, you should at least be a little guided in the variety of establishments, dishes, and prices.

There are many cafes and restaurants, street fast food is offered on every corner, there are world chain restaurants Burger King, KFC, McDonald's. The cuisine of different peoples is represented, but most often there is local Turkish and European. In general, the local cuisine is familiar to us, it is still not a spicy Exotic of Southeast Asia, but differs from our dishes with a spicy taste due to the addition of spices. But you can try exotic dishes and combinations of products, for example: roasted chestnuts, Fish sandwiches, fried corn, ice cream with hot halva. Despite the abundance of meat dishes, pork here you will not find.

Here are popular Turkish dishes for everyday meals, as well as what is worth trying:

• Doner (Doner). The most inexpensive and common food for snacking. This is a meat sandwich wrapped in pita bread or in bread, maybe with meat, chicken, other fillers. Depending on the filling and method of preparation, doners are called differently, but in general it is about the same. Cost - from 7 liras (0.15 USD, see Turkish currency and exchange rate).
• Kebab (Kebab). A dish of grilled meat. It can be both a full-fledged separate dish in a cafe and a snack. There are a lot of varieties under different names. For example, shawarma is also a kebab. Cost - from 15 liras (0.33 USD).
• Balık Ekmek. Fish sandwiches in bread or pita bread. We do not advise you to buy them as advised by all guidebooks on the pier Eminenyu (Eminonu), but better elsewhere, read below where. Cost-15 liras (0.33 USD).
• Bagel Simit (Simit). Delicious flour bagel with sesame. Sold from stalls on the street (more expensive) and in supermarkets (cheaper). The cost is from 1.25 per piece. (0.03 USD)
• Roasted chestnuts (Kestane). Sold everywhere from mobile trays on the street. A delicacy for an amateur, but it's worth trying once. The cost is 10 lire per 100 grams (0.22 USD).
• Turkish sweets. Turkish sweets are sold by weight and in boxes for long-term storage and transportation. While you are in Istanbul, buy for yourself only sweets by weight. Although they are more expensive than in boxes, they also taste like Earth and Sky. Prices are not low, from 60 lire per kilogram (1.31 USD), but their taste is divine. Don't chase cheapness: cheap sweets taste cheap too.
• Ice Cream Dondurma (Dondurma). This is Turkish ice cream, but not at all like ours (OURS, of course, is the best in the world). It is also made on the basis of milk, but viscous. Sometimes it is served with special fillers, for example, covered with melted chocolate or halva. Costs from 7 lire per cup (0.15 USD). But be careful when buying it on Istiklal Street, where sellers cheat with prices: they say the price is 10 lire, and after cooking they demand up to 50 lire.

Learn more about dishes that are worth it be sure to try in Istanbul here.

Where to eat in Istanbul

So, as we mentioned, in order to find an institution where to eat in Istanbul, there are no problems. The usual cafes for locals and canteens, restaurants for tourists, mobile carts with snacks can be found on any street and in any area. Therefore, we will not dwell in detail on specific networks and restaurants, but we will tell you about the places of their concentration.:

• Istiklal Street and the alleys east of it (down to the Bosphorus embankment). A lot of tourist places with high prices. But if you go into the alleys, the price is lower. Learn more about Istiklal Street.
• Taksim Square. On the Square itself, of course, there is nothing, but there are a lot of inexpensive local fast foods around. Especially many of them are concentrated in Istiklal and Siraselviler streets, and Burger King is also located there. It was in this place that we came across the most delicious doners. Learn more about Taksim Square.
• Galata Bridge. On the lower level of the bridge there are pedestrian alleys, along which fish restaurants stretch. Prices here, of course, are high, but the views of the Bosphorus are stunning, which is why this place is especially popular with tourists, where they are led by guides in whole groups. But there is a little secret: if you come here not in the evening, but in the afternoon, you can bargain and eat for quite reasonable money. Learn more about the Galata Bridge.
• Eateries on the waterfront near the pier Eminenyu and Sirkeci (Eminonu / Sirkeci). This place is famous for a large number of mobile carts with food, and fish sandwiches Balık Ekmek, which are sold from the boat kitchens. But we would not recommend buying Balık Ekmek here. Because of the influx of tourists, they have completely lost quality, and sell tasteless sandwiches with bones. It is better to go to the other side across the bridge, where in the evenings on the waterfront of the Marina Karakoy (Karaköy) there is a mobile tray with much more delicious fish sandwiches for 15 lire.

If you are staying in Istanbul in a guest house or apartment, then there is often a simple kitchen for cooking. Products can be bought in markets, from stalls, or in supermarkets. Supermarkets are usually cheaper, and you can pay with a bank card. Food prices are generally the same as in Russia: something is more expensive, and something is Cheaper. Look for supermarkets Sok, Migros, Carefour, Bim, Namli. By Russian standards, these are very small supermarkets, but you can buy everything you need in them. There are no large hypermarkets in the tourist areas of Istanbul.

Here is the price order of some products in Istanbul supermarkets for a reference:

• Eggs 15 PCs – - 6.95 lire (0.15 USD).
• Milk 1L – - 3.25 lire (0.07 USD).
• Bread-1.75 lire (0.04 USD).
• Potatoes 1kg. - 1.65 lire (0.04 USD).
• Grapes 1kg. (in season) - 5.6 lire (0.14 USD).
• Pomegranates 1kg. (in season) - 4,95 (0.11 USD).
• Water 1.5 L. - 0.9 lira (0.02 USD).
• Beer 0.5 L. - 12 lire (0.26 USD).

Istanbul food prices

You can have a snack on the go with Turkish fast food (doner, kebab) from 10 lira (0.22 USD). In a local cafe or canteen, a dish costs from 15 lire (0.33 USD), with drinks you can eat for 20 lire (0.44 USD). Some local establishments sometimes offer profitable complexes with a dish and a drink from 15 lire.

For a dish in a cafe or restaurant for tourists in the area of Istiklal street or Sultanahmet will have to pay from 25 lira (0.54 USD), in restaurants from 40 lire (0.87 USD). But sometimes this cost includes free tea, coffee, sweets.

Fish dishes are expensive everywhere, from 40 lire. The only place where the fish came across cheaper is the village of Anadolu Kavağı (Anadolu Kavağı) where they swim cruise ferries on the Bosphorus, but this is practically not Istanbul.

The mark-up on drinks in tourist places is very large. Alcohol is generally very expensive, and is served few places.

By the way, despite the presence of the menu, prices are not final everywhere. In local non-network establishments for tourists you can offer a discount, free drinks, bread, snacks. Discounts are offered or you can ask them yourself while studying the menu, and not after you have made an order.

On the other hand, you should be prepared for possible wiring in cafes and restaurants. This is a rarity, but there are places that deceive tourists in Istanbul. Predominantly, these are nightclubs or bars in unfavorable areas and dark alleys, and they purposefully work on the fact that they cheat and then extort money from tourists. The scheme of their work is something like this: Barkers get acquainted with tourists, and enter into confidence, and then offers to visit one "excellent" institution, where you can eat and drink inexpensively and tasty. At the end, tourists bring a bill for hundreds of euros. Learn moreabout wiring and scammers in Istanbul read here.