Istanbul Food Guide: From Street Simit to Michelin Mezes

Istanbul's food culture is a 600-year Ottoman culinary legacy meeting contemporary creativity — a city where the same neighbourhood contains a simitçi selling sesame-crusted bread rings for 5 lira, a historic meyhane (tavern) serving meze and rakı that hasn't changed since 1920, and a Michelin-recognised restaurant reinterpreting Anatolian ingredients through a modern lens. The simit from a street cart is Istanbul's breakfast, best eaten warm with white cheese and tea from a tulip glass. Börek (flaky pastry filled with spinach and feta, or minced meat) from the Karaköy Güllüoğlu patisserie is a city institution. Balık ekmek — grilled mackerel in bread — sold from boats beneath the Galata Bridge is the definitive Istanbul street food experience. Karaköy and Kadıköy on the Asian side have become the centres of the city's contemporary restaurant scene. For the full meyhane experience — multiple cold mezes, grilled fish, and unlimited rakı — head to Beyoğlu's Çiçek Pasajı.