Food
A food lover's map of Istanbul
From Beşiktaş breakfast tables to midnight fish sandwiches — how to eat across two continents in a weekend.
By Ayşe Kaya · Jul 15, 2025 · 8 min read
Start with breakfast. Not a croissant — a table. Menemen, three cheeses, honey with kaymak, olives, simit, endless tea. It will take ninety minutes and you will not need lunch.
Cross the water
Take the ferry to Kadıköy. The market is compact and serious: pickle shops, fishmongers, a spice grinder who has been in the same three square metres since 1970. Eat lahmacun standing up.
Istanbul does not have a cuisine. It has thirty.
Finish at Eminönü with a balık ekmek from a boat, watching the last ferries cross under the bridge lights.