Istanbul eats on two continents and rarely at the same hour. Mornings mean simit and menemen, afternoons belong to fish sandwiches and pistachio baklava, and nights dissolve into meyhane tables where cold mezze arrive before you order.
The Asian side's食 market sprawls across Güneşlibahçe and Serasker streets: barrels of olives, mounds of Antep pistachios, hanging sucuk, and fishmongers hosing down turbot. Most stalls open 08:00 and trade until 19:00, closed Sundays for some vendors.
Musa Dağdeviren's Anatolian research kitchen serves rotating regional dishes you won't find elsewhere: sour cherry kebab, wild herb salads from Hatay, içli köfte. Pay-by-weight at the steam counter, à la carte kebabs from the grill. Open 11:00-22:00 daily.
Roasting since 1923 in the Kadıköy fish market alleys, Fazıl Bey grinds beans to order and serves Turkish coffee in flavours — mastic, cardamom, plain — on a copper tray with lokum. Standing room mostly; a handful of stools spill onto the lane.
Moda's waterfront meyhanes line the walk down from Kadıköy, tables set on the sea wall facing the Princes' Islands. Cold mezze arrive on a tray — fava, haydari, lakerda — before grilled levrek or the day's catch. Sunset service fills up by 18:30.
Eastern Turkish breakfast done properly: otlu peynir (herbed cheese from Van), kavut, murtuğa, honeycomb in clotted kaymak, and endless tea. One fixed serpme spread arrives on twenty small plates. Open from 07:30; queues form on weekends after 10:00.
Baklava since 1949, made with Gaziantep pistachios and 40 sheets of hand-rolled yufka. Order at the till, take the ticket to the counter. The şöbiyet and fıstıklı dürüm outsell the classic; a plate plus tea is eaten standing at chest-high tables.
Built in 1664 as part of the New Mosque complex, the L-shaped hall holds 85 shops selling Urfa pepper, sumac, dried figs, saffron and pastırma. Open 08:00-19:30, closed Sunday mornings. The outer streets sell the same goods at half the indoor price.
A single narrow room in Beyoğlu's meyhane quarter, unchanged since the 1980s. Cavit Bey's mezze cart rolls to the table: topik, arnavut ciğeri, stuffed vine leaves. Rakı comes with a water jug and ice; dinner runs four hours by design.
The Beşiktaş market district wakes early: simit sellers on Ortabahçe Caddesi, the Saturday-only produce market, and çay ocağı stalls pouring tulip glasses. Buy a sesame simit hot from the cart with a wedge of beyaz peynir from the dairy shops.
Grilled mackerel in half a loaf with onion, rocket and lemon, cooked on rocking boats moored at the Galata Bridge foot. Served with turnip juice (şalgam) from the neighbouring cart. Trade runs 10:00 to late; the pickle stalls beside them are half the point.
A confectioner operating since 1864, known for şekerpare, künefe and Turkish delight cut from the block. The upstairs salon serves künefe hot with kaymak. Boxes of lokum are vacuum-sealed for luggage. Open 08:00-01:00.
One alley off the Fish Market, lined end to end with meyhane tables and taverns where musicians work the length of the street for tips. Kokoreç and midye dolma carts sit at the entrance for the walk home; the street runs loud until 02:00.