Best Börek in Istanbul: 10 Shops Worth Crossing the City For
The 10 best börek shops in Istanbul, from Tarihi Sarıyer Börekçisi (since 1895) to late-night Karaköy Güllüoğlu, with what to order at each one.
Börek is layered pastry dough baked or fried around a filling: white cheese, spinach, potato, minced meat. It can be crisp enough to shatter or soft enough to cut with the side of a fork, and on any list of the best food in Istanbul it sits near the top. The ten shops below are where to eat it. One has baked since 1895. One serves a single pastry and nothing else. One stays open until 1 am.
This list works for a first visit, since börek is one of the first Turkish foods worth learning by name, and for a return trip, because four of the shops give you a reason to ride up the Bosphorus. Vegetarians eat well here too; cheese, spinach, and potato fillings show up at nearly every counter. So do budget travelers. Nine of the ten count as a cheap eat.
Know your börek before you order
The name covers a whole family of pastries, and the differences matter more than they look:
Su böreği: Sheets of dough are boiled in large pans, then layered with feta and parsley or minced meat, brushed with butter, and baked. The soft, velvety one.
Sigara böreği: Feta, lor cheese, potato, or minced beef rolled tight in yufka filo and deep-fried. These are the “cigarettes,” and they eat like spring rolls.
Çiğ börek: Dough folded over a raw minced meat and onion filling, shaped into a half circle, and deep-fried until golden brown. The filling cooks inside its own sealed crust.
Kol böreği: Long filled rolls coiled around the tray and baked at a low temperature. Fillings run from minced meat to feta, spinach, or potato.
Sarıyer böreği: A smaller, fattier cousin of kol böreği, named after the Sarıyer neighborhood of Istanbul.
If you’d rather cook than line up, our Turkish recipes collection is the place to start.
The ten shops at a glance
| Shop | Order this | Why go | Price level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Çengelköy Börekçisi | Cheese and walnut börek | Widest menu, branches all over | Cheap eat |
| Yeniköy Börekçisi | Su böreği | The smoothest water börek on this list | Cheap eat |
| Tarihi Sarıyer Börekçisi | Minced meat with pine nuts and raisins | Baking since 1895 | Cheap eat |
| Büyükdere Bilice Börekçisi | Minced meat with a hint of raisin | Comfort food with a view | Cheap eat |
| Levent Börek | Cheese börek, then the chocolate one | The cheese pull | Mid-range |
| Karaköy Güllüoğlu | Crispy börek, baklava after | Open until 1 am | Cheap eat |
| Odabaşı Çiğbörekçisi | Çiğ börek with organic ayran | One pastry, done properly | Cheap eat |
| Prava Pita Boşnak Börekçisi | Spinach börek with yogurt | Bosnian-style böreks | Cheap eat |
| Gel Gel Börekçisi | Pastırma börek | They cook to your crispness | Cheap eat |
| Özen Börek | Yogurt börek, after 11 am | Manyas lor cheese, paper-thin dough | Cheap eat |
The first four sit in Bosphorus neighborhoods. Make a morning of it.
1. Çengelköy Börekçisi
Branches all over the city and the widest menu on this list: sigara böreği, spinach börek under a spoonful of yogurt, the velvety su böreği, plus a full breakfast platter and cakes for afterward. The cheese and walnut börek is the reason to come. Bring friends so you can cover more of the menu, and watch the one who is permanently on a diet reach for the shared pastries anyway.
2. Yeniköy Börekçisi
The su böreği here is so velvety it has become a standing challenge: try stopping at one slice. If you manage it, write in and tell us how. And if the diet is already off, go on a Sunday, when the brownies alone justify the trip.
3. Tarihi Sarıyer Börekçisi
Open since 1895, and the crispy böreks are still a pleasure to watch being made. The minced meat version carries pine nuts and raisins under dough rolled almost see-through. Eat outside for the water views, and keep one hand near your plate.
4. Büyükdere Bilice Börekçisi
A slightly historic room, a generous view, and böreks that run greasier than the rest of this list, in the best comfort-food way. The minced meat one carries a quiet hint of raisin. The potato one eats like french fries in pastry form. The spinach tastes fresh enough to have been picked out back, and the chicken börek is the milder, still meaty option.
The next two stay on the city side of things.
5. Levent Börek
Most fillings here stay politely inside the pastry. The cheese does no such thing. It stretches from one bite into the next, which probably explains why prices sit a notch above the rest of this list. Worth it. Finish with the chocolate börek and a glass of hot Turkish tea.
6. Karaköy Güllüoğlu
Güllüoğlu built its name on baklava, with gluten-free, chocolate, and even diabetic-friendly versions, yet the crispy böreks deserve their own trip. Portions arrive big enough that finishing one alone takes commitment. The Ottoman-styled room stays open until 1 am, which makes this the late-night answer on the list.
The last four are specialists. Each does one thing you won’t quite find anywhere else.
7. Odabaşı Çiğbörekçisi
A humble shop with exactly one pastry on the menu: çiğ börek, fried after you order, the half-moon crust sealing everything in until the first bite. Add a glass of organic ayran. That pairing is the entire point of the place, and it needs nothing else.
8. Prava Pita Boşnak Börekçisi
Cute on the outside, elegant on the inside, and fully Bosnian. The spinach börek under a yogurt topping is the order. The ravioli-style pastry, taken with organic ayran, may make regular ravioli feel like a downgrade from then on.
9. Gel Gel Börekçisi
Open since 1969. The börek filled with pastırma, the dried cured beef, is the one to order, and a mixed plate covers the rest of the menu if you can’t decide. Rare for Istanbul: they will cook your börek softer or crispier on request. A table split between crisp people and soft people should order separately. The mushroom and potato versions are the ones you’ll be tempted to carry home.
10. Özen Börek
Wedged in among competitors near a pier, which makes it a natural breakfast stop with bird sounds included. The quality shows in the details: Manyas lor cheese, creamy and close to ricotta with a buttery finish, inside dough rolled ultra-thin so the filling carries the flavor. These böreks run light on grease. Doors open at 5 am, and the early minced meat börek sits easy in the stomach all day. The price stays fair for what you get.
Where to go from here
Börek is one chapter of eating in this city. Our guide to the best food in Istanbul covers the rest, and the neighborhood food guides show what else is worth eating wherever your börek hunt lands you. And if you’d rather have someone walk you straight to the right counter, that is what our Istanbul food tours are for.
