12 Most Iconic Turkish Foods & Where to Eat Them in Istanbul

You finally have your ticket to the city where East meets West. Now, what do you eat? A decade in Istanbul would not get you through everything Turkish cuisine holds, so consider this list the shortcut: 12 iconic dishes, and for each one the Istanbul restaurant known for it. Each entry names the dish first, then the place. For the wider picture, start with our Istanbul food guide.

The 12 dishes at a glance

Dish	Where	Why this spot
Köfte	Sultanahmet Köftecisi	One of the oldest restaurants in Istanbul; spicy sauce on the side
Home-style dishes	Çiya Sofrası	Daily-changing menu from chef Musa Dağdeviren
Kuru fasulye	Erzincanlı Ali Baba	White bean stew beside the Süleymaniye Mosque
Cağ kebabı	Şehzade Cağ Kebab	Lamb on a horizontal spit over a wood fire, carved to order
Döner kebab	Karadeniz Döner Asım Usta	Beşiktaş institution; often sells out toward lunch
Iskender kebab	Iskender Iskenderoğlu	Run by descendants of the man who invented the dish
Mixed grill	Beyti Restaurant	Home of the Beyti kebab; open since the 1980s
Grilled turbot	Balıkçı Kahraman	Seafood house; turbot by the small portion or the whole kilo
Büryan kebab	Siirt Şeref Büryan 1892	Pit-roasted lamb in the Kadınlar Pazarı market
Meze	Meze by Lemon Tree	Pick any 6 of the daily mezes; tea and coffee on the house
Adana kebab and ribs	Adana Ocakbaşı	Grilling since 1978; go at lunch before the ribs run out
Kokoreç	Ozzie’s	Sweetbread kokoreç since 1968; reservation-only in Beyoğlu

1. Köfte at Sultanahmet Köftecisi

Sultanahmet Köftecisi is one of the oldest restaurants in Istanbul, and its köfte is accepted as one of the best in the world. There may be many imitators, but there’s only one original.

The seasoning here is stripped down. If köfte elsewhere tastes overloaded with spices to you, this is the version to try, and the spicy sauce waits on the table for anyone who wants more heat.

The main dishes consist only of those meatballs and a lamb shish made from tender thighs. Order the buttery rice for a home-style plate, or the crispy french fries if you’re in a fast-food mood.

Dessert keeps the same restraint: sütlaç and a smooth, creamy semolina halva. For a quick bite in the most touristic part of the old city, this place serves juicy meatballs at a wallet-friendly price.

2. Homemade dishes at Çiya Sofrası

Do not leave Turkey without tasting what Turkish people cook and eat at home. In Istanbul, one of the best restaurants for homemade Turkish food is Çiya Sofrası, owned by the famous Turkish chef Musa Dağdeviren.

Çiya’s menu changes daily. There are some staples, of course, like the lentil-heavy Ezo Gelin soup or the tamarind sherbet that’ll make you go “ooh!” The roasted chard root has a chili-con-carne feel from its red kidney beans, carrots, garlic, and onion.

Meat eaters get their own surprises: minced meat wrapped in a creamy celery cover, stuffed chard, and the Hannar-i Goşt, which combines pomegranates and turmeric with veal without apology.

The desserts are also extraordinary. Some are familiar, like evaporated milk with figs or a cheesy künefe. Others take explaining: a green walnut dessert with its shell processed in limestone, a tomato dessert, an eggplant dessert, and a pumpkin dessert finished with silky tahini.

3. Kuru fasulye at Erzincanlı Ali Baba

One of the most popular Turkish foods is kuru fasulye, a stew made from dried white beans. Turkey has some excellent takes on this humble legume that might just convert anyone who isn’t sold yet.

Erzincanlı Ali Baba serves some of the best kuru fasulye in Istanbul and perhaps in the world.

Order yours with more beans than sauce, or the reverse; the kitchen will oblige. Blend in with the locals and add a plate of rice, pickles, and a glass of ayran. Finish with Turkish tea as you watch tourists milling around the historic Süleymaniye Mosque.

4. Cağ kebabı at Şehzade Cağ Kebab

In a narrow, bustling passageway sits a chef so grand, you’ll want to take pictures. He wears Ottoman dress with a bright red fez and a mustachioed stern face, and he leans carefully into the wood-fired oven to pull out the perfect shish of meat.

Tender and dripping with fat, cağ kebabı is the horizontal cousin of the döner. The spices stay minimal, and instead of turning vertically in an electric oven, the meat roasts sideways over wood while the chef sticks a skewer in and cuts away each cooked-to-perfection layer.

Cağ kebabı arrives unassembled. You get lavash bread and build your own wrap. Before you pile in everything on the table, make the first wrap with only the meat. This is the way.

The table also holds savory onions with tangy sumac. Fill later wraps with salad and a drizzle of spicy ezme if you like; the yogurt and ayran will put out that fire. Save room for the traditional Erzurum dessert, kadayıf dolması, stuffed with pistachio in syrupy, honeyed sweetness.

5. Döner kebab at Karadeniz Döner Asım Usta

Is there a need to explain what döner kebab is? Before the world knew Turkey, it knew the döner. Still, this stereotypical Turkish dish takes on a new meaning at Karadeniz Döner Asım Usta.

The vertical oven hosts a döner bigger than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Watching the chef’s special technique to work through the juicy meat is half the show. Go toward lunch; they sell out quickly. The bread, too, belongs in its own league.

Since this spot is a living legend, prepare for the chance that no seats are free. Fortunately, Beşiktaş and its backstreets are fun to explore while you wait.

6. Iskender kebab at Iskender Iskenderoğlu

At the end of the 19th century, a cook in the Iskenderoğlu family invented Iskender kebab. His great grandson, Mr. Iskender, still runs this restaurant in Istanbul. The name Iskenderoğlu translates literally as “the sons of Iskender,” so the hands plating your kebab belong to the family that created the dish.

Iskender is a bed of grilled bread under a heap of döner kebab and a generous splash of tangy red tomato sauce. To its right sits strained yogurt so thick you can pick it up with a fork; to its left, buttery rice or bulgur.

The chef then drizzles hot butter over the whole plate. What you have is the dish that won over an entire nation.

7. Karışık Izgara (Mixed grill) at Beyti Restaurant

Would you like to add your name to a guest list of celebrities, politicians, and astronauts that includes Nixon, Demirel, Arthur Miller, Ludwig Erhard, and Li Xiannian? Mr. Beyti, the originator of the Beyti kebab, opened the doors to his restaurant in the 1980s. Inside, contemporary design mixes with Ottoman art, and the kitchen turns out some of the best kebabs in Istanbul.

If you really want to feast, the mixed grill (Beyti Usulü Karışık Izgara) carries a bit of everything from kebabs to köfte, so you won’t leave regretting an untried cut. A bottle of red Turkish wine will suit at least one of the meats.

The vegetarian options appear as appetizers, but order enough of them and you’ll do fine on artichokes, celery, and eggplant rice, just to name a few.

8. Grilled turbot at Balıkçı Kahraman

A favorite among international celebrities and a regular in the food pages of newspapers and magazines, this is one of the best seafood restaurants in Istanbul. The reason to come is the turbot, a prized fish with a delicate flavor.

Grilling fish is a real skill. It’s far easier to overcook one side and leave the other raw than to bring the whole fish to the right temperature. Turbot is another kettle of fish entirely and demands a mastery the average cook won’t have.

Come with a group and you can order it as a small portion or a whole kilo to fill everyone’s stomach. The plate stays simple: onions to bring out the savoriness, a hint of arugula to freshen it, and a wedge of lemon to brighten this elusive fish.

The hot appetizers are a world of their own, as is the handmade cranberry juice. If you want something sweet, take in the fisherman’s-boat decor over a milky kadayıf.

9. Büryan Kebab at Siirt Şeref Büryan 1892

“Succulent” may not be enough to describe büryan, a pit-roasted lamb served boneless or on the bone, as you choose. The best place to eat it in Istanbul is Siirt Şeref Büryan 1892, located in Kadınlar Pazarı, one of the lively markets of Istanbul.

The dish earns its reputation through long cooking times and restraint with spice. Softer than custard, it melts in your mouth. Missing the büryan would belong on your list of regrets, though spice fans should also try the Adana kebab here.

Vegetarians need not feel left out. The vegetarian plate, built on bulgur and smoky eggplant, would make the meat dishes jealous.

If you want extra flavor, there’s plenty to choose from. The hummus is like silk and turns salty and rich with meat or pastrami on top. The eggplant salad and the tzatziki add color. For something more savory, go for the kibbeh, bulgur outside and hot meat inside, or the paçanga börek, a fried pastry stuffed with pastrami, olives, and peppers.

The restaurant also serves syrupy desserts with ice cream that’s hard to refuse.

10. Turkish Meze at Meze by Lemon Tree

Mezes are made for sharing, and Lemon Tree builds the camaraderie with its set menus. Order the Fixed Turkish Meze Plate and start with any 6 of the daily mezes you and your companion choose. Follow with 2 warm appetizers: fried calamari with walnut-tartar sauce on the seafood side, a shrimp casserole in creamy tarragon-lemon gravy, hot hummus with pastrami for the meat crowd, or a baked pastry stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, and eggplant for vegetarians.

Not an appetizer person? Trade the warm round for a main to share. Buttery soy-sauced octopus, monkfish stewed in cheese, vegetables, and red wine, or lamb chops with almond pilaf and salad make the choice genuinely hard.

Dessert closes it out. Fresh fruit is the virtuous pick, but what you really want is the chili-sauced, nutty bananas topped with clotted cream and honey, or the hazelnut pudding with tahini and mulberry molasses. Alcoholic drinks cost extra; the tea and coffee are on the house.

11. Adana Kebab and Kaburga (ribs) at Adana Ocakbaşı

Open from midday, this humble spot is a better bet for lunch than dinner. Since 1978, the crowded grill here has been turning the freshest ingredients into some of the city’s best charcoal cooking.

The Adana is the best in the city. For those who don’t know, Adana kebab is a spicy, hand-minced kebab pressed onto a wide iron skewer and barbecued over burning charcoal for that smoky flavor.

The ribs are exceptional, but they sell out far too quickly. If you do land a table in the evening, spend it with rakı and the atom pudding.

12. Kokoreç at Ozzie’s

The first time you taste this highly seasoned dish, you’ll wonder what the fuss was about. Then you’ll learn it’s a sandwich of lamb or goat intestines wrapped around sweetbreads. You may be taken aback, but you’ll likely end up shrugging and ordering another portion. Especially if the kokoreç you tasted was at Ozzie’s, which has made its sweetbread kokoreç since 1968, a heritage that comes through in the flavor.

One thing to know before you go: Ozzie’s no longer runs a walk-in shop. It now operates as a small, reservation-only spot on the Dolapdere side of Beyoğlu, at Serdar Ömerpaşa Caddesi 44/A, and also takes delivery orders through its website. Book ahead.

If you really can’t handle offal, they serve sucuk (garlicky Turkish sausage, pronounced sujuk) dishes, roast meat, and their mother’s homemade meatballs, which pair well with mustard. Be warned: you will watch your more daring friends enviously while they eat one of Turkey’s signature dishes.

Final words

Turkish food culture runs deeper than any one list, and these 12 dishes are the ones locals would defend the longest. We wrote this guide to point you to some of Turkey’s most iconic dishes and the Istanbul restaurants where each one is at its best.

If you’d rather eat your way through the city with a local leading, our Taste of Two Continents tour runs 5.5 hours, starting with breakfast near the Spice Market before crossing by ferry to Kadıköy. Groups stay capped at 10 guests, and we have run food tours in Istanbul since 2013.

Check the tour calendar for upcoming dates.