Restaurant

1. Turk Fatih Tutak

Modern Turkish tasting menu$$$$Bomonti

Chef Fatih Tutak's Bomonti tasting-menu restaurant, holding two Michelin stars and a Green Star, reworking Turkish culinary traditions with modern technique.

View details — Turk Fatih Tutak

Restaurant

2. Mikla

New Anatolian fine dining$$$$Beyoğlu

Mehmet Gürs's rooftop restaurant atop The Marmara Pera, serving a Michelin-starred New Anatolian menu with panoramic views over the old city and Bosphorus.

View details — Mikla

Restaurant

3. Neolokal

Contemporary Turkish$$$$Karaköy

Maksut Aşkar's Michelin-starred restaurant inside SALT Galata, reviving forgotten Turkish recipes and ingredients with modern techniques and clear sourcing.

View details — Neolokal

Restaurant

4. Pandeli

Classic Ottoman-Istanbul cuisine$$$Eminönü

A historic restaurant founded in 1901 above the Spice Bazaar entrance, known for its blue-tiled rooms and classic Istanbul dishes, now a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

View details — Pandeli

Restaurant

5. Balıkçı Sabahattin

Seafood$$$Sultanahmet

A long-running family seafood restaurant in a 1927 wooden house in Cankurtaran, a short walk from the Blue Mosque, serving meze and seasonal fish.

View details — Balıkçı Sabahattin

Restaurant

6. Hamdi Restaurant

Kebab house$$$Eminönü

A big, busy kebab restaurant in Eminönü beside the Spice Bazaar, popular for kebabs and grilled meats, with views over the Golden Horn.

View details — Hamdi Restaurant

Restaurant

7. Hünkar

Traditional Turkish lokanta$$$Nişantaşı

A family-run lokanta founded in Fatih in 1950 and now in Nişantaşı, serving around thirty daily dishes including its namesake hünkar beğendi.

View details — Hünkar

Restaurant

8. Karaköy Lokantası

Esnaf lokanta and meyhane$$Karaköy

A family-run Karaköy lokanta serving home-style casseroles at lunch and meze with rakı in the evening, listed as a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

View details — Karaköy Lokantası

Restaurant

9. Çiya Sofrası

Anatolian regional cuisine$$Kadıköy

Musa Dağdeviren's Kadıköy market restaurant, founded in 1998, cooking regional Anatolian dishes and rediscovered recipes on a menu that changes daily.

View details — Çiya Sofrası

Restaurant

10. Develi Samatya

Kebab restaurant$$$Samatya

The original Samatya branch of Develi, a family kebab house founded in 1912 and now in its fourth generation, known above all for its kebabs.

View details — Develi Samatya

Restaurant

11. Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta

Köfte (Turkish meatballs)$Sultanahmet

A historic Divan Yolu köfte house serving grilled beef meatballs to a 1920 recipe, with bean salad, lentil soup and semolina halva.

View details — Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta

Restaurant

12. Karaköy Güllüoğlu

Baklava and börek$Karaköy

The famous Karaköy baklava shop, a single-branch business selling pistachio and walnut baklava, kadayıf, börek and Turkish delight to eat in or take away.

View details — Karaköy Güllüoğlu