Istanbul’s Top 5 Street Foods: #1 – Sabırtaşı’s İçli Köfte
5 responses - Posted 12.04.09
Editors's note: This is the final installment in our (highly subjective) look at Istanbul's top five street foods. For years on İstiklal Caddesi, just beyond Galatasaray High School, in one calm spot stood the beatific Ali Bey, an angel in a white doctor’s coat offering salvation in the form of golden ...continue

Istanbul’s Top 5 Street Foods: #2 – Çıtır Simit Bakery
9 responses - Posted 12.03.09
Editor's note: While name of this bakery has recently been changed to Galata Simitçisi, nothing else has changed: the same usta is still baking the same crispy, fresh simit. Let’s hear it for the (deceptively simple) simit. With only a few ingredients to its name, this sesame-encrusted bread ring has gone ...continue

Istanbul’s Top 5 Street Foods: #3 – Kızılkayalar’s Wet Burger
8 responses - Posted 12.02.09
Editor’s note: This is the third installment in our look at Istanbul’s top five street foods. The sign may read “Wet Burger” (“Islak Burger” in Turkish), but there’s a lot more to say about Kızılkayalar’s moist mini-patties than that. How about “Heavenly Slider,” “Binge Drinker’s Delight,” or “The Best 2 Lira ...continue

Istanbul’s Top 5 Street Foods: #4 – Maya Kumpir
7 responses - Posted 12.01.09
Editor's note: This is the second installment in our look at Istanbul's top fıve street foods. It was written by Jason D. Jones, an American expat living in Istanbul. Although it’s been a staple food for many civilizations for over 2,000 years, the potato has largely been relegated to the role ...continue

Istanbul’s Top 5 Street Foods: #5 – The Galata Cucumber Man
3 responses - Posted 11.30.09
Editor’s note: This week Istanbul Eats is celebrating Istanbul’s vibrant (and sometimes plain wacky) street food scene with a highly subjective look at five of our favorite street foods and some of the best places to get them. We’ll be writing about a different food every day, so join us ...continue

Top Istanbul Street Foods
no responses - Posted 05.24.13
As rapidly as Istanbul marches toward its modern destiny, street food in this city is still served the old-fashioned way, by boisterous ustas with a good pitch and, sometimes, a really good product. When the bars close, hungry Istanbulites cruise the streets looking for the gas lamp of a rice ...continue

Istanbul’s Top 5 Lahmacun Makers: #2 & #1 – The Doughboys of Kadıköy
8 responses - Posted 03.25.11
(Editor’s Note: A recent article about a spat between Turkey and Greek Cyprus over who owns the rights to claim lahmacun as their own got us thinking about those minced-meat covered discs of dough and how, when done right, they really are something worth fighting over. So, prompted by the Turkish-Cypriot ...continue

Sabırtaşı’s İçli Köfte: Handmade in Beyoğlu
no responses - Posted 03.14.11
(Editor's Note: We've recently been given access to one of Istanbul's most inner sanctums: the kitchen of Beyoğlu's Sabırtaşı, where we were shown how to make the restaurant's superlative içli köfte, winner of our "Top 5 Street Foods" contest from a while back. We will be sharing the recipe on ...continue

İstiridye Balık Lokantası: The Business of Lunch
no responses - Posted 11.29.13
These days, writing about Istanbul’s old-school restaurants can be heartbreaking work. No sooner do we find out about a classic lunch spot than it turns out the place is about to be closed down to make way for yet another development project. Meanwhile, Istanbul’s relentless drive to modernize and “clean ...continue

Since You Asked: Istanbul on a Student Budget?
2 responses - Posted 04.02.12
Dear Istanbul Eats: In September I will be going to Europe for the first time and have decided to throw in a visit to Istanbul at the end of the trip. I'm a student and so my budget for travelling is limited, but, as I love food, I'm not exactly crazy ...continue

Istanbul Köfte Week: #2 – AKO Adapazarı Islama Köfte
no responses - Posted 06.09.11
(Editor’s note: Over here at Istanbul Eats, we like to think of ourselves as köfte savants. While to the untrained eye köfte may look like nothing more than a grilled meatball, we like to discern differences in taste, texture and consistency in the different styles of this ubiquitous Turkish dish. ...continue