Istanbul Food: Street vs Restaurant

Istanbul is a city with wonderful street food and a lot of inexpensive and not very presentable looking, but very tasty cafes. I would even say that Istanbul is the only city in my practice where street food is tastier than restaurant food. Want to know what is being fed in Istanbul?

Bright red carts are found throughout the city. They sell bagels, baked chestnuts, baked corn.

Taksim Square and the cart with corn. There are many merchants; they are found literally on every corner in every district of the city.

Nowhere but in Istanbul have I seen such carts.

Bagel trolley and their customers.

Bagels themselves. They come in many forms. These are yeast, but sold even more subtle and elongated - sand.

Meat on the streets of Istanbul can also be eaten without fear! Kebabs are always fresh and delicious.

Delicious kebabs at Kasap Osman, a traditional restaurant that The Guardian has included in the list of the city’s best kebabs. Such places usually do not look very presentable - plastic furniture, a plain-looking menu, but the food is excellent everywhere! Better than restaurants with tablecloths! There is no alcohol in such establishments, so you will have to accompany the meat with tea or juice. Kebabs are different. Most of all I like the option that in the photo - with yogurt and spicy tomato sauce. Called iskender kebap.

Istanbul ice cream - dondurma - is a whole attraction, and the farther from the tourist center, the more tricks the sellers work out with a glass. I do not really like ice cream, but in Istanbul I buy it every time just for the sake of their jokes. Give it a try! This ice cream also tastes unusual, viscous, like chewing gum.

Turkish coffee is viscous, strong, but is easy to drink and leaves no bitterness. In the cup half of the sediment. Coffee can be brewed with or without sugar.

Of course, there are also coffee shops familiar to Europeans with a traditional set like latte and cappuccino.

Turkish tea is a separate ritual, not a dessert accompaniment, as many are accustomed to. Served in such tulip cups.

You can accompany tea with dessert only in a restaurant, most often there are no desserts in tea gardens. I adore Turkish sweets, especially baklava and bread soaked in honey. Here on a plate are also dates with nuts and honey quince. Shot at the Poseidon Restaurant.

Another popular Turkish dessert is milk rice pudding, more like rice porridge.

This is what the tea garden looks like, one of the most picturesque in Istanbul, located in Gulhane Park, with panoramic views of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.

Caramel looks very appetizing! Buyers say that taste matches.

Fresh orange and pomegranate juices are also prepared on the streets with you.

In some advanced places, juices are also made from strawberries, kiwi or other exotic fruits.

A great lunch option is Balyk Ekmek - fish in a bun. On the streets grill, sellers fry fresh fish fillet, put it in a roll, add onion and salad. From above you pour a sandwich with lemon juice, which stands on the counter, sit down on a laced stool and enjoy! Instead of fish, there is sometimes a kufte - cutlets.

For such a sandwich, most often for a snack you will be served sharp pickled vegetables in a glass. One of the main points to try all this is the marina of Eminenu near the New Mosque. This photo was taken there.

And here the fish itself is the counter of one of the fish restaurants.

And here is the loaf! It is cut in half and put inside a fish.

But it’s still better to go to the market for fish, which works next to the Galata bridge. There you can buy fresh fish, and try fried, and mussels with rice or cooked in the manner of barbecue. Only wear closed shoes - the market is wet. I do not recommend restaurants operating under the bridge itself - very tourist ones, with overpriced prices.

In a word, I adore street food, but, unfortunately, I do not find understanding in the person of my main travel companion, my husband. Pasha does not like markets, doesn’t eat street food, and with some misunderstanding relates to my passion for, as he says, gluttonous ranks. Do you eat on the streets and markets or prefer restaurants?