Europe & Asia · Türkiye
Two continents, one city, one long breakfast.
Istanbul rewards the patient eater and the quiet looker. The skyline does the heavy lifting. The neighborhoods are where the real city lives. Take the ferry. Twice.
Mehmet Yıldız
Galata-born journalist who has reviewed kebabs since 2009.
Must Do · Istanbul
Outside deck, simit, a glass of çay, two continents in twenty minutes.
Catch the late afternoon ferry. Stand on the right deck. The skyline goes pink, then bronze. Eat dinner on the Asian side and walk back to the ferry under streetlights.
Stalls, smoke, mezes, a small carafe.
Walk the market mid-morning, then sit at a long table, order three mezes and a fish of the day. Two hours minimum. No phones at the table.
Büyükada or Heybeliada, walking shoes, a long lunch.
Day trip from the city. Cars are banned. Walk the perimeter, eat at a working seafood place, swim if it is summer. Last ferry back at sunset.
Must See · Istanbul
Quiet, working, no tour groups, the right way to see it.
Go for the first morning prayer. Be respectful, sit at the back, take it in slow. Tour the upstairs galleries after, when the room is empty.
Sinan's masterpiece, the long view of the Golden Horn.
Walk up from the bazaar, sit on the courtyard wall, watch the city shift colors. Quieter than Sultanahmet. Better view. Better building.
Byzantine mosaics, twenty minutes by taxi from old town.
Smaller than Hagia Sophia, the mosaic program is in better shape. Forty-five minutes inside, taxi back, the rest of the day in Balat next door.
Must Try · Istanbul
Marble, steam, soap, the same routine for five hundred years.
Two hours. Single sex, traditional, no music. Wash, sit, soak, scrub, sit. Tip the attendant in cash, walk out cleaner than you have ever been.
Çay, a board, an opponent twice your age.
Sit, order çay, ask the room for tavla. Lose at least once. Pay for the table. Tip on the way out.
Local swim platform, cold water, hot tea after.
Pick a swimming iskele on the Asian side. Pay the entry, swim a slow loop, drink çay on the deck. The current is real. Stay close to the platform.
Must Eat · Istanbul
Cheese, olives, eggs, jams, simit, çay, repeat.
Find a place that does kahvaltı seriously. Order for the table. Eat for three hours. The afternoon will write itself.
Counter, charcoal, kebabs, a little raki.
Sit at the counter, watch the grill, order one of each kebab the chef recommends. Eat slow, drink raki with water and ice.
Grilled mackerel sandwich, lemon, raw onion, that's it.
Eat standing, by the water, two boats away from the bridge. One sandwich, one shalgam (turnip juice). The sandwich is fast. The juice is the test.
Must Drink · Istanbul
Sand-roasted, served with one square of lokum.
Order it sade (no sugar) the first time. Drink the top half slow. Read the grounds for fun. Pay in cash.
Anise, water, ice, mezes, three hours.
Order half a bottle of rakı between two, water and ice on the side. Five mezes minimum. The bread keeps coming. The night keeps stretching.
A çay bahçesi above Bebek or Çengelköy.
Sit, order çay, watch the freighters move past Europe. One pot, three glasses, a hundred boats.
Mehmet Yıldız reads every submission for Istanbul. Specific picks only.