Food in Istanbul – Where to eat in Istanbul?
Most popular dishes in Istanbul
Lahmacun (lahmadjun) is a Turkish pizza. It’s a flat cake with a spicy mix of meat, onion, tomato and green in it.
Kokorec (Kokorech) is a flat cake stuffed with greens and pieces of meat grilled on a spit.
Kebap (Kebab) is fried meat. Doner-kebap is a bread roll stuffed with chopped meat. Shish-kebab is grilled meat. Iskender-kebab is chopped meat, placed on a plate with a bread roll, sauce and yogurt. There are more that a hundred kinds of Kebab.
Mercimek corbasi (Merdjimek chorbasi) is a spicy soup made of red lentil.
Hunkar Begendi is a mass of mashed eggplants, with a cream and cheese sauce and pieces of lamb meat with a mint tomato sauce.
Gozleme is a thin flat cake stuffed with different ingredients.
Bul-bul-yuvasi is a crispy roll made of peanut butter in a form of a nest.
Tavuk-gogusu is a sweet vanilla rice pudding with chicken.
Asure (Ashure) is a sweet dish with 12 different ingredients, among which nuts and dried fruits must be present.
Doner (Shaurma) is a sort of a hamburger, but much more healthy (it has lots of greens and natural herbs) and tasty.
Sigara Boregi is a roll of thin bread with different kinds of stuffing, like cheese, ground meat.
Kumpir is a baked potato, cut in half, with different stuffing.
Kumru is a sandwich made of bread in the form of a pigeon, with cheese, tomatoes and herbs inside.
Simit is a bun or a pretzel with different stuffing (most unusual and spicy are the ones with olive spread).
Turkish sweets (candies)
Muhallebi is a milk drink made of rice flour.
Baklava (Pahlava) is a sweet dish that is traditionally made of thin dough layers stuffed with pistachio. There also can be used filbert or walnut instead of pistachio.
Sutlac (Sutlach) is a sweet dish made of milk, sugar and rice.
Keskuli (Keshkuli) is a desert with almonds and coconut.
Tavuk gogusu is a sweet chicken breast, boiled in cream.
Asure (Ashure) is a sweet dish made of 12 fruits and cereals.
Lokum is a desert made of honey, roses, jasmine and Arab herbs.
Helva is a desert made of sunflowers seeds, sugar and some other additional ingredients.
Turkish drinks
Coffee: Turkish people prefer instant coffee, but they can also make real Turkish coffee. It’s very strong and sweet, they drink it from small cups.
Turkish tea is strong and tasty; turks drink it from small glasses in the form of a tulip. They are ready to offer you a cup of tea about everywhere in Turkey.
Apple tea: Turks serve it as usual, but the difference is that it’s made of dried apples. It’s a very nice and refreshing drink; it will boost your energy and slake your thirst.
Ayran is a milk drink, that is sort of a watery and salty yogurt, very tasty, it will slake your thirst very well.
Sahlep is a hot milk drink.
Raki is anisette. They drink it with water, it gives raki a muddy color. Turks call it "lion milk".
Wine: Best wines in Turkey are made in Kapadokiya. You can buy wine in any store of Istanbul.
Beer: Turkey makes its own special beer in Istanbul. "Efes" company is popular. They offer not expensive, but very good beer.
Approximate prices for meals in Istanbul
An average dinner for two people in an average restaurant will cost 15-20 US dollars. It will consist of a meat dish (a very big portion), side dish, salad/soup, a cup of tea. If it’s a Kebab shish restaurant, then the price may be up to 20-30 US dollars for a dinner for two people. In a fancier restaurant it may cost 40-50 US dollars.
It will cost you 10 US dollars for two people for a cup of coffee and desert (3-5 kinds of desert) in a cafe.
Fried fish with a lot of onion and green on a piece of bread and a drink (Coke, Ayran or Fanta) at the by the pier Eminonu will cost you 4 US dollars.
A Doner (Shaurma) on the European side will cost you 3 US dollars, on the Asian side 2 US dollars.
A glass of fresh made orange juice 2-3 US dollars.
Fried chestnuts will cost you 4 US dollars per 100gr, or 5 US dollrs per 200gr
Simit will cost you 1 US dollar.
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