Must try Foods in Istanbul
The food in Istanbul was without a doubt the some of the best food we have ever eaten. I did a lot of research before we travelled to find the “must try” foods (and drinks) that are traditionally enjoyed in Istanbul. We made a very ambitious list before we went and I am proud to say we nearly ticked everything off!
Ayran – a salty yogurt drink – the national drink of Turkey. This reminded me of the yogurt you get from an Indian takeaway – I loved it, I found it so refreshing. My husband didn’t hate it but found it too salty to enjoy! I had quite a few during our trip, the cheapest being from a supermarket and costing around 18p! It was of course best enjoyed alongside a kebab!
Turkish Breakfast – A traditional Turkish breakfast includes everything you can think of; eggs, olives, cucumber, tomatoes, jams, honey, cheeses, sausage, bread, as much Turkish tea as you can drink and so much more. We had an extravagant spread at the Seven Hills restaurant overlooking the blue mosque. The cost was 210TL (around £11) per person – you are very much paying for location here, the restaurant is on the sixth floor with a roof terrace overlooking the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, but in my opinion totally worth it. The food, the view, the experience is totally worth it. The entire experience is incredible, we spent over an hour enjoying breakfast, taking in all the flavours.
Menemen – This is a breakfast dish, made with eggs, peppers and tomatoes, as well as whatever you choose to add. We visited Lades Menemen, and ordered two menemen dishes, one with feta and one with mixed meat, including chicken, Turkish sausage (Sucuk) and pastrami, as well as a side dish of clotted cream and honey. This was all served with a very healthy side of crusty bread. This came to a total of 67TL (around £3.70) We couldn’t finish it all – we were so full. I could eat Menemen every day, it is an absolutely beautiful dish.
Simit – There are hundreds of street vendors all over Istanbul selling Simit, a circular bread covered in sesame seeds, which can be eaten on its own or filled with cream cheese or Nutella. We chose Nutella but this was not a popular food item with us. The flavour of sesame was way too much, and the bread was dry and chewy. Not something we would choose again but at 8TL (around 44p) at least it didn’t break the bank.
Pide – Pide is a Turkish pizza, different though in that it doesn’t have a tomato sauce base, and is a flat bread folded in a unique way and cooked in a traditional oven – they are delicious and to be honest I don’t think we ate enough of them whilst in Istanbul!
Durum – Durum translates to mean wrap, and is a floury wrap which tends to be filled with beef, lamb or chicken doner from the spit. They are delicious and these have been a favourite of ours ever since we started going to Turkey. They can be shared to make a perfect snack or served with chips to make a decent meal.
Turkish Coffee – Traditional Turkish Coffee is prepared using very finely ground coffee beans without being filtered, and heated slowly in a copper pot (Cezve) snuggled in hot sand. It is rich and smooth and although it is served black it doesn’t have a punchy hit like an espresso has, and is pleasant and very drinkable.
Cay – I’m going to put it out there – I hate tea! I’d heard a lot about the traditional Turkish tea – Cay, it is a very popular drink in Turkey and they seem to be drinking it everywhere all the time! I had no idea what to expect so I was determined to try it, despite my tea hatred! Cay is more of an orange/brown colour, compared to English tea being a much darker black colour. It tastes a lot like Green tea (which I am a fan of, phew!) It can be drunk with or without sugar – I preferred it with a small amount of sugar. It was very refreshing. We also tried apple tea, pomegranate tea and Sultan’s tea (a mix of apple and pomegranate).
Baklava - Baklava is a sweet layered pastry dessert, made with filo pastry, chopped nuts, and honey or syrup. We have tried this before but usually a more processed version from an all inclusive hotel buffet! The baklava we had in Istanbul was worlds apart from this, sweet and the perfect texture, I could have eaten a lot more of it! They have shops specialising in Baklava on every street.
Pomegranate Juice - Juice stalls seem to be all over Istanbul, where the vendors just chuck entire fruits into a press and squeeze all the juice out. Pomegranate is the most traditional and famous and this is the one I tried. To be honest not sure I would go for it again - tasty but full of all the bits and seeds from the pomegranate as it isn't filtered. Not for me!
Pickle Juice - Istanbul is known for pickling, well just about anything! There are shops selling pickled gherkins, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, olives, garlic, beetroot, and so much more. A by-product of this is pickle juice, which they sell for next to nothing and is supposed to have an abundance of health benefits. It is definitely an acquired taste. The only thing I can compare it to is when you are swimming in the sea, and you accidently swallow a mouthful of sea water!
Jacket Potato - Known as Kumpir - this is a jacket potato, where the middle has cheese and butter added and is whipped to almost a batter, and then you can choose from a huge selection of (random) fillings! Not really knowing what we wanted we asked for "a bit of everything". There literally was, everything in there! Sausage, olives, peas, sweetcorn, pickles, various salads. The potato was delicious and the skin (which we noticed most people left) was so crisp and tasty. A bit of an unusual one, I've never had a jacket potato quite like it, not my favourite thing that we ate in Istanbul but something I could happily have again.
Salep - Salep is a milky hot drink made from orchids and topped with cinnamon, and as far as I am aware it is only available in Turkey, as the variety of orchid used is at risk of becoming extinct and therefore it is illegal to export Salep. What a shame as this was one of the best hot drinks I have ever tasted. Very difficult to describe, but thick, sweet and warming. We found it quite readily available in cafes in Istanbul, and we also managed a cup at the cafe on board the Bosphorus Cruise. Talking about it now is making me crave it! Delicious!
Grilled Corn - Street vendors all over Istanbul sell boiled and grilled corn which looks and smells delicious every time you pass, and at a cost of 7TL (around 38p) an affordable street food snack that I was really looking forward to trying. It was only ok. They are pre-cooked and then re-heated on the grill when you order. They are passed to you steaming hot and initially I wondered how I would ever eat something so hot. I soon learnt - the middle is stone cold!
Street Lolly - Street vendors with a tray of 5 different coloured candy twist it around a stick making a lollypop type candy, which is then rubbed on lemon. I could have eaten about ten of these, they were perfectly sour, sweet and chewy, and at a cost of 15TL (around 83p) I could have had ten! Although I'm not sure my teeth would have thanked me!
Wet Burger - This was something we had heard of described as "hangover food"! A small hamburger in a bread bun, dipped in a tomato sauce and left in a steaming glass box, creating a soggy and unpleasant sounding street food! However, I can totally see why it was described as hangover food, it was tasty, the meat was good and the sauce tasted a bit like pasta sauce! A real taste sensation!
The famous foods we didn't try -
Mussels - Mussels stuffed with rice and served in the shells - we had plenty of opportunities to try these, but they just didnt take our fancy!
Chicken Pudding - A dessert made from chicken breast - yes that's right - chicken breast! It is ground and pounded and made into a milk pudding. It was a delicacy fed to the Ottoman Sultans that is now famous across Turkey. We hunted for this as we really wanted to try it, but couldn't find it anywhere! Maybe it isn't that popular!!
Kokorec - made from lamb intestines wrapped around offel - we could not bring ourselves to try this after hearing the description! WE have a strong stomach for most foods but this was a step too far for us!
Whilst we were only in Istanbul for 3 days, I think we did pretty well to fit in as much as we did! But what did we miss? What would you recommend we try next time we go?
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