Dan and I spent a very fast two nights in Istanbul on our July trip to Türkiye last summer, only staying in Istanbul because we needed to fly out of the Istanbul airport. We have been to Istanbul previously, but we didn’t explore the Asian Side of Istanbul, so we stayed in a hotel on the Asian Side and also booked a food tour in a local, and adorable, neighborhood of Kadıköy. This article reviews our delicious food tour, which would be relatively easy to recreate on your own!

STOP ONE: BREAKFSAT AT CAY TARLASI & CAFE

The first stop of the tour was for breakfast, at a small spot that our guide frequents with her friends after a big night out, LOL. Cay Tarlasi & Cafe is a family-owned restaurant that is open all day, every day, from 8 AM to midnight. We squeezed into a table on the second floor and were immediately served Turkish tea, which is basically black tea in a curved glass. Turkish Tea is common alll over Türkiye, and locals drink this tea all day in all weather (including the hot summers!). Turkish Tea is a bit bitter but not difficult to drink, especially if you add sugar.  For breakfast, two large pans quickly graced the table. The first was filled with menemen – one of my favorites! Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast of eggs, peppers, and tomatoes mixed together with some spices (I had a great one at our hotel in Cappadocia). Think a mix between scrambled eggs with toppings and an omelette. In any case, menemen is great, and this version was particularly good, especially paired with the local bread. The second pan contained muhlama, which is another local dish consisting of cheese, butter, cornmeal, and water mixed together and cooked. The muhlama was also very tasty and reminded me a lot of our at-home Raclette machine, yet also of Southern grits. I preferred the menemen between the two dishes, but suggest trying both in Türkiye. We left Cay Tarlasi & Cafe stopping ourselves from eating more.

STOP TWO: TURKISH DUMPLINGS AND PIZZA AT PIDE SUN

It was good that we stopped ourselves from eating more at Cay Tarlasi & Cafe, because our second stop was my favorite stop on the tour (and I think my favorite thing that I ate in Istanbul). Just a short walk from Cay Tarlasi & Cafe, Pide Sun is a super casual restaurant reminiscent of a pizza joint in New York. Pide Sun specializes in, not surprisingly, pide, which is what I would describe as a Turkish pizza; a boat shaped bread product often topped with cheese and minced lamb, but also served with vegetables or other toppings. I had this dish over a decade ago, but it was no where near as good as Pide Sun’s. At Pide Sun, we tried both vegetable pide and a beef pastrami pide. Both were good, but the beef pastrami pide was EXCELLENT. We also tasted Turkish dumplings at Pide Sun, which are similar to an unstuffed pasta. These dumplings were served in a tasty white sauce topped with a bit of spice. I much preferred these dumplings to the ones I ate at Top Deck Cave Restaurant in Cappadocia. If you are in Istanbul, please try Pide Sun – they also deliver!

STOP THREE: TURKISH COFFEE & CHERRY WINE AT VIKTOR LEVI

After eating so much food (like, so much), our third stop was luckily more of a drink than food stop. We turned off a busy street in Kadıköy and entered an enclosed, open air garden with lots of greenery. Very calming and unexpected! This spot is called Viktor Levi and its billed as a restaurant and wine bar, but also hosts private events. We were happy to sit and relax away from the crowds. Our first tasting at Viktor Levi was Turkish coffee, where we learned how to drink it and how to read our fortune in the coffee cup after we finished. Yes, reading your fortune in your dirty coffee cup is a thing in Türkiye and other Blakan countries (we did it in Serbia, too!). It’s a fun tradition, but doesn’t get me too excited. We also tried dolmas, or rice in grape leaves, and a glass of Turkish Cherry Wine. The cherry wine was sweet, but not too sweet; it reminded me a lot of Portuguese ginjinga. A few people on our tour purchased cherry wine to bring home. We preferred the red table wine from Cappadocia.

STOP FOUR: AYRAN & LAHMACUN AT HALIL LAHMACUN

Moving on after a bit of rain at Viktor Levi, the next stop was for another of my favorite Turkish dishes – lahmacun. Lahmacun is also similar to a pizza, and is prepared starting with a very thin piece of crepe like bread and topped with various toppings (the most famous certainly being minced lamb). At Halil Lahmacun, we were presented with the bread pre-topped with minced lamb and then added our own greens and spices to our taste. We then wrapped up the lahmacun and ate it kind of like a wrap. This was VERY tasty, and visitors must try this dish in Turkey. You can find lahmacun easily and it comes in a few flavors, including vegetarian. Our lahmacun was paired with a popular Turkish yogurt drink called Ayran. Ayran is literally a liquified yogurt that you drink with a straw. Apparently its a popular after school drink. Dan loved it, but I found it a bit too… yogurty… In any case, another must try for those visiting Turkey (its even served on Turkish Airlines).

STOP FIVE: TURKISH HONEY AT ETABAL

Out fifth stop was for a small tasting of local honey from Etabal, which is a tiny honey “shop” right on one of Kadiköy’s main pedestrian drags. We tasted 4 types of Etabal honey. Each tasted like honey, yet wildly different from the others. Etabal was the quickest stop, but I think everyone purchased honey to bring home. Be sure to stop if you are in Kadiköy. The small bottles also make good gifts that you can bring back to the US (in checked luggage only).

STOP SIX: LAMB NECK SOUP & KATMER AT DURUMCU EMMI

The final stop of our tour was at a real old school Turkish restaurant called Durumcu Emmi. Our group had a reservation, which was necessary, and we were seated on small stools surrounding a table close to the ground – very traditional. The group was quickly served a piping hot soup in a silver bowl that looked and smelled very good. The soup was “lamb neck soup” in a slightly spicy red broth. Basically, it was a slightly spicy tomato soup with tender lamb neck. We were also offered green leaves to flavor the soup. I was kind of uncertain about this hot soup on a warm summer day, but it turned out to be incredible. It was especially good for bread dipping – highly recommend. After the soup, we were served an amazing dessert that was similar to baklava called Katmer. It was basically a soft crepe filled with honey and some other sweet things and topped with pistachio. I LOVED this dessert, and it was my second favorite dish on the tour (after the pide!).

Looking back, this food tour was really great. We loved exploring Kadiköy, and it was interesting to try all of these local dishes that we would not have known to try on our own. Every place we visited is accessible to tourists, but the tour did pull it all together. In any case, be sure to get yourself to Kadiköy if in Istanbul. This neighborhood is a short (and easy) ferry ride from the tourist heart of Istanbul and its a safe, young area that you will enjoy.

STEAL OUR TOUR

Secret Istanbul Food Tour: We took the Lunch Food Tour Istanbul-kadikoy for 75 euro per person, which included everything that we ate on this tour.

Cay Tarlasi & Cafe: Caferağa, Dr. Esat Işık Cd. No:34, 34710 Kadıköy/İstanbul, Türkiye. Open daily 8:30 AM – 12:00 AM.

Pide Sun: Caferağa, Şükran Apt, Moda Cd. 67/B, 34710 Kadıköy/İstanbul, Türkiye. Open daily 11:30 – 11:00 PM. Delivery available.

Viktor Levi: Caferağa Mh Moda Cd. &, Damacı Sk. No:4, 34710 Kadıköy, Türkiye. Open daily 11 AM – 2 AM.

Halil Lahmacun: Caferağa, Güneşli Bahçe Sok No:26, 34710 Kadıköy/İstanbul, Türkiy. Closed Monday. Open 11:30 AM – 8:30 PM.

Etabal: This is the link to the Etabal website. Caferağa Mah. Güneşlibahçe Sok. no:28
Kadıköy. Two other locations in Istanbul.

Dürümcü Emmi: Hasanpaşa, Mahmut Baba Sk. 11/1, 34722 Kadıköy/İstanbul, Türkiye. Closed Monday. Open 9 AM – 11:30 PM.