Istanbul
Historic restaurants
Long-established restaurants and food businesses with a connection to the city’s culinary history.
Highest-scoring places
Garden 1897 Restaurant
Lamb and vegetables slow-cooked in a sealed clay jug • Braised lamb on smoky aubergine and cheese purée
Hidden Garden Restaurant Sultanahmet
Lamb and vegetables slow-cooked in a sealed clay jug • Lamb on smoky aubergine and garlic yoghurt
Deraliye Ottoman Cuisine Restaurant
Goose wrapped in pastry with pilaf • Grilled meat on smoky aubergine and garlic yoghurt
Mar Kebab House Restaurant
Meat and vegetables slow-cooked in a sealed clay jug • Hand-minced meat kebab with red pepper
Turgut Kebab Restaurant
Hand-minced meat kebab with red pepper • Lamb and vegetables slow-cooked in a sealed clay jug
Hafız Mustafa 1864
Classic pistachio baklava • Pistachio Turkish delight
Last Ottoman Cafe & Restaurant
Lamb and vegetables slow-cooked in a sealed clay jug • Slow-cooked lamb shank
Dönerci Hamdi Usta
Sliced meat on fried potato strips with yoghurt • Döner with tomato sauce and yoghurt
44 places
Garden 1897 Restaurant
A restaurant inside the Garden House Hotel in Küçük Ayasofya, Sultanahmet. The menu separates Ottoman and Anatolian cooking, with stone-oven dishes, fish and a vegetarian section alongside.
Hidden Garden Restaurant Sultanahmet
A restaurant on Peykhane Sokağı in Sultanahmet with a garden courtyard and fountain, and an indoor room with a fireplace. The menu runs from Turkish kebabs and Ottoman dishes to fish, pasta and steaks.
Deraliye Ottoman Cuisine Restaurant
An Ottoman palace-cuisine restaurant on Divan Yolu in Sultanahmet, a few minutes' walk from Hagia Sophia and Topkapı Palace. Listed in the Michelin Guide, it serves stuffed melon, goose kebab and lamb dishes with dried fruit.
Mar Kebab House Restaurant
A restaurant on Piyer Loti Caddesi in Sultanahmet's Emin Sinan quarter serving kebabs, fish and clay-pot dishes. The menu includes testi kebab, lamb ribs for two and whole fish by weight.
Turgut Kebab Restaurant
A kebab restaurant on Akbıyık Caddesi in Sultanahmet with a rooftop terrace. The menu covers testi kebab, kebabs, pide and lahmacun, vegetarian dishes and breakfast.
Hafız Mustafa 1864
A branch of Hafız Mustafa, the Istanbul confectioner founded in 1864, on Muradiye Street in Sirkeci. The menu covers baklava, kadayıf and künefe, milk puddings, Turkish delight by the kilo and Turkish coffee.
Last Ottoman Cafe & Restaurant
A restaurant on Darüssade Sokak in Sultanahmet serving Ottoman dishes, kebabs, fish, steak and pasta. The menu has a separate vegetarian section and a testi kebab for two.
Dönerci Hamdi Usta
A döner restaurant on Denizciler Sokak in Karaköy, near Galataport, cooking sliced meat döner over a wood fire. The menu has döner by weight, İskender, çökertme, beyti sarma and a house burger.
İSKENDER Kuruluş 1867
An İskender kebab restaurant on Süleyman Seba Caddesi in the Sinanpaşa quarter of Beşiktaş. The only main dish is İskender kebab, in a full, one-and-a-half or child portion, with Mustafakemalpaşa cheese dessert.
Beyti Florya
A large kebab restaurant in Florya on Istanbul's western shore, founded in 1945 by Beyti Güler. Listed in the Michelin Guide, its menu includes its own beyti kebab of hand-minced lamb, döner, lamb chops and Turkish sweets with clotted cream.
Seven Hills Restaurant
A rooftop restaurant in Sultanahmet with Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Sea of Marmara in view. The menu runs from breakfast to fish, kebabs and sushi.
Buhara Kebab House Restaurant
A kebab restaurant in Alemdar, Fatih, Istanbul. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Gaziburma Mustafa
A dessert shop in Batı, Pendik, Istanbul. Open since 1984. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Tavacı Recep Usta Bostancı
A Diyarbakır-style meat restaurant on Bağdat Caddesi at Bostancı, on Istanbul's Asian side. Listed in the Michelin Guide, its menu includes sac tava, lamb ribs stuffed with rice, oven-baked lamb and a long list of kebabs.
Tarihi İmren Lokantası
A home-style restaurant in Yeni Mahalle, Küçükçekmece, Istanbul. The price list covers soup, meat dishes and desserts.
Meşhur Balat Köftecisi
A grill restaurant on Ayan Caddesi in Fatih making köfte since 1948. The menu focuses on grilled köfte, sandwiches and a few other grills, with vegetable dishes, soup and semolina halva.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu
A baklava shop on Kemankeş Street in Karaköy, a short walk from Galataport. Run by the Güllü family, whose baklava making comes from Gaziantep, it sells pistachio and walnut baklava by the portion or kilo, along with su böreği.
Tarihi Odabaşı Çiğbörekçisi
A home-style restaurant in Şehremini, Fatih, Istanbul. Open since 1950. The menu is listed with prices in lira, euros and dollars.
Ekspres İnegöl Köftecisi
A grill restaurant in Kadıköy’s historic market, serving İnegöl-style köfte over charcoal. The menu also includes grilled meats, piyaz, sides and milk-syrup kadayıf.
Tarihi Sultanbahti Köftecisi
A köfte restaurant in Alemdar, Sultanahmet-Fatih, Istanbul. Open since 1982. The price list covers köfte and desserts.
Buyruk Esnaf Lokantası Sirkeci
A home-style restaurant in Hoca Paşa, Hoca Paşa Sk. D: Fatih, Istanbul. Open since 1980. The price list covers dishes, meat dishes and chicken.
Hacı Abdullah Lokantası
A restaurant on Atıf Yılmaz Caddesi in Beyoğlu, a short walk from İstiklal Avenue, that dates itself to 1888. It serves olive-oil vegetables, slow-cooked lamb, grills and its own milk puddings, compotes and desserts.
Tarihi Sebat Lokantası
A breakfast restaurant in Yenibosna Merkez, Bahçelievler, Istanbul. Open since 1967. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Emiroğlu Baklava
A dessert shop in Merdivenköy, Kadıköy, Istanbul. Open since 1986. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Rahmi Usta Merkezefendi Köftecisi
A köfte restaurant in Merkezefendi, Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. Open since 1962. The price list covers soups and desserts.
Nevmekan Bağlarbaşı
A public dining venue in Selami Ali, Üsküdar, Istanbul. The price list covers breakfast, vegetarian and mantı.
Korkmaz Büfe
A döner restaurant in Caferağa, Kadıköy, Istanbul. The price list covers döner. The menu is listed with prices in lira, euros and dollars.
Baklavacı Mehmet Yıldırım Başakşehir
A dessert shop in İkitelli OSB, Istanbul. Open since 1982. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Tarihi Merkezefendi Köftecisi
A köfte restaurant in Merkezefendi, Zeytinburnu, Istanbul. Open since 1962. The price list covers desserts.
Ako Ahmet Usta Islama Köftecisi
A köfte restaurant in Osmanağa, Kadıköy, Istanbul. Open since 1965. The price list covers sandwiches, meatball dishes and meat dishes.
Kavurmacı Hacı Münir Bey 1922
A kavurma restaurant in Hobyar, Fatih, Istanbul. Open since 1922. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Karaköy Köşkeroğlu Tophane
A dessert shop in Hacımimi, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. Open since 1946. Address, hours, directions and dishes to order are on this page.
Dönerci Ali Usta Şirinevler
A döner restaurant in Zafer, Bahçelievler, Istanbul. Open since 1979. The price list covers meat döner, sandwiches and wraps.
Karadeniz Döner Asım Usta
A döner restaurant in Sinanpaşa, Beşiktaş, Istanbul. The price list covers döner. The menu is listed with prices in lira, euros and dollars.
Tepeüstü Kervansaray İşkembe Salonu
A tripe and offal restaurant on Alemdağ Caddesi in Tepeüstü, Ümraniye. The menu has tripe and trotter soups, beyran, kokoreç, liver, grills and a salad and starter list.
Uludağ Et Lokantası
A kebab restaurant in Şenlikköy, Bakırköy, Istanbul. Open since 1956. The price list covers meat döner, soups and hot starters.
Yanyalı Fehmi Lokantası
A restaurant in central Kadıköy that has been serving Ottoman-Turkish home cooking since 1919. Listed in the Michelin Guide, it offers lamb stews, köfte, vegetables in olive oil, pulses and milk puddings from a long daily counter.
Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi
A köfte restaurant on Divan Yolu in Sultanahmet, a few minutes' walk from Hagia Sophia, open since 1920. The menu is short: grilled meatballs, white bean salad, lentil soup, yoghurt and semolina halva.
360 İstanbul
An east Asian restaurant in Tomtom, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. The price list covers cold treats, hot treats and salads.
Meşhur Unkapanı Pilavcısı
A home-style restaurant in Mollahüsrev, Istanbul. Open since 1955. The price list covers rice dishes, soup and desserts.
Meşhur Filibe Köftecisi
A köfte restaurant on Hocapaşa Camii Sokak in Sirkeci, serving beef meatballs grilled over charcoal. The menu also includes piyaz, yoghurt, rice pudding and revani.
Kanaat Lokantası
A home-style lokanta in Sultantepe, Üsküdar, open since 1933. The menu has meat stews, köfte, grills, dried beans and other cooked vegetable dishes, olive-oil dishes, soups and milk desserts.
Kurufasülyeci Ali Baba
A home-style restaurant in Süleymaniye, Fatih, Istanbul. Open since 1924. The price list covers dishes, döner and desserts.
Boris'in Yeri
A breakfast restaurant in Muhsine Hatun, Fatih, Istanbul. Open since 1936. The price list covers milk items, meat items and eggs.
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