Detailed & Highly Opinionated Guides
For a detailed map and guide to places in Istanbul, check out our Istanbul European Side Guide and Istanbul Anatolian (Asian) Side - Moda/Kadikoy Guide.
Food!
Eat everything. Everything in Turkey is delicious.
- Gozleme - a fresh made Turkish quesadilla
- Simit - Turkish bagel covered in sesame seeds. Comes in puffy and hard varieites. Yuva prefers the hard ones.
- Lentil soup - you’ll be eating a lot of this, always good.
- Borek - comes in many varieties, but broadly there is the crunchy family (like Çiğ börek) and the soft family (water borek)
- Pogača - kind of like a Turkish savory scone. They’re fantastic.
- Pilav - buttery rice served from popcorn-cart looking cases at small shops, often served with chicken, more delicious than it has any right to be.
- Kebabs - Turkish Döner is unlike anything that claims to be doner kebab elsewhere. David’s favorite.
- Lahmacun - unlike the more Syrian/Lebanese style popular in NYC, this is a flatbread with a mix of lamb and tomato, often served rolled.
- Mezze and Meyhanes - where the traditional Turkish entertainment happens. Mezze is a variety of hot and cold appetizers including traditional Mediterranean favorites and more seafood focused dishes, and Meyhanes are sort of like a Turkish tavern with live music in the evenings.
- Kumpir - an absurdly loaded baked potato. The quintessential place to get these is from the vendors in Ortaköy.
Drink
⚠️ On a more serious note - there was a rash of deaths in Istanbul from illicit alcohol this year. Avoid hard liquor, especially raki in restaurants - except for places we explicitly recommend. Wine and beer is fine (though not delicious, unfortunately)
- Turkish tea - “bir çay, lütfen” (one tea, please) - comes in tiny little “thin-waist” glasses and you’ll be drinking it all day long. If it’s serve-yourself from a samovar, pour some strong tea from the kettle on top and dilute it with the hot water below.
- Ayran - thin drinkable yogurt, similar to a salt lassi, goes with everything
- Raki - an anise-flavored spirit. Goes with a big meyhane meal. Makes one maudlin. Raki is almost always diluted with water (added after the Raki is poured) and turns cloudy in the process.
- Turkish coffee - Do not drink past the point where it starts tasting “sandy” or “gritty”.
After the wedding
Two obvious places to go next in Turkey are Cappadocia and Bodrum.
- Cappadocia is a region known for its fairy chimneys (aka hoodoos, rock spires) and cave churches. You have likely seen an instagram influencer standing in front of a field of hot air balloons looking like they were at a hotel on Tattooine. That’s Cappadocia. The landscape is a bit like the American southwest, but with hallucinatory painted cave churches everywhere. Will be crowded and hot in the summer but still highly recommend.
- Bodrum is a resort town on the Aegean coast. Yuva and David will be heading there after as it is relaxing and beautiful and Yuva’s family is intimately tied up in the history of the place. Your experience in Bodrum can be anything from Ibiza/Mykonos-esque, to a Mediterranean cruise, to a rustic beach resort.
