Eat in Sultanahmet, Istanbul

Lokanta 1741 ★ 4.3

Lokanta 1741 beside the 300-year-old Cağaloğlu Hammam, a Michelin-listed modern Turkish dining room with a terrace overlooking the hammam domes and seasonal.

SignatureSlow-cooked lamb, Aegean mezze, Saffron rice pudding

Matbah Ottoman Palace Cuisine ★ 4.3

Matbah inside Ottoman Hotel Imperial steps from Hagia Sophia, working sultans-court recipes since 2000 with a Michelin Guide nod and dishes like ballı gemici.

Book1 week ahead

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta ★ 4.2

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta on Divanyolu, the 1920 original now run by the fourth generation, still grilling its flat charcoal köfte beside piyaz.

SignatureKöfte, Piyaz, Lentil soup

Bahar Restaurant ★ 4.1

Bahar Restaurant tucked inside a Grand Bazaar han off the Nuruosmaniye gate, an esnaf lokanta serving stews and pilav to the bazaar's working merchants.

SignatureDaily kuru fasulye, Hünkar beğendi, Stewed lamb

Kahve Dünyası Nuruosmaniye ★ 3.8

Kahve Dünyası beside the Grand Bazaar's Nuruosmaniye gate, the Turkish coffee chain's polished flagship where sand-brewed cups arrive with a square.

DrinkSand-brewed Turkish coffee

Kahve Dünyası ★ 3.7

Kahve Dünyası at the Grand Bazaar's Nuruosmaniye gate, the Turkish coffee-chain flagship serving sand-brewed kahve, chocolate beans and house espresso.

BeansBrazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Turkey blends

BrewsSand-brewed Turkish, Espresso, Whole bean retail

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi ★ 4.1

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi on Divanyolu, the 1920 charcoal-grill counter still building the canonical Istanbul köfte plate of flat patties.

TryKöfte plate with piyaz

Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar) ★ 4.4

The Grand Bazaar covering 30,700 square metres of Fatih, 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops, with lokum, baklava and Turkish-coffee bean counters mixed.

Cooking Alaturka ★ 4.5

Cooking Alaturka in Sultanahmet, the longest-running English-language cooking school in Istanbul, doing a four-hour class plus the meal at the kitchen.

Les Arts Turcs Cooking Class ★ 4.0

Les Arts Turcs runs a Turkish-and-Ottoman cooking class on the third floor of an Incili Çavuş Sokak townhouse, group Mondays and Fridays at 15:00 and private.

Bahar Restaurant ★ 4.1

Bahar Restaurant inside a Grand Bazaar han, an esnaf lokanta where merchants line up by 12:30 for stewed lamb, kuru fasulye and pilav for around 200 lira.

TryEsnaf lokanta plate

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi ★ 4.1

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi on Divanyolu, the 1920 charcoal-grill bench where four köfte, a piyaz, a soup and an ayran still come in under 280 lira.

TryKöfte and piyaz plate

Bahar Restaurant ★ 4.1

Bahar Restaurant inside a Yağcı Han courtyard, an esnaf lokanta feeding bazaar working merchants from steam-table stewpots that empty by mid-afternoon.

Why locals goBuried in a small han off the Grand Bazaar's Nuruosmaniye gate, found only by the bazaar merchants who eat there daily.

TipGet there before 14:00 or the stewpots are empty.

Siirt Şeref Büryan ★ 4.5

Siirt Şeref Büryan on İtfaiye Caddesi, a Kadınlar Pazarı corner pulling lamb büryan from a tandır pit oven that fires through the night, the Avcı family.

Why locals goBuried in Kadınlar Pazarı behind the Valens Aqueduct, the Fatih corner Kurdish migrants from Siirt have run since 1987 and few non-Turkish guidebooks reach.

TipOrder büryan around 11:00 before the lunch crowd; the perde pilavı and a tas kebabı round out a full table.