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.

Signature: Slow-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.

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.

Signature: Köfte, 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.

Signature: Daily 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.

Signature drink: Sand-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.

Sources from: Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Turkey blends

How they serve: Sand-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.

Try: Köfte 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.

Try: Esnaf 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.

Try: Köfte 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 love it: Buried in a small han off the Grand Bazaar's Nuruosmaniye gate, found only by the bazaar merchants who eat there daily.

Tip: Get 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 love it: Buried in Kadınlar Pazarı behind the Valens Aqueduct, the Fatih corner Kurdish migrants from Siirt have run since 1987 and few non-Turkish guidebooks reach.

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