Balik Ekmek appears as a signature dish in 1 Turkey cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Balık ekmek (fish sandwich) · Istanbul
A grilled mackerel fillet stuffed into a half-loaf of bread with raw onion, lettuce and a heavy squeeze of lemon. Istanbul's signature street food, eaten standing up.
Balık ekmek emerged on the Eminönü quays after the Second World War, when fishing boats sold the day's catch straight off the boat with a piece of bread. By the 1990s the moored red-and-gold boats on the Galata Bridge made it iconic; today they grill several hundred sandwiches a day for whoever steps up to the counter.
Where to eat in Istanbul:
- Tarihi Eminönü Balık Ekmek