Istanbul's circular sesame-encrusted bread ring, dipped in pekmez (grape molasses) before being baked to a deep crust. Sold from vendor poles across the city; the universal Istanbul breakfast snack with cay.
Simit has been baked in Istanbul since at least the 16th century, with documented Ottoman bakery records of the ring-shaped sesame bread. The pekmez (grape molasses) dip before baking is the canonical Istanbul technique, giving the distinctive deep brown crust and slight sweetness. Today simit is sold across the city from the red wooden poles of street vendors and at Borsam Taşfırın, Karaköy bakeries and the morning counters of every meyhane and breakfast room. The ring is the affordable everyday Istanbul snack.
4 editor picks for Simit in Istanbul, ranked by editorial score. All Istanbul signature dishes · Simit across every city.
Karaköy Lokantası ★ 4.5
karaköy · Kemankeş Mah., Kemankeş Caddesi No:57, 34425 Beyoğlu, İstanbul
The teal-tiled Karaköy Lokantası, Bib Gourmand listed in the Michelin Guide, runs an Ottoman-leaning lunch lokanta downstairs and a meyhane upstairs at night.
Tarihi Hocapaşa Pidecisi ★ 4.3
eminönü · Hocapaşa Sokak No:19, Sirkeci, 34112 Fatih, İstanbul
Tarihi Hocapaşa Pidecisi off the Sirkeci side-streets, pulling kıymalı and kuşbaşılı pide from a wood oven since the 1960s for the lunchtime suit crowd.
Borsam Taşfırın ★ 4.2
kadıköy · Caferağa Mah., Serasker Caddesi No:78, 34710 Kadıköy, İstanbul
Borsam Taşfırın in Kadıköy, a stone-oven lahmacun and pide salon running since 1968 with a counter line that turns over every five minutes at lunch.
Borsam Taşfırın Kadıköy ★ 4.2
kadıköy · Caferağa Mah., Serasker Caddesi No:78, 34710 Kadıköy, İstanbul
Borsam Taşfırın in Kadıköy, the 1968 stone-oven lahmacun counter that turns a single 15-minute bake into the city's most reliable lahmacun under 80 lira.