Signature Dishes of Istanbul

Must-try dishes

Balık ekmek (fish sandwich)

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.

History: 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 try it: Tarihi Eminönü Balık Ekmek

Watch out for: Gluten, Fish

Iskender kebap

Thinly sliced lamb döner served over chopped pide bread, with melted butter, hot tomato sauce and a side of yogurt. Bursa's dish, eaten everywhere in Istanbul.

History: Iskender Efendi invented the dish in Bursa in the 1860s by setting the spit vertical instead of horizontal, so the meat fat dripped over the lamb instead of into the fire. The recipe travelled to Istanbul with Bursa migrants in the early 20th century; today Develi in Samatya and most major Istanbul kebab houses serve their own version.

Where to try it: Develi1912 Samatya

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy

Lahmacun

A wafer-thin disc of dough topped with spiced minced lamb, onion, parsley and tomato, baked seconds in a wood oven and eaten rolled around lemon and salad.

History: A southeastern Turkish-Armenian dish from Antep and Mardin, lahmacun reached Istanbul with mid-20th-century migration. Today the city has stone-oven specialists like Borsam Taşfırın in Kadıköy, running an unchanged 1968 recipe.

Where to try it: Borsam Taşfırın, Çiya Kebap

Watch out for: Gluten

Midye dolma (stuffed mussels)

Black-shell mussels stuffed with spiced rice, currants, pine nuts and cinnamon, served from street trays with a wedge of lemon for one lira a piece.

History: A Greek and Armenian Istanbul tradition rooted in the late Ottoman period, midye dolma is sold by hand-cart sellers across Beyoğlu, Karaköy and Eminönü. The street version remains the canonical one; most restaurant attempts undersell the spice mix.

Where to try it: Şampiyon Kokoreç

Watch out for: Shellfish

Turkish breakfast (Kahvaltı)

A sprawling table of cheeses, olives, eggs, honey, kaymak, jams, sucuk, simit and tea. The serpme spread is shared, not portioned, and runs into lunch.

History: Kahvaltı means literally before-coffee, the meal that precedes the morning Turkish coffee. The modern serpme (spread) version, with thirty small plates, became standard in Istanbul after the 1980s as breakfast houses turned the village meal into a city institution.

Where to try it: Van Kahvaltı Evi, Privato Cafe, Sade Kahve

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Nuts

Pistachio baklava

Sheets of hand-rolled phyllo layered with crushed Antep pistachios, baked golden, then drenched in clear sugar syrup and cut into diamonds.

History: Baklava as a layered phyllo dish reaches back to the Ottoman palace kitchens of Topkapı. Karaköy Güllüoğlu, founded 1949 by Nadir Güllü's family from Gaziantep, set the modern Istanbul standard, with single-counter pistachio versions cut to order on Rıhtım Caddesi.

Where to try it: Karaköy Güllüoğlu, Hafız Mustafa 1864

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Nuts

Mantı (Turkish dumplings)

Tiny meat-filled dumplings the size of a thumbprint, boiled, served under garlic yogurt and finished with melted butter and Aleppo pepper oil.

History: Mantı arrived in Anatolia with the Turkic migrations from Central Asia and became a Kayseri specialty by the 15th century. Istanbul homes still measure cooks by whether their mantı is small enough that 40 fit on a spoon; restaurants serve a looser, larger version.

Where to try it: Çiya Sofrası, Yeni Lokanta

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs