Eating in Sirkeci and Eminönü: what the neighbourhood actually eats

The lunch street two minutes from our door, the steam-counter kitchens visitors walk past, fish by the ferries, and where to go when you want a three-hour dinner — from people who eat here every working day.

Where the neighbourhood eats

Hocapaşa Street, two minutes from our door, is the kitchen of Sirkeci: a pedestrian lane of kebab houses, döner counters, a fish restaurant, pide ovens and pudding shops. It fills at noon with people who work here and stays open into the evening. Prices are neighbourhood prices, not monument prices, and nobody stands outside pulling you in — the test of a good street in this city.

Esnaf lokantası: the everyday Turkish kitchen

The most useful meal in Istanbul is the one visitors walk past. An esnaf lokantası cooks a dozen dishes each morning — bean stew, stuffed peppers, okra, lamb with aubergine, rice, soups — keeps them in a steam counter and serves them until they run out. You point at what you want, take a tray, and pay less than you would for a sandwich beside Hagia Sophia. Go before one o'clock for the full range; by three the good dishes are gone.

Breakfast beyond the hotel

Breakfast is included with us, but Istanbul takes breakfast seriously and you may want a second one. The bakeries around Ankara Avenue sell börek by weight — layered pastry with cheese, spinach or mince — and a glass of tea beside it costs almost nothing. Simit carts stand at every corner; the ones near the station sell out first, which tells you what you need to know about freshness.

Fish by the water at Eminönü

Six minutes downhill, where the ferries dock, the fish-sandwich boats rock at the quay and grill mackerel all day. Eat it standing, with onion and a squeeze of lemon, looking at the Galata Bridge. Underneath that bridge is a row of fish restaurants with tablecloths and higher prices; the view is the same. On the bazaar side, the Spice Bazaar's delicatessens sell cheese, olives, dried fruit and Turkish delight to take home — buy from the shops around the market rather than inside it and you pay less.

Where to go for a long dinner

Sirkeci is a lunch neighbourhood that closes early; for a proper evening, cross the Galata Bridge. Karaköy is fifteen minutes on foot and full of restaurants, meyhanes and rooftop bars — this is where our guests go when they want to sit for three hours. Kumkapı, on the Marmara side of the peninsula, is the old fish-tavern quarter and about twenty-five minutes away. Kadıköy, the best eating in the city, is a twenty-minute ferry from Eminönü and the boats run late.

Sweets, coffee and the afternoon

Baklava and künefe are sold in the shops along Hocapaşa and around the Spice Bazaar; a good baklavacı sells by weight and lets you choose the pieces. Turkish coffee is an afternoon thing, not a morning one, and it is served with a glass of water and something sweet. For a tea garden with a view rather than a counter, Gülhane Park's café sits under the plane trees five minutes from our door.

What to eat, in order of what people regret missing

Breakfast spread with tea, if you only do one thing. Lahmacun with lemon and rocket, rolled and eaten with your hands. Fish sandwich at Eminönü. A midye dolma or two from a cart, with lemon. İskender if you like lamb and butter. Künefe hot, with clotted cream. Turkish coffee late in the afternoon. And, if you are here in winter, boza from a shop that has sold nothing else for a century.

Practical notes

Most places in this quarter do not serve alcohol; the restaurants that do are marked, and Karaköy is the easy answer for a drink with dinner. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, but carry some cash for carts and small counters. Lunch is served roughly from noon to three and dinner from seven; the esnaf kitchens close when the food runs out, not at a fixed hour. Ask our front desk in the morning what is worth eating that day — the answer changes with the season and we eat here too.

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