Istanbul Morning Food Tour: Turkish Breakfast, Street Food & Asian Side
A full morning of eating across two continents, starting with a proper Turkish breakfast and finishing with künefe and Turkish coffee.
4.9 from 850+ reviews on GetYourGuide 5 to 6 hours
Duration
5 to 6 hours
Start time
09:30, 10:00 or 10:30
Group size
Daily departures, maximum 10 people
Languages
English
Transport
Walking and a public ferry
Walking
Five to six hours on your feet, but you sit down at most of the food stops. Eminönü and Rüstem Paşa are flat. The market lanes on the Asian side are narrow, cobbled in places and busy. There are steps and a ramp on and off the ferry. Comfortable shoes matter more than fitness here. If anyone in your party cannot manage steps or needs to stop often, tell us when you book and we will say honestly whether it will work.
Tour highlights
What you will see and do
Shop for your own breakfast at a Rüstem Paşa dairy counter: olives, cheeses, hazelnut paste and buffalo kaymak
Menemen cooked to order in front of you, the tomato, pepper and egg dish Turkish breakfast is built around
Honeycomb spooned straight over kaymak, which is how Istanbul eats its cream
A public ferry across the Bosphorus, with the old city behind you and Asia ahead
Kadıköy market on the Asian side, where the city does its own food shopping
A proper sit down break for İskender kebap, doner over pide with butter, yoghurt and tomato
Künefe topped with Maraş ice cream, and Turkish coffee cooked on charcoal
This tour is right for you if
You would rather eat where the neighbourhood eats than where the guidebook points
You want to cross to the Asian side and see how differently it feels
You like knowing the story behind what is on the plate
Not for you if you want a short morning or a light one. This is five to six hours and eight or nine stops of food.
About this tour
Breakfast in Istanbul is not a plate, it is a table. This morning starts at a dairy counter in Rüstem Paşa, behind the Spice Bazaar, where your guide buys the parts of it with you: olives, hazelnut paste, a few cheeses, honeycomb and buffalo kaymak. Menemen is cooked to order in front of you. Then you sit down and eat it.
After that the tour crosses the water. A public ferry takes you to the Asian side with the old city behind you, and the eating starts again in the market streets of Kadıköy: fish wraps, tantuni, stuffed mussels, lahmacun out of a wood oven, kokoreç. There is a proper sit down break in the middle for İskender kebap, and it finishes with künefe under a scoop of Maraş ice cream and Turkish coffee cooked on charcoal.
Eight or nine stops, five local drinks, five to six hours. The stops change with the season, because your guide buys what is good that week. Most people do not need lunch afterwards, and a fair number skip dinner too.
The plan
How the day runs
Meet your guide and shop for breakfast
Meet your local guide and begin the morning like an Istanbul local. Stop at a traditional dairy shop to pick up fresh breakfast ingredients, then grab warm simit from a street vendor on the way.
Traditional Turkish breakfast in Rüstem Paşa
Sit down for a proper Turkish breakfast with a selection of local favourites: olives, cheeses, hazelnut paste, honeycomb with creamy kaymak, and menemen cooked fresh to order.
Explore the streets around the Spice Market
Step beyond the tourist side of the bazaar and discover the busy streets where local restaurants and shopkeepers buy their ingredients. See the working side of Istanbul's historic market quarter.
Ferry across the Bosphorus
Take a scenic 20 minute ferry ride from Europe to Asia. Enjoy fresh air and fantastic views of the Bosphorus, with Istanbul's European and Asian shores unfolding around you.
Turkish coffee, history and stories
Slow down for a traditional Turkish coffee break. Learn how coffee became part of Ottoman and Turkish culture, hear the stories and traditions surrounding it, and discover why coffee is much more than just a drink in Türkiye.
Eat your way through Kadıköy market
Arrive on Istanbul's Asian side and explore the lively streets of Kadıköy market. Sample local favourites such as kokoreç, freshly baked lahmacun, stuffed mussels, and a few more surprises along the way.
İskender kebab at a local restaurant
Take a proper sit down break at a local restaurant for one of Türkiye's classic dishes: İskender kebab, served with bread, tomato sauce, yoghurt and sizzling butter.
Ferry back to Europe and a fish wrap in Karaköy
Cruise back across the Bosphorus and arrive in Karaköy. Back on the European side there is still more to taste, including a delicious local fish wrap.
A sweet finish: künefe, ice cream and charcoal cooked coffee
Finish on a sweet note with warm künefe, crispy cheese filled pastry soaked in syrup and topped with ice cream. Pair it with Turkish coffee slowly cooked over charcoal for a memorable end to your Istanbul food adventure.
The order can change with the weather, the traffic and how busy a site is on the day. Your guide will tell you.
Food and drink
What you will taste
Bal ve kaymak, honeycomb spooned over buffalo cream
Menemen, cooked to order from tomato, pepper, onion and egg
Simit with hazelnut paste and Turkish cheeses
A fish wrap in lavaş, with herbs and salad
Tantuni, diced beef rolled in lavaş with a yoghurt sauce
İskender kebap, doner over pide with butter, yoghurt and tomato
Midye dolma, mussels stuffed with spiced rice, with lemon
Lahmacun, minced lamb with onion, tomato and paprika from a wood oven
Kokoreç, seasoned lamb offal in fresh bread
Künefe, shredded pastry and cheese in syrup, under Maraş ice cream
Turkish coffee, cooked on charcoal in a copper pot
The menu changes with the season and with what the market has that morning. Tell us about any allergies or dietary needs before you book.
What is included
Included
Licensed English speaking local food guide
Return public ferry across the Bosphorus
Food at eight to nine stops, which change with the season
Five local drinks
Not included
Anything you order beyond the tastings on the tour
Shopping
Tips for the guide, usually 10 to 20 USD per person
Where we meet
Meeting point
A clean sheet with the sign to look for and the steps, one page per meeting point. Choose Save as PDF in the dialog to keep it on your phone.
My Local Guide Istanbul
Istanbul Morning Food Tour: Turkish Breakfast, Street Food & Asian Side
If anything goes wrong, message or call +90 534 200 55 65. mylocalguideistanbul.com
İtimat, at the Spice Bazaar entrance
Look for the sign that readsİtimat Fabrika Satış Mağazası
Please meet your guide outside İtimat Fabrika Satış Mağazası, the dairy shop at the entrance to the Spice Bazaar (Egyptian Bazaar). İtimat has several branches, so please make sure you go to the one at the Spice Bazaar, shown in the photo.
Take the tram to Eminönü and walk to the main gate of the Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), the one facing the square by the New Mosque. Rüstem Paşa Mahallesi, 34116 Fatih.
İtimat is the shop immediately to the right of the gate as you face it. Wait outside it.
Your guide will contact you on WhatsApp and send you their photo to help you find them. If you do not have WhatsApp, please download it before the tour.
If you cannot see your guide, message or call +90 534 200 55 65 on WhatsApp.
The Eminönü tram stop is a short walk away, and the tram runs from 6am until around midnight.
Before you book
What happens next, and what if plans change
Worth two minutes before you book, so nothing on the day is a surprise.
After you book
A confirmation straight awayThe booking system emails it the moment you pay. It has the date, the meeting point and a map link.
A message from SalihA day or two before, to check the number of people, anything you cannot eat and where you are staying.
On the dayYour guide is at the meeting point ten minutes early. If you are running late, message the number on your confirmation and we wait.
Changing or cancelling
Cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before the start time and you are refunded in full. Inside 24 hours we cannot refund. Tell us as early as you can and we will move your date rather than lose you.
If the weather turns
Tours run in rain and in heat. If conditions make a tour unsafe we cancel it ourselves and refund you in full, or move you to another date, whichever you prefer.
Minimum numbers
Scheduled group tours need a minimum of three people to run. If the number is not met we offer you another date or a full refund, and we tell you at least 24 hours before.
Yes, tell us when you book and the guide will swap the meat stops for vegetarian ones. Vegan is harder but possible with notice.
How much walking is there?
A morning of it, all flat or gently sloping, with plenty of sitting down to eat between the stops.
Will I need lunch afterwards?
No. People usually skip the next meal entirely.
Can children come?
Yes. Children aged 5 to 11 are €50 each, and from 12 they pay the adult price. For under 5s a private tour works better, because the pace and the standing about do not suit them.
Where do we meet?
At Itimat Fabrika Satış Yeri in Rüstem Paşa, a short walk from the Eminönü tram stop. The tram runs from 6am until around midnight, so it is easy to reach from anywhere central.
What if it rains?
The tour runs in all weather. Bring a jacket and shoes you do not mind getting wet. We only cancel in genuinely unsafe conditions, and then you get a full refund.
YumGreat first day in Istanbul exploring different areas and the local food. Burak was very knowledgeable, shared a lot of history over the day. Highlight was food markets on the Asian side, away from the tourist areas, very authentic and vibrant. Our guide went above and beyond helping us orient to the city, and helped us with planning the next few days too. Highly recommend.
Exceeded expectationsBinnur was a wonderful tour guide. She was extremely knowledgeable and provided a lot of facts about the food and Turkiye as a whole. The tour was very well paced and never felt rushed. This was our favorite food tour we have done in our travels thus far.
Best tour everWe had a fantastic time wandering and eating our way through Istanbul. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, not only about food but about the history of Istanbul. We tried food on the European side and on the Asian side of Istanbul, some quiet neighborhood restaurants and some bustling markets which were lots of fun. Also had a tour through the Spice Market. I really cannot say enough about what a wonderful tour this was! The only downside was we were so full we only ate half of our dessert!
