A full morning of eating across two continents, starting with a proper Turkish breakfast and finishing with künefe and Turkish coffee.
Tour highlights
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Where we meet
Itimat Fabrika Satış Yeri, Rüstem Paşa, 34116 Fatih, İstanbul.
A short walk from the Eminönü tram stop. The tram runs from 6am until around midnight.
Before you book
Worth two minutes before you book, so nothing on the day is a surprise.
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.
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.
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.
Yum Great 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 expectations Binnur 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 ever We 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!
Been with us
Wherever you prefer. A review is worth more to the next person than anything we can write about ourselves.
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