One of the best things about traveling to Turkey is getting the opportunity to eat non-stop Turkish food. This post contains some general tips for navigating the Turkish culinary landscape.
Drinking Water
The water in Turkey is technically potable but they put lots of chlorine in it, so I recommend drinking bottled water at all times. Tap water is perfectly fine to use for bathing and for brushing your teeth. I usually avoid ice, but luckily ice is not a big thing in Turkey and drinks will only come with ice if you ask for it. Many Turks have an aversion to drinking cold beverages (for fear it will make them sick) so you often have to specify that you want cold water (soğuk su) at restaurants.
Breakfast
A traditional Turkish breakfast includes bread, jam, cheese (feta and the mild, white kaşar cheese), olives, and sometimes tomatoes and cucumbers. Most hotels will also offer fruit, eggs of some sort, and a wide assortment of pastries in their breakfast buffets. Tea and / or fruit juice is traditionally consumed with breakfast. The typical Turkish fruit juices are vişne (sour cherry), kayisi (apricot), and şeftali (peach).
Simit
You will see simit sold on the street and in bakeries all over the place. It’s Turkey’s tasty version of the sesame bagel and is consumed for breakfast or as a mid-day snack. The Simit Sarayı chains are a good place to try it. They are also good breakfast spots if your hotel doesn’t include breakfast. There are at least three Simit Sarayı stores located within 2 minutes of Taksim square.
Mezes
Mezes, Turkish appetizers, are often the highlight of a meal. Most restaurants offer a wide range of hot and cold mezes for your eating pleasure. In many restaurants you will choose your mezes from a cart or tray that the waiter brings to the table. Just point to what you want and he will pull it off the tray and put it on your table. Some of my favorites are haydari (yogurt mixed with herbs), patlıcan salatası (eggplant salad), mücver (zucchini pancakes), and sigara boreği (phyllo pastry filled with cheese).
Fish
Traditional Turkish restaurants are either meat places or fish places and very rarely serve both. I am not a big fish eater so most of my restaurant recommendations skew towards the meat-providing restaurants. If you are a fish-lover, rest assured, there is plenty of fresh, local fish to eat while you are in Turkey (as you might expect from a country that borders four seas). Bear in mind that fish is usually served whole and its up to you to filet it (this is one of the reasons I don’t like fish restaurants in Turkey, I don’t like to have to work that hard for my food!)
Kebabs
If you are a carnivore, you will love Turkish food. The Turks have perfected the art of making meat as tasty as it can possibly be. Beef and lamb are the most common meats but most restaurants also have chicken options. Traditional (and highly tasty) kebabs include şiş kebabı (grilled cubes of beef, lamb or chicken), döner kebabı (thin strips of beef / lamb cooked on a rotating spit), iskender kebabı (döner meat served over pita bread with tomato sauce), köfte (meatballs), and adana kebabı (ground beef / lamb mixed with spices and grilled)
Tips for Vegetarians
Despite the huge presence of meat in Turkey, there are plenty of yummy meat-free elements to Turkish cuisine. If you are a vegetarian I would start by checking out the mezes. Many mezes are meat-free and involve veggies, cheeses and different preparations of beans. Another great option is to look for restaurants that serve kuru fasulye, stewed white beans cooked in tomato sauce and served with rice. There is a whole string of restaurants who only serve kuru fasulye across from the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. There are also meat-free versions of pide – the Turkish version of pizza.
Desserts
Turkish desserts primarily fall into two categories: pastries and puddings. I love all Turkish desserts (truthfully I just love all sweets), but I prefer the puddings. My favorite is fırın sutlaç – rice pudding. Other tasty types are keşkul, made with almonds, and kazan dibi, a thicker custard with a burned top. Desserts in the pastry category include baklava and kadayif, a dessert made from shredded wheat and nuts. The typical formula for Turkish pastries involves wrapping dough of some sort around nuts (usually walnuts or pistachios), dousing it in butter before baking and then soaking it in syrup after it comes out of the oven. I prefer the pastries made with pistachios.
Tea and Coffee
Turks have a very strong tea-drinking culture. Turkish tea is a black tea that is grown on the Black Sea coast – its fairly strong and pretty fabulous. It is traditionally drunk from small tulip-shaped glasses that are refilled as many times as needed (the glasses are small to keep the tea hot). Tea, rather than coffee, is traditionally drunk with breakfast. In fact, Turks drink tea throughout the day. If you buy something in the Grand Bazaar there is a decent chance the shopkeeper will serve you tea (particularly if you are buying something expensive).
Turkish coffee is a good digestive after a meal and is sometimes served after breakfast. You need to specify how sweet you want your coffee when you order it (the coffee is cooked with the sugar in it). I always order mine şekerli – very sweet. Orta is somewhat sweet and sade is without sugar. Restaurants in tourist areas also often serve apple tea – this is not traditionally Turkish but it is tasty and resembles hot apple cider.
Alcohol
Although Turkey is a predominately Muslim country, many Turks drink alcohol and it is readily available for purchase in restaurants, bars, and grocery stores. The Islamic-leaning government, in order to steer its citizens on a more proper moral path, has imposed heavy taxes on alcohol in recent years. As a result, it is usually more expensive to buy alcohol in Turkey than it is back home.
There are plenty of locally produced tipples on offer, including Efes beer, wines produced in Cappadocia and Bozcaada, and the national liquor, rakı. Rakı is a strong, anise-flavored liquor (similar to ouzo) that is drunk straight or with ice or water added. Pairing rakı with plates of mezes and the company of good friends is the typical Turkish way to enjoy the drink.