Best restaurants in Istanbul
The top 3 according to 222 votes from people: Çiya Sofrası · Hamdi Restaurant · Karaköy Lokantası. (Updated Mar 8, 2026.)
Anatolian home cooking, Bosphorus views, kebabs and baklava: the Istanbul restaurants food guides and locals recommend.
Top 10
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1
Çiya Sofrası
Musa Dağdeviren's regional Anatolian dishes in Kadıköy.
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2
Hamdi Restaurant
Kebabs from southeastern Turkey near the Spice Bazaar.
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3
Karaköy Lokantası
Elegant tiled lokanta with meze and home-style dishes.
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4
Pandeli
Historic tiled restaurant above the Spice Bazaar entrance.
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5
Develi
Kebab house from Gaziantep, open since 1912.
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6
Vefa Bozacısı
Historic shop serving boza, a fermented millet drink, since 1876.
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7
Asmalı Cavit
Classic meyhane for meze and rakı.
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8
Hünkar Lokantası
Ottoman and home-style cooking in Nişantaşı.
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9
Balıkçı Sabahattin
Fish restaurant in an old wooden house in Sultanahmet.
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10
Lokanta Maya
Didem Şenol's Aegean-inspired cooking in Karaköy.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 10… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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11
Karaköy Güllüoğlu
Famous baklava shop.
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12
Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi
Meatballs served since 1920 near Hagia Sophia.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (2)
Çiya Sofrası in Kadıköy, the best home-style food.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu for baklava, of course.