Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

STREET FOOD Street vendors pound pavements across İstanbul, pushing carts laden with artfully arranged snacks to satisfy the appetites of commuters. You’ll see these vendors next to ferry and bus stations, on busy streets and squares,and even on the city’s bridges. Some of their snacks are innocuous – freshly baked simits (bread rings studded with sesame seeds), golden roasted mısır (corn on the cob), refreshing chilled and peeled salatalık (cucumber) – but others are more confrontational for non-Turkish palates. These include midye dolma (stuffed mussels) and kokoreç (seasoned lamb or mutton intestines wrapped around a skewer and grilled over charcoal). VEGETARIANS & VEGANS Though it’s normal for Turks to eat a vegetarian ( vejeteryen ) meal, the concept of vegetarianism is quite foreign. Say you’re a vegan and most Turks will either look mystified or assume that you’re ‘fessing up to some strain of socially aberrant behaviour. There is a sprinkling of vegetarian restaurants in Beyoğlu, a couple of which serve some vegan meals, but the travelling vegetarian certainly can’t rely on specialist restaurants. The meze spread is usually vegetable based, and meat-free salads, soups, pastas, omelettes and böreks, as well as hearty vegetable dishes, are all readily available. Ask ‘ Etsiz yemekler var mı? ’ (Is there something to eat that has no meat?) to see what’s on offer. SELF-CATERING İstanbul has many small supermarkets (DIA, Gima, Makro) sprinkled on the streets around Beyoğlu, with giant cousins (such as Migros) in the suburbs. These sell most of the items you will need if you plan to self-cater. Then there is the ubiquitous bakkal (corner shop) , which stocks bread, milk, basic groceries and usually fruit and vegetables. The best places to purchase fresh produce are undoubtedly the street markets. In Eminönü the streets around the Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı) sell