Best Restaurants in Istanbul

Guide: Anatolia, Palace, and New Istanbul Tables

This restaurant shortlist works across the city’s main food arguments: Ciya for regional Anatolian depth, Karakoy Lokantasi for the polished lokanta-to-meyhane rhythm, Pandeli for market-era Istanbul ceremony, Mikla for contemporary Turkish cooking with a view, and Asitane for Ottoman recipes treated as research rather than theme.

• Ciya SofrasiCiya Sofrasi earns its place because it shows Turkish cooking at regional scale, with dishes from Anatolia and the southeast that move far beyond the standard visitor menu. The best version of the meal is lunch or early dinner after a ferry to Kadikoy, when the crossing, market streets, and steam-table rhythm all feel connected.
• Karakoy LokantasiKarakoy Lokantasi belongs because it gives Karakoy a reliable all-day restaurant with two useful personalities: a bright tiled lokanta for lunch and a more rakı-and-meze-driven room at night. Its appeal is polish without hotel stiffness, making it a strong choice when the group wants classic Istanbul food in a setting that still feels local.
• PandeliSet above the Spice Bazaar, Pandeli is strongest as a lunch stop that folds the market, old Istanbul service, blue-tiled interiors, and dishes like hunkar begendi into one experience. It is not the city’s hidden table; its value is continuity, location, and the way it turns an Eminonu sightseeing day into something more rooted.
• MiklaMikla is the contemporary Istanbul dinner to plan around when the trip needs a more refined register. The restaurant combines New Anatolian cooking, Turkish wine, and a high Pera view, but the reason it belongs is that the food carries enough intent to keep the skyline from becoming the whole story.
• Asitane RestaurantAsitane is the history-minded meal in the set, built around Ottoman palace recipes researched from archival sources rather than vague imperial atmosphere. It works best with Chora, the land walls, or a slower Fatih day, when the traveler has enough context for the meal to feel like part of the city’s historical fabric.