Best Restaurants in Istanbul

Guide: Anatolia, Palace, and New Istanbul Tables

Use this guide for Istanbul meals with a real point of view: regional Anatolian cooking, Ottoman food history, classic market rooms, and contemporary Turkish restaurants that feel rooted rather than generic.

• 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 Ottoman palace-cuisine stop, built around archival recipes instead of broad imperial mood. Pair it with Chora, the land walls, or a slower Fatih day so the meal feels connected to the city’s older layers.