During your visit to Istanbul you’ll be eating more shish-kebabs than you shake a stick at (pardon the pun). You might just want one morning or evening to escape the culture shock and have a meal that’s anything close to Turkish. No better spot to accomplish that than Le Cuistrot Bistrot. Belgian chef Carlos brings French and Belgian cuisine to this delightful little café cum bistro. Fabulous place for happy hour or an evening cocktail as well.
Want a great place to start your sight-seeing near the Sofia Mosque and the Royal Palace? Just a stone’s throw from the entrance to both tourist destinations lies Sofia Terrace overlooking the mosque. This is one of the restaurants in the Hyatt Sofia Mansions resort. It’s got a full array of popular breakfast items you can enjoy in their open-air terrace with a great view of the dome of the Sofia Mosque.
Güney has a menu that’s almost as voluminous as the one at The Cheesecake Factory. About 25 yards from the small plaza at the foot of Galata Tower, Güney delivers a well-executed menu that includes both western and Turkish breakfast items, Turkish classics, salads, and pizzas. Opens early at 7:30 am doesn’t shut down until 12:30 am, seven days a week.
The large, popular restaurant, Güney, can get crowded and a bit chaotic, even mid-morning. If you’re looking for a breakfast in a really laid-back fashion in a small, cleverly conceived café, look no further than Dukkan Galata. Dukkan Galata pens at 8:30 am weekdays, 9:00 am Weekends. Closes at 6:30 pm. The little café offers a full array of breakfast dishes, sandwiches, salads and Turkish pasta.
It’s rare that we publish a review for a hotel restaurant, but Glens, the restaurant adjoining the Glens Palas boutique hotel in Nişantaşı, earned a place in our short list of favored restaurants in Istanbul because of its prime location, early opening time for those seeking a hearty breakfast, and an excellent, well-executed, Italian menu.
Antakya is a region in far southern Turkey adjacent to the Syrian border. Restaurant Antiochia brings the cuisine of that fertile region, a melting pot for Turkish and other middle eastern cuisines, to Istanbul. Similar at first glance to that of other local restaurants, the cuisine uses slightly different herbs and spices, relying heavily on the flavor of cumin, to bring a unique taste to everything on the menu.