Restaurants in Türkiye

Istanbul accounts for 118 of the 140 places: two thirds of them are on the historic peninsula, around Sultanahmet, behind Sirkeci station and in Balat on the Golden Horn, and most of the rest in Beyoğlu, from Galata up to Taksim. The 22 places elsewhere are almost all pizzerias, from Ankara and Izmir to Gaziantep and Iğdır, four of them called Pizza Roma.

Kebab shops are few; Istanbul's entries are mostly café-restaurants, nearly all with outdoor seating and a third with rooftops. Reviews keep returning to baklava, shisha and views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, and on the peninsula to testi kebab, baked in a sealed clay jar, at Old Ottoman Cafe & Restaurant and Last Ottoman Cafe & Restaurant. Harab'be Cafe in Sultanahmet is a hookah lounge open until 3 AM, while Dürümzade in Beyoğlu grills Adana kebab wraps and closes on Sundays. A few kitchens look further east: Shamse on İstiklal Caddesi is Iranian, The Himalayan Restaurant Nepalese and KOALI Lounge & Dine Indonesian.