Food basics

Eating well in Istanbul is easy and cheap if you know three or four words. Here is the short version.

The dishes you will meet

• Kebap is a family, not a dish. "Adana" is spicy minced lamb on a skewer, "Urfa" is the same without the chilli, "İskender" is sliced meat over bread with tomato sauce and yoghurt.
• Köfte — grilled meatballs, usually with white beans ("piyaz") and rice.
• Pide — a boat-shaped flatbread with cheese, minced meat or egg. Lahmacun is the thin, crisp one you roll up with lemon and parsley.
• Balık ekmek — grilled fish in bread, sold by the water at Eminönü and Karaköy.
• Mantı — small dumplings under garlic yoghurt.
• Meze — the cold small plates that start a long dinner: aubergine, yoghurt, beans, stuffed vine leaves. Order four or five for the table.
• Çorba — soup, eaten at any hour. "Mercimek" (lentil) is the safe, excellent default.
• Simit — the sesame ring sold from every cart, the cheapest breakfast in the city.
• Baklava, künefe, sütlaç — pastry with pistachio, hot cheese dessert, and rice pudding.

How spicy is it?

Turkish food is flavourful rather than fiery. Most dishes are mild; the heat lives in Adana kebap, some southeastern dishes, and the chilli flakes ("pul biber") on the table, which you add yourself. If you want mild, say "acısız" = without spice. If you want heat, say "acılı".

Halal and pork

Halal is effectively the default: almost all meat served in Istanbul restaurants is halal, and pork is uncommon outside a few international restaurants, delicatessens and hotel breakfasts, where it is clearly labelled. Alcohol is served in many restaurants and bars and not in others; the ones without simply do not have a licence. Nobody minds either way.

Vegetarians and vegans

Better than the reputation suggests. The whole world of meze is largely vegetable-based, and dishes cooked in olive oil ("zeytinyağlı") are traditionally meatless. Look for "etsiz" = without meat and "vejetaryen". Reliable choices: mercimek çorbası, mercimek köftesi, imam bayıldı (stuffed aubergine), fasulye pilaki (beans), börek with cheese or spinach, gözleme, and any of the salads. Ask whether soups are made with meat stock — some are.

Water and tea

Tap water is chlorinated and generally safe for washing and brushing teeth, but locals drink bottled water and so should you. A bottle costs a very small amount (approximate) at any corner shop, and considerably more in a restaurant.

Çay (tea) arrives in a small tulip glass at all hours and often for free after a meal or in a shop. Türk kahvesi is strong, unfiltered and served with the grounds settled at the bottom — order it "orta" (medium sweet) if you are unsure. Ayran is salted yoghurt, the standard drink with kebap.

Prices and how to read a menu

• A menu with prices on the wall or the table is a good sign. A place with no prices anywhere is not.
• Ask before you accept anything you did not order. Bread, meze and side plates brought "for you" are sometimes charged.
• Fish is often priced by weight. Ask what the plate will cost before they take the fish away.
• Approximate ranges: a simit or a çay is small change; a lahmacun or a soup is a few euros equivalent; a proper kebap dinner with drinks runs to the mid teens per person; a fish restaurant on the water is a different league.
• Neighbourhoods a street or two back from the sights are cheaper and better. A "lokanta" — the counter place where you point at trays — is the honest, fast, cheap lunch of everyday Istanbul.

The perks section of the app lists partner restaurants where your card gets a discount. Worth checking before dinner rather than after.