In all the countries I have traveled to so far I can definitely say Turkey has some of the best cuisines I have ever had the joy of trying. From home-cooked stews to kebabs on the street, Turkish food is cheap, delicious and most of all there are literally hundreds of dishes to try!
On the other hand, the Turks really don't understand foreign food at all. Especially things like pizza and pasta are just horrible! But really, with so much delicious local food why would you want to eat anything else?
So here are the top ten foods you MUST try if you visit Turkey!
1. Kokoreç
No surprise here, everyone knows how much I love kokorec because I am constantly talking about it! While eating barbecued sheep intestines might seem a bit weird to some people, if you can get past your brain telling you it's weird, your taste buds will tell you it is absolutely delicious! The best kokorec is usually found in Istanbul, but you can find it all around Turkey. Without a doubt, the best place to eat is at Gala Kokorec in Besiktas, Istanbul. I've taken many friends there in the past, and everyone agrees this is the best they have ever tasted! (note: they make it pretty spicy if you don't tell them otherwise)
2. İskender Kebab
This is a meal you can usually find in restaurants, it can be a bit expensive (around €4-5) but you can't leave Turkey without trying it at least once! Iskender is beef doner meat placed on top of freshly cooked pide bread and covered with a tomato sauce, butter and yogurt. In Turkey "kebab" means a lot of things, but for me kebab means Iskender! The most famous place to eat it is in Bursa. In Izmir there is also a place called Antik Cafe which serves a very good Iskender for as little as 7tl.
3. Şiş Dürüm (Barbecued Meat Wrap)
This is another kind of kebab that can be ordered at most street restaurants in Turkey. My favourite is chicken but you can also get beef, heart, kidney, or adana style which is seasoned minced meat pressed onto a metal skewer. One of the best places in Turkey to eat a good durum is the famous Mangal Keyfi in Taksim, Istanbul. Also don't forget to try their home made ayran 😉
4. Börek
Borek is a Turkish pie, usually filled with meat, cheese, potato or spinach. You can buy them at most bakeries, although you will usually get better quality at an actual borek shop. There are also many types of borek to try, such as su borek (water borek) which is a very soft, wet pastry. Or sigara borek (cigarette pie) which are long and thin boreks with cheese or potato in them. Which ever you try, they all make a great snack or breakfast food.
5. Pide
This is a kind of Turkish pizza, usually cooked in a large wood burning oven and topped with meat, chicken, cheese, vegetables or a combination of these.
6. Köfte
These are Turkish meat balls, eaten either in a dish with tomato sauce, by themselves, or in a sandwich. You can find them almost anywhere in Turkey but my all time favourite, and I will say my favourite restaurant in the whole of Turkey is Kofteci Yusuf which have many restaurants around Yalova and Bursa as well as 3 locations along the road from Istanbul to Izmir, if you are hitchhiking through this area you MUST stop at this restaurant, not only is it the most delicious but somehow also the cheapest kofte I have ever seen in Turkey!
7. Kahvaltı (Turkish Breakfast)
I know, I'm a lucky guy to date a Turkish girl and get this made for me almost every single day 😀 A Turkish breakfast consists of... well, a hell of a lot of things! In a restaurant you should expect to see at least 4 kinds of cheese, 2 kinds of olive, salad, meat, pastries, several kinds of bread, jam, butter, honey and one or two boiled or fried eggs. You can also order a dish of menemen which is a tomato and egg dish and also bloody delicious! You can find the best Turkish breakfasts in the villages, but Besiktas in Istanbul is famous for good breakfasts too.
8. Midye
This is really the perfect drunk food; muscles filled with black pepper flavoured rice. You can find them in most places near the sea for around 30-50kr (€0.15-0.20) per piece. A guy will usually open them and hand them to you one by one until you say stop, then count your empty shells to tell you the bill, but be careful... they are so delicious you can easily lose track and end up paying more than you expected! I found that if you tell the seller how many you want from the beginning you can often bargain, and if you ever see them being sold by the bag they are much much cheaper!
9. Döner Kebab
What?! The most famous Turkish food only makes it into 9th place?? While I do like a doner sometimes, I think it is extremely over rated around the world, and there are just so many other foods which I enjoy much more. Another reason is, you can eat it almost anywhere in the world! There are some extremely good places to eat it though if you don't mind paying a little bit extra, in Istanbul check out Donerci Sahin Usta, and in Izmir there is a famous doner street in Kemeralti where you can find around 5 or 6 very nice doner restaurants.
10 - Balık Ekmek
Fish sandwiches can mostly be eaten in Istanbul along the Bosphorus. There are a few kinds but the most common is a kind of saltwater fish, in a sandwich with a bit of salad. Simple, but delicious! They are usually best if you eat in a restaurant, although a little is more expensive. Another interesting place to try it from the floating restaurants in Eminonu.
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