Istanbul Restaurant Tour

Day 1: Sultanahmet (The Old City)

Breakfast

On a street lined with carpet shops near the Arasta Bazaar, Tamara Restaurant (breakfast for two $20), whose owners hail from Turkey’s eastern Lake Van area, serves up the region’s puffy breads, herb-flecked otlu cheese, and addictive tahini spread. Eggs baked with spicy soujuk sausage might seem like overkill, but order them anyway.

Mid-Morning Fix

It would be a crime to miss the Süleymaniye Camii mosque, an Ottoman masterpiece; it would be sadder still not to visit the nearby Vefa Bozacisi (boza for two $4). Decked out in weathered marble, this vintage cubbyhole specializes in boza—a cross between pudding and a beverage, which is made from fermented bulgur. Traditionally it’s consumed with leblebi, nutty roasted chickpeas.

Lunch

Famished after haggling for kilims at the Covered Bazaar? It’s worth tracking down Seyhmus (lunch for two $30), a macho kebab dive colonized by gaggles of mustached vendors. Order lahmacun—wafer-thin lamb-slathered pizza—with seyhmus kebap (an epic charcoal-grilled lamb patty) and a vegetable salad dressed with pomegranate molasses. Washing your meal down with ayran, a tart yogurt drink, is a sure way to pass for a local.

Beer Break

Unwind with a frosty glass of Efes Pilsen on the rooftop terrace of Seven Hills Hotel (drinks for two $10), which feels like it is suspended between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia against the backdrop of the Marmara Sea.

Dinner

Though certain Istanbullus swear that fish should be eaten at the water’s edge, the suave, smart-suited businessmen and bejeweled matrons who patronize Balikçi Sabahattin (dinner for two $65) know better. A waiter appears as soon as you settle in your seat, carrying a tray of meze, small plates meant to be sampled with raki, Turkey’s signature anise liquor. Order platters of smoky eggplant salad and buttery lakerda (cured bonito)—then choose grilled levrek (sea bass), moist and perfectly cooked.

Day 2: Other Neighborhoods

Breakfast

Even if contemporary Turkish art isn’t your cup of çay, visit Istanbul Modern (breakfast for two $45), a museum in a renovated warehouse, for its stylish café and waterfront terrace. With luck, giant cruise ships won’t obstruct the postcard-perfect view of the Old Town as you tuck into a breakfast of simit (sesame bread rings), creamy beyaz peynir (feta), crunchy cucumbers, and sour-cherry jam.

Ice Cream

Farther along the Bosporus road, stop in the village of Ortaköy for a stroll through craft shops and the neo-Baroque mosque. At Mado (ice cream for two $2), sample the goat’s-milk ice cream, which is thickened with the powdered root of wild orchids. Splurge on a triple scoop of pistachio, pomegranate, and black mulberry.

Lunch

Continue on to Sabanci University Sakip Sabanci Museum, a 19th-century mansion in Emirgan that houses an impressive collection of Ottoman paintings. Espousing a different aesthetic, the museum’s Muzedechanga restaurant (lunch for two $98) is noted for its neo-60’s interior of unpolished oak and black-leather banquettes. Try the olive oil–braised celery root enlivened with tangerine, and rosy lamb chops, from the smart modern-Mediterranean menu.

Drinks

Time your visit to Leb-i Derya (drinks for two $16) with the sunset—and the evening call to prayer. That’s when young locals file in for cocktails, like fresh-ginger–and–muddled-lime mojitos, and jockey for steel stools on the open-air terrace overlooking the city’s two coastlines and the Bosporus strait in between.

Dinner

Beyoglu is known for its raucous drinking houses, or meyhane, where meze are an excuse for rivers of raki. The insiders’ favorite is Kallavi (dinner for two $50), a brick-walled dining room illuminated by chandeliers that sets the scene for house specials like ficin, a spiced meat pie. The best part? Watching beau monders stomp their heels to the Turkish band’s beat. Wait, is that your wife tossing banknotes at the dashing oud player?

Balikçi Sabahattin

Grab a seat in the garden of this Sultanahmet seafood restaurant. The mezes, small appetizer plates of roasted red peppers and marinated octopus, make for perfect snacks and are best enjoyed ith a glass of raki, Turkey's signature liquor. Order platters of smoky eggplant salad and buttery lakerda (cured bonito)—then choose grilled levrek (sea bass), moist and perfectly cooked.

Seven Hills Hotel Bar

Atop a drab tourist hotel across from the Four Seasons is an insider's secret: a rooftop terrace with an unobstructed panorama of the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia, and the Sea of Marmara. The drinks menu is nothing to write home about: Keep it simple with an Efes Pilsen beer.

Leb-i-Derya

Time your visit with the sunset—and the evening call to prayer. That’s when young locals file in for cocktails, like fresh-ginger–and–muddled-lime mojitos, and jockey for steel stools on the open-air terrace overlooking the city’s two coastlines and the Bosporus strait in between.

Istanbul Modern Restaurant

Even if contemporary Turkish art isn’t your cup of çay, visit Istanbul this repurpose warehouse museum for its stylish café and waterfront terrace. With luck, giant cruise ships won’t obstruct the postcard-perfect view of the Old Town as you tuck into a breakfast of simit (sesame bread rings), creamy beyaz peynir (feta), crunchy cucumbers, and sour-cherry jam.

Mado

Tamara Restaurant

On a street lined with carpet shops near the Arasta Bazaar, this restaurant, whose owners hail from Turkey’s eastern Lake Van area, serves up the region’s puffy breads, herb-flecked otlu cheese, and addictive tahini spread. Eggs baked with spicy soujuk sausage might seem like overkill, but order them anyway.

Vefa Bozacisi

It would be a crime to miss the Süleymaniye Camii mosque, an Ottoman masterpiece; it would be sadder still not to visit this nearby sweet shop. Decked out in weathered marble, this vintage cubbyhole specializes in boza—a cross between pudding and a beverage, which is made from fermented bulgur. Traditionally it’s consumed with leblebi, nutty roasted chickpeas.

Seyhmus

Famished after haggling for kilims at the Covered Bazaar? It’s worth tracking down to this macho kebab dive colonized by gaggles of mustached vendors. Order lahmacun—wafer-thin lamb-slathered pizza—with seyhmus kebap (an epic charcoal-grilled lamb patty) and a vegetable salad dressed with pomegranate molasses. Washing your meal down with ayran, a tart yogurt drink, is a sure way to pass for a local.

Sabanci University Sakip Sabanci Museum

Kallavi

Beyoglu is known for its raucous drinking houses, or meyhane, where meze are an excuse for rivers of raki. This is the insiders' favorite: a brick-walled dining room illuminated by chandeliers that sets the scene for house specials like ficin, a spiced meat pie. The best part? Watching beau monders stomp their heels to the Turkish band’s beat. Wait, is that your wife tossing banknotes at the dashing oud player?