Where to eat in Beşiktaş

What to eat in Beşiktaş

• Fish sandwich balık ekmek — Fish sandwiches and fried fish plates from counters inside the market — better value than the tourist-facing versions across the water.
• Adana kebab Adana kebap — The grill houses behind the market feed office workers and football crowds, which keeps both quality and prices honest.
• Börek börek — Morning börek shops here are a local institution; go before 11am.
• Turkish breakfast spread serpme kahvaltı — Breakfast houses sit a few streets uphill from the market, cheaper than Karaköy for a comparable spread.
• Fried mussels midye tava — Fried mussels with tarator, eaten standing at a counter.
• Kumpir kumpir — The loaded baked potato is an Ortaköy specialty, a twenty-minute walk up the shore.
• Cağ kebabı cağ kebabı — A handful of specialist grills in the area take the Erzurum wood-fire method seriously.
• Sütlaç and milk puddings sütlaç, muhallebi — Finish at a muhallebici with baked rice pudding rather than at a restaurant dessert menu.

Getting there

• Ferries: Beşiktaş pier connects to Kadıköy and Üsküdar on the Asian side in fifteen to twenty minutes.
• Buses along the Bosphorus road link Beşiktaş with Kabataş, Ortaköy and the northern villages; Kabataş connects to the T1 tram and the funicular to Taksim.
• M6 metro runs from Levent to Boğaziçi Üniversitesi above the neighborhood; M2 at Gayrettepe is a short bus or taxi ride uphill.
• On foot: Ortaköy is a flat twenty-minute walk north along the water, Dolmabahçe Palace ten minutes south.

The Çarşı, and why it stays cheap

Beşiktaş market serves three constant crowds: people who live in the surrounding apartment blocks, students from the universities up the hill, and commuters passing through one of the busiest ferry piers on the European side. None of them are captive customers, and all of them are price-sensitive. That is the whole explanation for why a fish plate or a grilled skewer costs what it does here.

It also explains the format. Most places are small, specialize in one thing, turn tables fast, and post prices on a board. There is very little English on the signage and no need for it — you can order most of this neighborhood by pointing.

Beşiktaş versus Kadıköy

The two market food districts on opposite shores, and how to choose between them.

What to avoid in Beşiktaş

• The waterfront restaurants at Ortaköy that price for the bridge view. Buy a kumpir and sit by the mosque instead.
• Match days if you want a calm dinner — the neighborhood is the home of a major football club and the Çarşı fills accordingly.
• Fish stalls that do not display prices. In a market this competitive, there is no reason to accept that.
• Driving here. Parking is close to impossible; arrive by ferry or bus.

Local tips

• Beşiktaş is the practical dinner answer for anyone staying in Taksim or along the tram line: ten minutes from Kabataş, half the price of Galata.
• Combine it with a ferry: Beşiktaş to Üsküdar at sunset is one of the great cheap experiences in Istanbul.
• The market's best hour is 12:30 to 2pm, when every lunch counter is running at full speed.
• Walk to Ortaköy along the water for the Bosphorus Bridge view, then walk back for dinner rather than eating there.

Nearby and related

Neighborhoods to pair it with

• ÜsküdarMilk puddings, tea gardens, and the skyline lit from the front at sunset.
• KadıköyThe market, the fish street, the meyhanes — a full day on foot.
• KaraköyBreakfast, baklava, meyhanes — and the best base for a short trip.

Guides that cover Beşiktaş

• Istanbul food guideThe pillar guide: how meals work, the eight restaurant formats, and where to eat by neighborhood.
• What to eatThe five meals to eat first, then a full glossary with Turkish names.
• 3 days in IstanbulMonuments in the mornings, meals in residential districts, ferries in between.