What to eat and drink in Turkey: dishes, etiquette and dietary tips

Turkish cooking changes with the region and the season. Use the table to pick what to order where, and what a plate is likely to cost. Prices are 2026 estimates for one person, without alcohol; lira figures move with inflation, so treat them as a band.

Breakfast (kahvaltı) is a spread: white cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, eggs, honey or jam and endless bread, with menemen if you want eggs cooked in a pan. Simit from a street cart with tea is the cheap version. Lunch is where lokantas shine: canteens show the day's dishes in a steam tray, you point, and you get a plate of stew, rice or bulgur and bread. Look for karnıyarık, bean stews and zeytinyağlı vegetables.

Dinner splits by region. In the south-east, order Adana kebap, hand-minced spiced lamb grilled on a wide skewer, with lahmacun to start and baklava to finish. In Bursa and Istanbul, İskender kebap comes as sliced döner over bread with tomato sauce, yoghurt and hot butter. On the coasts, meze houses (meyhane) serve small plates with rakı: stuffed vine leaves, aubergine in olive oil, seafood. In Cappadocia, testi kebabı arrives sealed in a clay pot and is cracked open at the table.

Snacks and sweets are a category of their own. Balık ekmek — grilled mackerel in bread — is sold around Eminönü and Karaköy in Istanbul. Künefe, shredded pastry with melted cheese and hot syrup, belongs to Hatay. Judge baklava by a crisp top and a bottom that is not soggy.

Bread is free and refilled, tea is cheap, and water is often bottled and charged. In a lokanta you pay by the plate, so a full lunch of soup, a stew and rice stays modest. In a meze house the bill climbs with each small plate and with alcohol, so agree on a number of plates before ordering.

Tipping is common in sit-down places: round up, or leave about 5–10%. Many small places take cash only, so carry lira in small notes. Menus in tourist areas often show prices; if a menu has no prices, ask before ordering.

Tea (çay) is the default: small tulip glasses, served everywhere, often free after a meal. Turkish coffee is unfiltered, strong and served with a glass of water; ask for sade (no sugar), orta (medium) or şekerli (sweet). Ayran, a salted yoghurt drink, cuts the fat of a kebab better than soda. Şalgam, a sour turnip juice from the south, is the classic partner for Adana kebap.

Tap water is generally not drunk; bottled or filtered water is the norm, and many hotels and cafés have refill points. Rakı is drunk with meze and water, usually diluted. Beer and local wine are widely available, but some districts and venues are dry, and drinking in the street is frowned on outside big cities.

Bread is treated as food, not a side: do not throw it away or leave it on the floor. Say 'afiyet olsun' (enjoy your meal) to people eating. Sharing plates is normal in meze houses; in a lokanta everyone usually gets their own tray. Tea is offered constantly and refusing is fine.

Vegetarians do well on zeytinyağlı dishes, lentil soup, menemen, meze and pide with cheese, but ask about stock: lentil soup and vegetable stews are often made with meat or chicken stock. Pork is rare outside a few specialist shops, so most meat is beef, lamb or chicken. For allergies, carry a card in Turkish naming the ingredient; kitchens share grills and oil, so cross-contact is likely. During Ramadan, some restaurants open only at sunset, and during the two Bayram holidays many shops close for several days.