Historical Peninsula guide

Located inside the Ottoman Hotel Imperial, Matbah offers a menu focused on Ottoman palace delights and seasonal offerings, featuring game such as geese in the winter, and quail and duck in the summer. All game come from the Kars, Ardahan and Ağrı regions, the spices and pastes from Gaziantep, and the dry ingredients procured from various shops in Eminönü. Complimentary şerbet begins and ends the meal at Matbah, flavoured with pomegranate blossom as an appetizer and cinnamon as a post-meal treat. One of our favourite dishes in Matbah's ambitious menu is the succulent Lamb Shank with Marmarina, served on spinach seasoned with cinnamon and black pepercorn, a recipe dating back to the 17th century.

Taking its name from one of Istanbul’s former monikers, Deraliye is run by Necati Yılmaz, who opened up his own eatery in Sultanahmet after a 15-year stint in various Ottoman-themed restaurants. Deraliye serves food fit for a sultan, and we mean this quite literally, since its menu is comprised of recipes derived from historical sources dating back 500 years. One of our favourite items on the menu is the terkib-i mutancana, made up of diced cuts of tender lamb served with honey, apricot and dried figs. For your main, you can't go wrong with the lamb chops or grilled meatballs served on a bed of smoky eggplant. For the grand finale, any one of Deraliye's selection of Ottoman desserts will go nicely, but the most mouth-watering of them all has to be Levzine, a buttery halva pudding with an almond-flour base, topped with pistachios and more almonds. 

Serving its customers for over a century, Meşhur Filibe Köftecisi was founded in 1893 by Mehmet Saltuk, who moved to Istanbul from the Bulgarian town of Filibe (Plovdiv), hence the restaurant’s name. One of the prominent culinary establishments in Sirkeci, Filibe’s juicy meatballs are an ode to simplicity, as the only ingredients involved are ground beef, onion and cumin, and they are made daily by hand. Now looked after by the fifth-generation descendants of Saltuk, Filibe’s no-frills menu also includes piyaz, çoban salatası (shepherd’s salad with tomatoes and onion) and the delightful sponge cake revani.

A large variety of Cretan and Aegean mezes, all made with the freshest ingredients, make Giritli the best choice for rakı and seafood in Sultanahmet. In addition to classic meze dishes, Giritli Restaurant's menu features the eponymous girit mezesi, a cheese spread packed with green olives, goat cheese, garlic, walnuts, dried herbs and olive oil, and çiğ balık, thinly-sliced raw fish cooked in salt and lemon. Another must-try is the ızgara ahtapot (grilled octopus), which is first dried out in the sun and marinated with wine before being grilled. Dining out in Giritli Restaurant’s garden is a pure delight during the summer months.

With chef Abdullah Sevim at the helm, Pandeli is revered as one of the city's most iconic culinary spots, serving up traditional Turkish dishes at their absolute best, bursting with flavour and authenticity. Michelin sure seems to agree, having awarded the restaurant with the title of Bib Gourmand back in 2022. Pandeli’s hünkar beğendi, slow-cooked lamb served on a bed of charred eggplant puree, remains unparalleled, and the famous eggplant pie served with a leaf of döner kebap on top is still one of our favourite dishes in the city. Round it off with the oven-baked quince, which comes slathered with thick syrup and clotted Buffalo cream. Bear in mind that no alcohol is served here, and as Pandeli is only open until 19.00, the best time for a reservation would be for lunch.

Though the fish no longer comes from the Bosphorus (it has been imported from Norway for years), enjoying a balık ekmek cooked on a rocking boat on the Eminönü shore remains an Istanbul institution and a beloved weekend activity of families coming from all over the city. Although you might be tempted to sit down at one of the restaurants below the Galata Bridge to feast on these tasty sandwiches, nothing beats tucking into a balık ekmek on the go as you soak up views of the Bosphorus.