Some streets were made for shopping, others for strolling. But Çelebi Oğlu has the best breakfast in Istanbul. Nicknamed kahvaltıcılar sokağı, or “breakfast street,” this an blink-and-you’ll-miss-it alley wedged between neon-lit kebab shops and old-school bakeries in the Beşiktaş district first rose to fame in the early 2000s when a handful of modest cafés began serving the kind of overflowing, table-creaking spreads once reserved for lazy countryside weekends. Word eventually spread, and today, it’s an essential morning pilgrimage. There, you’ll find a narrow, curving corner of mismatched stools, sweating teapots, and the scent of sizzling sucuk sausage with platters spilling out from dawn to dusk in a cheerful crush of trays, bread baskets, and clinking cups.
The street is a microcosm of a much larger obsession. Istanbul is arguably some of the best breakfasts in the world, rooted in Anatolia’s agrarian past: olives and cheeses from village markets, fresh tomatoes from backyard gardens, crusty bread baked before dawn. What began as a pragmatic farmer’s spread has evolved into an edible showcase of the country’s terroir and culinary generosity. There’s no better place to start the morning than here on Çelebi Oğlu Street. Here’s what to eat and where to order the best breakfast in Istanbul.
A version of this article originally appeared on Condé Nast Traveller Middle East.
What to eat on Çelebi Oğlu Street
Kahvalti tabağı
Every restaurant on Çelebi Oğlu dishes up its own version of the kahvalti tabağı, a crunchy, creamy, and tangy mosaic of Anatolia’s greatest hits served in a sprawl of bowls and plates that often takes up the entire table. Although you can expect to find plenty of variations from place to place, the standard line-up features crumbly beyaz peynir cheese glistening with brine, olives doused in oil, cucumber and tomato slices dusted with sumac, a pat of golden butter, and a ramekin of honey crowned with a dollop of buffalo milk kaymak as thick as clotted cream. There are spoonfuls of sweet-sour jam too—sour cherry, fig, rosehip, perhaps even bergamot—each begging to be slathered onto the copious quantities of bread that come with each tabağı. While some platters stay faithfully traditional, others color outside the lines, adding crimson scoops of muhammara (walnut and red pepper paste) from Gaziantep, ropey curls of herbed string cheese from Van, or golden squares of buttery börek nestled casually between the pickles and pastirma beef.
Where to eat it: Among a sea of options, you can’t go far wrong with the Bi Serpme Kahvalti spread at Bi Kahvalti. Their signature platters are served in generous, crowd-pleasing portions for two or three, and come stacked with enough regional staples to map out half of Türkiye. The standard set includes çeçil peynir, a stringy, slightly smoky cheese from eastern Anatolia; slices of creamy Ezine and sharp kaşar; juicy cherry tomatoes and curls of green village peppers; plus a zeytin tabağı (olive plate), rich acuka (spicy pepper-walnut paste), and sweet finishes like bal-kaymak (honey and clotted cream), homemade jams, and a swipe of Nutella for good measure. A pair of kalem böreği (cigar-shaped cheese pastries) and freshly fried pişi come with every order, alongside French fries and a piping hot skillet of plain menemen. Tea, of course, flows freely.
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/this-food-filled-street-in-istanbul-is-a-haven-for-breakfast-lovers