Some streets are made for cars. shoppingOther 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. It became a morning ritual after word spread. You’ll find mismatched stools and sweating teapots in this corner, along with the smell of sucuk sausages. Platters spill out of the corners from dawn until dusk, in a cheerful crush.
The street is an obsession that’s much bigger. Istanbul The hottest spots in the city are arguably the best breakfasts in the worldThis dish is rooted in Anatolia’s agrarian history: fresh tomatoes and olives from the backyard garden, freshly baked bread before dawn. The humble farmer’s platter has become a culinary showcase for the terroir of Turkey and its generosity. There’s no better place to start the morning than here on Çelebi Oğlu Street. What to eat in Istanbul and where to get the best breakfast are listed below.
The original version of this article 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. You can find variations in the menus of different restaurants, but you’ll always get a similar dish: a crumbly beyaz cheese, olives drizzled with oil, cucumber and tomatoes dusted with cumin, golden butter and a ramekin topped with thick buffalo milk kaymak. 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.
What to eat: The Bi Serpme Kahvalti is a great option among a wide range of choices. 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. Of course, tea is available.
