Istanbul is a splendid destination for gourmet tastes keeping up with the long-established menus of classic diners. Enjoying a unique panorama of the Bosphorus with a bite on your Turkish-style kebab will make a distinct experience. For afternoon breaks, smoking shisha at the sunset beyond the seven hills will release traces of a tiresome workday. If you are planning a more romantic dinner with live music in Istanbul, you should directly book your table at a roof restaurant serving fresh fish specialties unique to the Black Sea and the Marmara. Keep our five dining tips in mind to have the finest meals at the best Istanbul restaurants.

Starters from Turkish Appetizers

Starters are always an eminent course ¨cracking the door to the soul and stomach¨ as the saying goes. Let you select from a wide range of Turkish cold and hot appetizers, usually called ¨Meze¨ in the Turkish language. Meze undertakes the duty of preparing you for a delicious Istanbul dinner. Although lentil soup is the cliche to start dinner, you may also try cold starters on a side plate. Stuffed vine leaves, eggplant with tomato sauce, and hummus will mitigate the appetite before the main course. There are some other Anatolian-type starters, specifically recommended to accompany alcoholic drinks like rakı and wine. To try these alternatives, you should skim your menu for Muhammara or yogurt dip called ¨Haydari¨.

International or Turkish Style Steak Alternatives

Steak alternatives offer you the key to the real sense of Istanbul steakhouse dinner. As the main course, you can prefer either Turkish cuisine or internationally known gourmet tastes. Tri-tip Steak and Chateaubriand may become the host of an Istanbul steakhouse for ones who stick to international dining customs. However, it will be a loss if you don’t try the Rack of Lamb, a specially cooked main course that originated from the Ottoman court kitchen. Acem Steak, Beef Iskender, Meatball Kebab, and Lamb Skewers will be our four top-ranked Turkish cuisine recommendations. You should remember that an Istanbul dinner with Live Dj Music will become the ultimate route for romantic couples who would tell city lights to witness their love through a 360-degree view of the historical peninsula.

Fresh Fish Menu for Seafood Choice

Either at a particularly designed dinner table or a lunch break counter, a fish menu will be another best option to take. In a fish restaurant at the Golden Horn or on a roof lounge overlooking the Bosphorus, you can enjoy the season’s fresh fish. If you seek a lighter Loti lunch or an exquisite Bosphorus dinner, fresh seafood products will offer the best on a Loti Roof Lounge menu. Owing to their white flesh and mouth-watering serving, Grilled Sea Bream, and Sea Bass will never leave their roles as two indispensable specialties of an Istanbul fish restaurant. For modern recipes in creative designs, salmon is always on the top-rank menu. Seafood fans will enjoy Jumbo Shrimps as a main course accompanied by Angora House White Wine. You will notice that typical Istanbul restaurants have alternative assortments of seafood in the hot starters menu, as well. At early supper, after Istanbul touring, Fried Calamari, Stuffed Squid, and Shrimp cooked in butter will make up an enjoyable plate to try.

Internationally known Hookah is called “Nargile” in Turkish. If you have heard about the hubble bubble in the British sense to replace them, the essence comes up with a different kind of smoking with water pipes. This oriental type of smoking suits the daily routine of visitors exploring historical Istanbul, the Galata, and Sultanahmet. How you pipe or smoke the nargile is almost a kind of art for some people. In literary terms, the Istanbul nargile experience unites the oriental philosophy of Shisha smoking with modernistic flavours of hookah served in a lucid bottle. The traditional way of hookah contains only tobacco in a water pipe to breathe in. Today, nargile is a combination of usual tobacco smoking with different fruits and flurry tastes. The aroma of strawberry, apple, and rose will give a relieving fragrance while honey and cappuccino increase your palatal delight. Plus, in Lotiz Lounge & Hookah, hookah is served in specially glass bottles filled with fruit which is quite a unique experience you can taste in Istanbul. A premium kind of Istanbul nargile restaurant will transform this high-class hookah experience into a relaxing dinner.

Baklava as A Dreamy Dessert at All Times

A quintessential Turkish meal is never complete without having the crispy touch and mildly sweet flavour of baklava. The honorary dweller of dessert menus at best Istanbul restaurants provides you with the eyeful serving of baklava and sweet assorts. The greenish and yellowish colour of pistachio on Gaziantep Baklava or its special creamy companion called ¨Şöbiyet¨ will crown the plate after steaks. This classical taste usually symbolizes Ramadan tables and feast ensembles. However, there is no reason to wait for that marvelous time to have this delicacy: It is possible to have specially cut baklava in triangular carrot form or birdcage spinning rolls of the dessert at any time. Both will relish the eye and mouth after a remarkable dinner experience in Istanbul restaurants.