Istanbul Food Tour - History And Culture Of Turkish Culinary

We did this tour as one of our first adventures in Istanbul to get a brief orientation to both the culture and elements of Turkish food. Erol was a wonderful guide in both areas. He is deeply knowledgeable and very clear; he is a professional while being friendly and engaging. We learned alot and had a great time.

Thank you to Kimyet for a super tour of street foods and lots of information about where to buy best product for bringing home.

Kim was very informative and accommodating to our food preferences. We had a variety of dishes to sample and were not stuffed at the end.

Excellent way to try traditional Turkish food and on the way learn some interesting facts about Turkey’s history and Istanbul. Our guide Erol was fantastic, explaining everything as we want sling and answering all out questions. We had so much to eat, our walk back from the finishing point was needed afterwards. We highly recommend.

We had a wonderful time with Erol despite the rain. He was a fantastic and very informative guide that went out of his way to show us different little gems along the way. We had a kid with us and the guide was very accommodating to pace, bathroom breaks. etc. Wonderful all around! Highly recommend!

Great food tour Errol was very thorough and informative. Don’t eat before you go so much food and all very yummy

Gamze is a beautiful tour guide, perfect person to walk you around the secret and most delicious dishes in Istanbul. We loved the experience, her energy and most of all, the local dishes were SO GOOD!!!! Recommend 100%

Tolga was awesome. He was very knowledgeable. Showed us some amazing features of the city and some outstanding food.

The food tour was interesting but I will say a few things that you should be aware of: The guide constantly asked if we wanted this or that or the other. How would we know? We want everything that is offered. We want at least a bite of everything that is included. I do not want to be cut off if I say I’m getting full. There was no indication of how much was to come so we didn’t finish things - we were afraid we’d get too full to try it all. The guide was knowledgeable, kind, and friendly but half the time faced away from us on a busy, loud and crowded street. We only caught half of what she said. The food we did get was outstanding and a real representation of what someone living and working in Istanbul might grab for lunch. I enjoyed the tour. You are walking uphill the entire tour but it’s not too steep and you can go at your own pace. The tour starts with a fun ride on a funicular. Make yourself a note. When the guide starts you walking uphill you are missing the coolest part of the street. If you can, after the tour, walk back down to the place where the funicular brought you up, and walk down. Narrow, winding, cobblestones, great shops, much more unique than the part of the street where the tour takes you. The tour is entirely on Istiklal Street. We went back the next day, started at Taksim Square and walked all the way to the bottom. Fun!!!

Our tour guide Erol was fantastic. He gave us information about the local area, cultural facts about Istanbul and tookus around to many different food stands to try amazing Turkish dishes. He explained each as well. The food was fantastic and everyone knew him wherever we went, which helped us know we were getting the best. Great tour, totally worth it.

Great food selection and variety. Awesome host with tons of information about the city and the food scene. Covered a lot of ground….saw parts of the city that we would not have without doing the tour. Got great recommendations on other things to see and experience.

Erol was a fantastic food tour guide. He took us to several gems and I’m looking forward to going back and trying them again. Anyone coming to Istanbul would be lucky to have him as their guide around the city.

Erik our food tour guide took us to some of the best and most traditional Turkish food places. We tried everything from stuffed patatoes, stuffed mussels, kabob meat stuffed hand roll and bulgar hand roll and of course baklava for dessert. So delicious!

Excellent tour with Errol. Very knowledgeable, friendly and took us on an incredible tour of food and history

Erol was a fun guide with lots of information, and we thought the food was interesting and good.

Erol was gracious and very informative providing us with history of the food we sampled and the parts of the city we toured. We enjoyed the tour and highly recommend.

Great food tour! As it turned out, we were the only ones on the tour on this given day, lucky us! Our guide Errol was wonderful explaining the local history, customs and food traditions that make Istanbul special. We tasted so many delicious treats…we are still full! Including Tulumba, giant special potatoes, cig kofte, mememen, gozleme, and of course baklava (and more that I didn’t get the names of)! Make it a point to explore Istanbul in the tasteful, creative and educational way!

Be sure to skip at least one meal before embarking on this food adventure! We enjoyed each stop. The culinary journey was unique and diverse and our guide, Erol, did a fantastic job explaining each dish, shared local insights and tips to discovering the best spots in Istanbul and showing us the sites along the way. Erol also kept us entertained, and was very gracious in sharing his Turkish culture and love of American T.V. I would definitely take this tour again.

Erol was a very friendly and knowledgeable guide for our food tour around Beyoglü. We had plenty of food to eat throughout the tour and got to try a nice mix of traditional Turkish food.

Erol was a fantastic tour guide and we tasted some very unique and varied Turkish dishes. Everything was new to us.

Erol was a wonderful guide, he took us to great restaurants, and introduced us to great food. I tried foods we would not have tried with him. He explain the origin of the food and its history.

Great food, great tour, thanks Tolga!

Tolga was a great tour guide. He was full of knowledge and we learned a lot about Turkish food culture. We enjoyed every meal and even went back the next day on our own for more muscles, desserts, and to visit some of the other places he pointed out to us. He showed us a bookshop, the Pera Palace Hotel. All beautiful and wonderful! This is a MUST DO tour when in Istanbul!

This is one of the best tours we have experienced! It’s very unique! Our guide, Tolga, was extremely knowledgeable, patient, and kind. He introduced us to areas and excellent restaurants that we would not have tried on our own. He went out of his way to make sure we are happy and content. Each and every place we tried and passed by were amazing. If you like trying new food, you should sign up for this tour. Would give this more than 5 stars if we could! Thank you, Tolga, for an unforgettable experience!

We had an excellent Turkish food tour, made even better by our guide, Erol Ü. He was passionate, knowledgeable, and shared great insights into Turkish food and culture at every stop. The experience felt authentic and engaging from start to finish. Highly recommended!

What a wonderful day with Tolga. We tasted amazing food and had great conversation. From the mezes to the sweets. We learned so much about the area and culture.

Had a wonderful tour. Interesting tour, great guide and of course, tasty food! Our guide, Errol was fantastic and we appreciated his knowledge and enthusiasm.

My wife have taken many food tours when we travel and this was one of the best. Our guide, Erol, was knowledgeable and engaging. He talked about the food itself and the eating culture in Istanbul. We had well over a dozen tastes and most of it was food I had never been experienced before, even though I had been eating in Turkey for several days by then. It was all delicious.

We had such a fantastic experience on our food tour in Istanbul! Kim was an amazing guide — warm, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about her city. It honestly felt like spending the day with a friend who couldn’t wait to show us all her favorite local spots. She not only shared great stories and insights, but also had such genuine connections with the restaurant owners and staff. At a few stops, she even jumped in to help when things got busy — you could tell she’s truly part of the community. Our group was wonderful too — we toured with a couple from Toronto, another from Ohio, and us — which made it all the more fun. Highly recommend this tour (and especially Kim!) for anyone who wants to experience the real flavors and warmth of Istanbul.

This food tour exceeded our expectations. We went places and tried food that we never would have on our own. Gamze led us on a “private” tour, as the other people scheduled had canceled. We were lucky as we had her all to ourselves! Her knowledge of everything from the food to the locale to Turkish history was great. We talked about all sorts of things and really appreciated her inside knowledge on Turkish family life also. Today I felt confident to return to that area and walk around by myself. We will now do better ordering from Turkish menus at restaurants, also. We always enjoy food tours whenever we are traveling to new places. This tour was truly one of the best we have ever taken.

This was a lot of walking in very little food. Guide was hard to understand, which is OK if there’s enough food, in this case it wasn’t it was very long and drugged out absolutely not worth the cost.

What a wonderful way to tour local cuisine! Even paced and variety. We learned a lot about the city and its culture through its food and how everything got here from other regions! Just be aware if Food sensitivity is of concern. Naturally nuts and spices are delicious but can ruin one’s holiday. Just ask!

Erol was fantastic. He had preordered for us and it was the perfect amount. Erol also accommodated some extra requests to try different foods. None of us went away hungry

Our tour guide was as amazing and the food selection and taste. We had the pleasure of being guided by Gamzeler (female with one simple). She gave us a great breakdown of food, background, how it plays a role in the Turkish everyday culture. She also kept checking in on me because I looked very tired from a long day of tours which I found above and beyond. She is so friendly, approachable, sweet. If you book the tour, I hope you get her.

This was a great food tour that I would recommend for folks visiting Istanbul for the first time. Our guide Erol was so nice and very knowledgeable about the history of food and Turkish culture. Our first stop at the mezze meyhane was delicious! We tried many Turkish staples such as the wet burger, tantuni, mussels, baklava, and more. Erol was fun and made our experience really nice. The small group size was a huge plus for us - it ended up just being me, my husband, brother, and sister in law because they had another group of 5 that booked but they limit the tour size to 8. Many other tours would have combined the group but instead, they stuck to their group limit and kept us separate which was really nice. Would definitely recommend Erol as the guide!

So fun. the food was great. we got so full ! learnt about so much of history as we walked. loved our guide. she was so sweet.

We had a wonderful time on our tour with Gamze. Gamze navigated us through a busy Saturday night in Istanbul. She was very informative and knowledgeable about the food, culture and the history of the areas we visited. She was warm and funny and made us feel like family. The food was a wonderful introduction to Turkish cuisine and we found ourselves back in the same streets having meals at other places she recommended. Highlights were the mezze plates, the gozleme, the mussels , the baklava, the Turkish coffee in the hot sand, and the last dish which was probably the best but I can’t remember the name. I’d probably give it 6 stars if I could.

First, Gamze, our tour guide, was fantastic. We've been on a dozen of these in various cities and she was one of the best. Gamze blended history of Instanbul and explanation of Turkish cultures with enthusiasm, answering lots of questions. We learned a great deal on the tour. Second, the area from Galata to Tiksum is really special. The 1.5 km long walking street is so impressive, and the bars in Galata on the side streets are something to see. Third, food was very good. We didn't have obvious foods like doner kebabs, which is great - those are easy. We had some food from street vendors like stuffed mussels, and then some sit down opportunities for yogurt tantuni at one place, mezze platter at another, and turkish coffee and delights and home made baklava at another. She took us to places where we had the opportunity to watch the food being made. One "warning" if you will - this is not a alcohol heavy "wine and food tour" like you might get in Barcelona, Greece or Croatia. There was an apertif "lions milk" but thats about it. There was quite a bit of walking, which we appreciated

Wonderful food tour, Gamze was super friendly and had tons of recommendations for us. The food stops were delicious, the options she picked showed lots of variety, and you can tell she takes great care in showing guests an authentic, non-touristy taste of Istanbul! We had a better understanding of both Turkish culture and cuisine after. Highly recommend!

Organized informative and characteristic. Errol Urgun was phenomenal. He chose very interesting foods and gave lots cultural history and traditions around the food we sampled. Highly recommend Errol !

This was the highlight of my trip last year during our honeymoon. Gamze was our tour guide, and it ended up just being the three of us. She was so incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and a joy to be around. You could tell that all the restaurant and store staff loved her, she made it such a fun tour. The food was really, really incredible, and we learned so much about true Turkish cuisine and so much more. Gamze has a strong understanding of food and Turkish history. We highly recommend this tour, it was by far the best food tour we've ever been on. Can't recommend it enough!

Tour guide Erol was very knowledgeable and took pride in his Turkish heritage cuisine. The food, liquor, coffee, and baklava were delicious. I would highly recommend to experience their culture.

We had a great time, our host was very friendly and knowledgeable and took us to some great places that we wouldn't have found on our own. Great wsy to spend a few hours in the Taksim area. She also introduced us to the Tunel funicular that we would never have found on our own. Would highly recommend.

Our guide Erol was knowdgeable and fun. He explained so much about the food we were sampling, and its history. No question went unaswered. I would recommend the tour, and particularly Erol as a guide.

Where to start. We visited multiple restaurants off the tourist paths. Learned so much about how they prepare food, the amazing variety of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts grown right here in Türkiye not to mention the culture of food and drink here. By the end of the tour we could barely eat the last few bites. Erol Utgun our guide was so knowledgeable and made sure he gave us an individualized experience not to mention interactive and delicious. Would highly recommend. Not to be missed.

The food tour was generally good, the guide, Erol, was very good, he was interesting and engaging and provided excellent information on the history and culture in relation to the delicious food we tasted. However, we should not have chosen Saturday evening for this tour as the area was very intimidating with a high police presence and we felt extremely vulnerable. Also we started the tour in Karakoy but it ended a long way away, in the dangerous area of Taksim, so we had to make our way back on our own which was a bit scary and we regretted having booked this tour as a result. 2 older ladies on the tour stuck with us as they were quite scared on their own. The tour should end where it starts and I think Friday and Saturday nights should be avoided in this area.

This was the highlight of our trip to Istanbul. Our guide Erol was amazing - he was friendly, knowledgeable and took us to sample some fantastic food we would never have discovered by ourselves. 10/10

Great experience with Tolga ,he kept it so interesting without overloading us with historical facts. Loved all the local insights.

We absolutely loved our food tour with our fantastic guide Erol. Everything was delicious and we were fascinated to learn about the food culture in Istanbul and sample the delights like a local. Thank you Erol!