Two Continents Food Tour with Yummy Istanbul

If you’ve been hanging out with us for a while, then you just know we love a food tour. From discovering the Tastes and Traditions of Bologna with Devour Tours to sampling the tastiest morsels in Cairo with Bellies En-Route, the blend of off-the-beaten path delicacies and insider knowledge is the perfect way to really get to know a place, plus we love supporting local businesses, so it’s a win-win. Recently, we had the opportunity to try Yummy Istanbul’s: Istanbul Taste of Two Continents Food Tour, and it was everything we’d hoped for and more.

You might also be interested in our guide to the best boutique hotels in Istanbul.

While this experience was complimentary, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Review of the Istanbul Taste of Two Continents Food Tour from Yummy Istanbul

Meeting the crew

It’s 09:25 and we’re striding past magnificent mosques on the hunt for our tour guide. We’d been sent the location for the meeting the day prior, with a contact number for Bahri in case we got lost. Thankfully, we didn’t need it as we soon saw a group forming outside the coffee shop we were meeting at.

As a welcome, Bahri jokes that this might be the world’s longest food tour, but explains that the length is necessary to get the full picture of the diverse food scene here in Istanbul. Over six hours, we travel from the European side to the Asian side of the Turkish capital (ferry included), a group of 10 people from across the globe, united in their passion for food.

Getting amongst it

Bahri is a registered tour guide in Turkey, and while his love for cuisine is palpable, he also has an innate ability to talk about everything from the diverse architecture we pass throughout the city to cultural norms and of course, lots of tales about his beloved Izmir – the place of his birth. Having a guide so deeply knowledgeable about the city is one of the best bits about this food tour, and we took many of his restaurant and sightseeing suggestions across our following days in the capital, not one of which disappointed.

As a pescatarian, food tours can sometimes be challenging, at least when it comes to really experiencing the vast local offerings, but Yummy Istanbul makes it easy, swapping out lamb soup (which incidentally got rave reviews from the meat eaters) for lentils and ensuring there are plenty of options. I didn’t feel like I was missing out a bit, and when everyone else was diving into lamb kebabs at the birthplace of the famed iskender, my eggplant version was blowing my mind.

Eating like a local

Trying local delights like Lahmucan, stuffed mussels, and baklava (served with a delightfully chewy mastic-infused ice cream) was fabulous, but one of the highlights for me was breakfast. We visited different vendors around the Spice Bazaar, purchasing local delicacies such as Simit (circular bread covered in sesame seeds commonly sold in food carts across the city) and a range of cheeses and dips before heading to a little spot to enjoy a veritable feast of all our wares. The meneman (scrambled eggs with tomatoes) from the cafe was exquisite paired with the ashuka (spiced red pepper and walnut) dip and breads, and I couldn’t get enough of the fresh clotted cream drenched in Turkish honey – the very definition of heavenly.

Another standout was a visit to a pickle house where we saw the buzzing spot in action as we drank pickle juice loaded with everything from okra to cauliflower. Renowned for its digestive properties, the stop was strategically, and thankfully, placed before our second lunch.

Final thoughts

This tour is an ideal way to get up-close-and-personal with Turkish cuisine and to try things beyond what you might otherwise find. We did it on our first day, and I’d recommend doing that too as Bahri was super helpful and gave us lots of tips for the rest of our stay. Be sure to turn up on an empty-stomach for maximum satisfaction.

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