Having recently spent quite some time (on two separate occasions) in Kadikoy, Istanbul, we managed to seek out and discover quite a few, very nice, budget places to eat. In fact, the food at some of them exceeded the food at most of the more expensive places. That being the case, I have decided to put together this list of where to eat in Kadikoy if you are on a budget.
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When it comes to a holiday in Istanbul, or Turkey for that matter, it can be fairly easy to budget. It isn’t exactly the most expensive country. Having said that, there is budget traveling, and then there is BUDGET traveling. If you are really looking to save money, then you have to seek out the cheapest places to eat. That’s exactly what we did in Kadikoy.
Where to eat in Kadikoy on a budget? Let’s take a look.
Table of Contents
- Levent Pide and Borek
- Berke Doner
- Borsam Tasfirin
- Dockside Bufè
- Kadi Lokantasi
- Bonus – Bread Carts!
- Summary
Levent Pide and Borek
This is one of those places that sits innocuously on a corner, and you will probably walk past a dozen times without noticing. We certainly did! Although, it wasn’t a dozen times. More like 3 or 4. This was mostly because there is a popular café across the road and we were always trying to check out the price of their coffee.
Little did we know that the best savings were only a few feet away!
If you are looking for cheap, and very nice Pide, then come to this place. They churn out the Pide by the dozen, and charge only 10 TL for them. That’s right, only 10 TL! That’s only 0.54 USD, or 0.80 AUD.
So cheap!
They aren’t the biggest Pide going around, but for 10 TL they are a steal. Locals file into the shop and order 3 or 4 in one go. Once we found the place, we just kept going back.
Where to eat in Kadikoy tip – Try their Borek. Before 10am they serve breakfast, which means Borek, a beautiful pastry that is similar to a Pide in a way. They come in meat and cheese, but also plain and you just sprinkle their special icing sugar on top.
I’m hungry just thinking about it.
You can find Levent Pide and Borek at THIS Google maps location.
Berke Doner
As fate would have it, our search of where to eat in Kadikoy hit gold all on the one day! Right after polishing off several Pide, we stumbled upon this next little gem.
For a great, cheap Kebab, head to THIS location. It is called Berke Doner, and for only around 25 TL you can get a FOOTLONG Kebab. Even the smallest ones pack a punch.
Honestly, when we ordered our kebab, just to try them out, we thought it was going to be snack size, considering the price. We were blown away by not just the size of the Kebab, but also by how nice they were. The staff are really friendly too, and were all too willing to smile for the cameras as we acted all touristy and took photos and videos of them.
If you are searching for where to eat in Kadikoy on a budget, then take a look at Berke Doner and the entire street that this shop and Levent Pide and Borek are on. There are plenty of great prices to be found!
Borsam Tasfirin
In our search of where to eat in Kadikoy, this one very nearly slipped past us. Which would have been a real shame. We literally only found it on our second last day in Kadikoy!
Located right down near the waterfront, it is tucked just around the corner far enough that many would just pass it by without knowing. This is exactly what we kept doing, until as fate would have it we were buying Baklava right across the road, and then noticed it.
Borsam Tasfirin has been around for many years. Since 1968 in fact, and they actually have a few restaurants around Kadikoy. I can’t speak for the others, but this one makes the best, and one of the cheapest Lahmucan that I found in that area.
If you haven’t eaten Lahmucan before, then you are in for a treat! It is a Turkish Pizza, and comes in several different varieties, the most popular of which is simply meat. Laden with a coating of beef mince, and then topped with cheese. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto it, roll it up and eat it like a kebab. Beautiful!
You can find Borsam Tasfirin at THIS location.
Dockside Bufè
On our very first morning in Istanbul, we headed for the ferry across the Bosphorus. With only a coffee under our belts, we were naturally quite hungry. We also had no idea where to eat in Kadikoy. Then we hit the docks, and our eyes were opened!
If there is one thing that they do right in Turkey, it’s knowing where to put great, cheap food for the locals to grab easily on the way to and from work. In this case, at the local docks, and it comes in the form of several “Bufè” restaurants serving kebabs, pitas and rolls.
There are several of these, (about 4 I think) located around the Kadikoy Ferry Terminal. With fresh kebabs priced from around 25 TL, you just can’t go wrong. They are so nice that on one occasion, I bought one for lunch, ate it, and bought another to take home for dinner!
Where to eat in Kadikoy tip – Grab a great Kebab filled Pita just before you get on the ferry, along with a hot Nescafé. It makes the ferry ride SO MUCH better!
Kadi Lokantasi
At first, we didn’t really know what to make of these “self serve” places. Then as we traveled around Turkey, we came to notice them everywhere. We then began trying them out, and found the food to be amazing and also very cheap. They then become one of our “go to” places to eat everywhere we traveled.
So it was only natural that when we returned to Kadikoy, we sought one out. We actually found 3 or 4 of them, but THIS one became our favorite.
These restaurants will make your mouth water before you even walk inside, because the food is all laid out right by the window so that you can see it from outside. What always confused us though, was that the menu and prices are on full display on a board right under the window, but not in English!
Once we tried it though, it became no issue. Just point to what you want, and the cooks are more than happy to tell you what it is, and show you the price. Just take a tray, order what you want and they put it on the plates for you to slide down the counter toward the cash register. Just like a good old buffet line in many other countries. Pick what you want as you go and pay at the register at the end.
The prices are very good at these places. Basically for two people we only paid on average about 70 TL total. That’s only $3.70 USD for two people!
Bonus – Bread Carts!
Now, this is probably my sentimental favorite place to eat in Kadikoy. In fact, they are located all over Istanbul. But remember, I LOVE my bread.
Naturally then, there is no wonder that I love the bread carts!
Located anywhere near public transport, you can find these bread carts. Ferry terminals, docks, outside train stations, near bus stops, and even outside the Hagia Sofia. For only 5 TL you can get fresh bread rolls to make that public transport transit so much more enjoyable.
At most of them, you can also pay a little extra to have the bread smeared with Nutella, or the spread of your choice.
The other thing I like about the bread carts, is that it doesn’t matter where they are located, or if they are the only one around, the price is always the same!
Summary
It doesn’t matter where you are staying in Istanbul, there will always be somewhere cheap to eat. It was a little harder to locate where to eat in Kadikoy on a budget at first, but once we found them, we didn’t need any convincing to keep going back. I’m sure you will find some places on this list that you will find hard to resist too!
Thanks for the above!
We will go and check most of them out soon!
Excellent. Check out those Pides. They are so cheap and make a great breakfast along with the Borek!