Turkish Street Food and Rooftop Dinner Night in Istanbul

Sirkeci: the meeting point and the first street-food bites

The evening starts in front of the Sirkeci Central Post Office, the grand stone building of 1909 two minutes from the Sirkeci stop of the T1 tram and the Marmaray station, at the bottom of the old city near the Golden Horn. Sirkeci was the terminus of the Orient Express and is still a district of busy lokantas, pastry shops and street carts, which is why the host begins here. The first half hour is spent on the move, tasting the classics sold on the street.

Depending on the evening these are simit from a cart, kokoreç sizzling on a flat grill, stuffed mussels with lemon, roasted chestnuts or corn in cooler months and a glass of freshly pressed juice; the host explains what each is and how Istanbul eats it. Everything is halal, as is the norm across the city. Our Istanbul team suggests the 17:30 or 18:00 start in spring and autumn so that the walk uphill to Süleymaniye ends just as the sun sets.

Süleymaniye: tea and refreshments on a rooftop with a view

From Sirkeci the host leads you uphill through the lanes of the old commercial quarter to Süleymaniye, the district around the mosque that Sinan built for Sultan Süleyman in the 1550s on the highest of the city's hills. On a rooftop here you spend about an hour with tea, Turkish coffee and welcome refreshments, looking out over the Golden Horn to Galata Tower, the Bosphorus and the ferries far below, with the mosque's dome and four minarets at your side; at dusk the call to prayer rises from every direction.

Is the Süleymaniye rooftop worth it? It is the view that most visitors never find, because the district is quiet in the evening once the day-time shops close, and the host times it for the light. Best time to visit Süleymaniye is exactly this hour before dark. Bring a jacket outside summer, as the hilltop is breezy, and expect the group to linger over photographs before the short walk to dinner.

Fatih: dinner in a 130-year-old restaurant

The main event is a traditional Turkish dinner in a restaurant in Fatih that has been serving since the 1890s, the kind of place with tiled walls, brass lamps and waiters who have worked there for decades. Over about an hour and a half the table fills with around 10 dishes: five kinds of kebab from the charcoal grill, a spread of meze such as haydari, ezme and stuffed vine leaves, shepherd's salad and warm bread, and künefe, the hot cheese-and-pastry dessert with pistachio, served with tea and coffee.

Soft drinks are included; vegetarian and gluten-free alternatives are prepared when you tell us after booking. Fatih is the conservative heart of the old city, with the Fatih Mosque built by Sultan Mehmed II and some of Istanbul's most respected traditional kitchens, and all the food is halal. The hosts eat with you and answer questions about the city, which is what turns a dinner into an evening with locals.

The old city after dark and the drop-off near your hotel

After dinner the host walks the group back through the quieter streets of Fatih and Süleymaniye, past lit mosques and closed market stalls, and we drop you close to your hotel, which is included; tell us where you are staying when you book so the host can plan the route. The whole experience takes about 3 hours, so a 19:30 start finishes around 22:30, and an earlier start leaves time for a walk along the Golden Horn afterwards.

How to get to the Sirkeci meeting point is easy from anywhere central: the T1 tram stops at Sirkeci between Eminönü and Gülhane, the Marmaray rail line has a station underneath, and from Sultanahmet it is a 12-minute walk downhill. Private versions of the evening can be arranged on request. Wear comfortable shoes for the uphill section and come hungry: the street food is only the beginning.