13 cafés in 1 city. Places change: check opening hours before you go.
Founded in 1864 by Hacı İsmail Hakkı Bey and named for his son, the confectioner made sugar candy, lokum and baklava, and won a run of European medals between 1926 and 1938. The Sirkeci shop is the classic stop for baklava with a Turkish coffee.
Order: baklava · Turkish coffee · lokum
💡 Expect a queue at the takeaway counter; there is seating inside.
Mehmet Efendi began roasting here in 1871 and was the first in the city to sell coffee already roasted and ground instead of as green beans. The family firm is still on Tahmis Sokağı, the old coffee street by the Spice Bazaar, and the queue at its window is part of the sight.
Order: freshly ground Turkish coffee to take home
💡 This is a shop window, not a café: buy a packet and drink it at a coffeehouse nearby. Mornings have the shortest queue.
The Pera Palace opened in 1895 to house passengers off the Orient Express, and Agatha Christie, Hemingway and Greta Garbo all stayed. Its patisserie, under rose-pink ceilings and Venetian glass chandeliers, is open to non-guests.
Order: Turkish coffee · pastries · homemade chocolates
💡 Enter from the street door if you only want the patisserie; the hotel lobby is worth a look on the way out.
The hilltop coffeehouse above the Golden Horn takes its name from the French novelist Pierre Loti, who came to Istanbul in 1876 and frequented a coffeehouse here, then known as Rabia Kadın Kahvesi, while writing Aziyadé. It was restored in 1964 by Sabiha Tansuğ in the style of an old Turkish coffeehouse, and coffee is still brewed over hot coals.
Order: Türk kahvesi · çay
💡 Ride the Eyüp gondola up from the waterfront and come late afternoon for the view down the Golden Horn.
Fazıl Bey started out in Eminönü in 1923; the Kadıköy branch in the market streets is the busy one today. They roast their own beans and brew in a cezve, served with water and a piece of lokum.
Order: Türk kahvesi with lokum
💡 Combine it with a walk through the Kadıköy market after the ferry across from Eminönü or Karaköy.
A tiny counter in a passage off İstiklal that has served only Turkish coffee since 1967. The name means 'the water buffalo won't sink', a joke about how thick the foam is.
Order: Türk kahvesi (orta şekerli, medium sweet)
💡 There is almost no indoor seating; take one of the low stools in the passage and expect to share.
A theological school built in 1707–1709 for Grand Vizier Çorlulu Ali Paşa; its arcaded courtyard is now a set of tea and nargile cafés used by locals and students.
Order: çay · Türk kahvesi · nargile
💡 It is a smoky place by design; sit at the edge of the courtyard if you only want tea or coffee.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Opened in 1958 to serve the artisans of the Grand Bazaar, it brews Turkish coffee in copper cezves on hot sand. The interior was redone in 2019, but the sand-brewed coffee is unchanged.
Order: Türk kahvesi on sand · çay
💡 The bazaar is closed on Sundays, and so is the café.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A small owner-run espresso bar on the steep street down from İstiklal, known for careful milk drinks and a breakfast buffet in the morning.
Order: flat white · pour-over
💡 Open late on Fridays and Saturdays, handy after an evening in Beyoğlu.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Metin Benbasat and Hanife Özyurt Pekkip have roasted here since 2013, on a small 1.5 kg Probatino. It was the first specialty café in Balat, a working-class historic quarter on the Golden Horn.
Order: filter coffee · cortado · house-baked cake
💡 Pair it with a walk through Balat's coloured houses and the Fener waterfront.
Opened in 2012 opposite the Firuzağa mosque, Kronotrop is widely counted as one of Turkey's first specialty coffee bars and roasteries. It has grown into a national brand, but Cihangir is the original.
Order: filter of the day · flat white
💡 It is a short walk down from Taksim; the original shop is small, so expect to take your cup outside.
Founded in 2016, Meet Lab roasts its own beans and is known for expressive filter coffee and late opening hours. It was ranked #9 in the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops Europe list.
Order: V60 filter · Japanese iced coffee
💡 It is on the Asian side near Bağdat Caddesi; pair it with a walk on the Caddebostan seafront.
One of Istanbul's first third-wave roasters. The Gayrettepe headquarters puts the roaster, a lab, a kitchen and the coffee bar in one big industrial room.
Order: pour-over · brunch with a flat white
💡 Weekend brunch gets busy; go on a weekday morning to see the roaster running.