Istanbul isn’t exactly known as the most vegan friendly place on earth, or even vegetarian friendly for that matter. I wasn’t expecting this trip to be the greatest foodie experience ever, and I wasn’t wrong. Food choices were limited in most places, but I was never left with nothing, so it could have been worse.
Before leaving, I browsed Happy Cow for some vegan restaurant options. That didn’t come back with that many results, so I widened my search to ‘veg-friendly’ which came back with a lot more options. Our hotel was fairly central, about a 5-minute walk from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, so I was mainly searching for places in this general area.
It was only a 3-night city break, so I didn’t eat in a ton of different places, but this is what I ate in Istanbul as a vegan. Before I start, one thing I will say is that it’s impossible to be vegan and gluten free. And I mean impossible almost literally. At home, I eat gluten maybe once or twice a month if I’m really craving something. In Istanbul, I had something bread based once or twice a day as there were no other alternatives. I’ve been home for three days and I still look slightly pregnant. I don’t want to talk about it. My stomach hates me right now.
Breakfast
This post is starting so well – I don’t have a photo. Breakfast every morning was in the hotel, and every morning I left my phone in my room when I went downstairs. I’m so good at this. Vegan options were somewhat limited depending on what you wanted. There was a selection of fruit available each morning, a table with freshly baked breads and a couple of vegetable dishes. The veg dishes weren’t exactly what I’d consider breakfast foods (and that’s coming from someone who eats lentil pasta for breakfast..) so I mainly stuck to the bread & fruits. There was a hot plate with mushrooms (breakfast food) and potato wedges (???) every morning. Then there was a cold vegetable dish which varied day to day, but those dishes seemed a little random. Think cold pinto beans or broccoli and peppers.
Lunch/ Snacks
Snack
If you’re familiar with my ‘what I eat in a day’ posts, you’ll probably know that I don’t usually eat a lunchtime meal and have a small snack or two throughout the day instead. Street vendors are a pretty big thing over there, and they’re so cheap. The pretzel stands were calling my name, seeded or plain or a fresh bagel for 2TL each. 2TL is around £0.28, or $0.37 for my American followers. And that’s in a central area around the main tourist areas. Like I said, so cheap.
As I’d had concerns before we left about what was going to be available, I also packed with me some Trek bars to have in my bag while we were out and about. So, I ended up having one of these as an afternoon snack most days too.
Lunch
As I’m sure most of you are aware, Istanbul is famous for being split over two continents. The Asian side is one side of the Bosphorus, the European side the other. However, the European side is also split in two, old town and ‘new’ town. When I said our hotel was central, that’s central old town, where the famous mosques are and the Grand Bazaar. The ‘new’ side of the European side is the shopping area, banking area etc and looks more like a typical European city. Someone at our hotel compared it to Oxford Street, after visiting that side, I’m almost certain that he’s never been to London, but you get the idea.
One of the highly rated places on Happy Cow was on this side, so we went there for Lunch on the day we ventured over to that side. It was called Vegan Istanbul – original, I know. I had fairly high hopes for this place, it was rated around 4.5 stars on Happy Cow…and it wasn’t great.
The setup was a little odd, there was a fridge with all of the daily dishes and a woman talked us through what each one was. No menu, no prices on anything. I went for the bulger wheat ‘meatballs’ in a tomato sauce. It was average at best. The sauce didn’t really taste of anything and there didn’t seem to be much seasoning in the meatballs either. I don’t want to slam the restaurant, maybe I just chose the wrong thing. And when we got the bill, it was 30TL. That’s £4.28 for two meals, a cup of tea and a bottle of water. If you’re struggling to find vegan options and you’re looking for somewhere cheap, this is still probably a good shout.
Dinner
Tuesday
This was a quick one. Our flight got in early evening, so Tuesday was dedicated to getting familiar with our area and calling in somewhere for a light bite rather than a planned meal. And wine. This is important. Turkey is a Muslim country, while heavy resort areas do serve alcohol, more traditional places like Istanbul often don’t. Sure, some places do, and all hotels do, but a lot of restaurants don’t. Tuesday night ended up being a casual bowl of potato wedges, flatbread (only a taste for me) and a couple of dips…and wine. Did I mention the wine?
Wednesday
Wednesday came courtesy of Happy Cow once again, this was a veg-friendly restaurant, not strictly veggie/vegan. This restaurant was called Rumist, on a small street that we would have never found if it wasn’t for the Happy Cow recommendation. Oddly, when we got there one of the menus had vegan written next to several dishes and the other wasn’t labelled with anything dietary at all. I ordered the vegetarian casserole; it came with a small serving of rice… And even more bread, which I decided not to eat. This was probably the best meal I had in Istanbul. It contained a good amount of vegetables and felt like a real meal rather than something just thrown together. Flavour wise, it could have had a little more, but it was pretty good. This dish was around 35TL…£5.
Thursday
This was the day that we ate at Vegan Istanbul during the day, and that was a fairly late lunch, so we wanted something light and Thursday’s meal was fairly uneventful. We only ordered a few sides to snack on. The restaurant we chose was The Han (Faith), and we sat on cushions on the floor, cosy vibes.
I know, I know, I should have remembered to take more photos…or actually removed the camera from its bag at least once while I was there… Oops. And yes, I mean that literally, I didn’t take a single photo. I wanted to post this anyway to show that it is possible to eat vegan in Istanbul, although I would strongly advise against it if you are also intolerant to gluten. Happy Cow proved to be a little hit and miss with the recommendations, which was slightly disappointing as they’re usually pretty good. If you do have allergies/ dietary requirements, it’s still a great place to visit, but don’t expect it to be a foodie trip.
Have any of you ever been to Istanbul? What did you guys think?
Until next time,
Sophie
It all looks really good! Do you have celiac disease?
I managed to do better than I was expecting! No, not coeliac (thankfully) but I have some sort of gluten intolerance. I can have a little bit and be fine but get stomach issues and a skin rash if I eat it regularly/ in large amounts. So annoying, I love bread!
I’ve never thought about going to Istanbul before. I thought they would of had more vegan options, sucks they didn’t.
I’m sorry to hear your eating experience in Istanbul wasn’t better, but I admire you for doing your research.
Don’t worry about the pics, it can happen to all of us.
I absolutely LOVE Istanbul (and Turkey generally) so I was really keen to read this post. Although I’m not at all surprised you struggled, Turkey isn’t that well known for its gluten-free menus. But what you tried sounds delicious and the two photos are making me hungry right now. Hope your tummy forgives you soon, Sophie, thank you for sharing your foodie trip and I hope you loved Istanbul despite the lack of gluten free options! x
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
Oh wow the food sounds so cheap?! & the pictures you do have look lovely!!! Whenever I go abroad & see pretzel stands I can’t resist either xxx
Goodness me it sounds so difficult to be a Vegan when you’re travelling unless you specifically go to Vegan restaurants. But if they’re not near where you’re staying then you don’t really have the option. It’s a shame there wasn’t much more options for you – the vegetable dish does look quite nice and the “meatballs” look quite yummy in your photo too! Shame they weren’t tastier!
Jenny
http://www.jennyinneverland.com
I’ve never been and to be honest, I’m not sure it would be the place at the top of my list. I loved reading through this though – the different cultures certainly have different attitudes towards food. I’m glad you were able to find something to eat. The pictures you did take look amazing!! Great post!
I love posts like this!! I’m sure it was not so fun for you, given the challenges you described, especially with gluten, but I enjoy reading about how you were able to work with what you had 🙂
Oh my gosh you’ve made me so hungry! The food looks so delicious xx
GemmaEtc.com
The food looks absolutely amazing there!
x
https://www.abloggersbeauty.com/
Oh wow I also didn’t expect vegan in Istanbul! Everything looks so good!
xx Dasynka
http://dasynka.com
I travelled to Istanbul last year and had such an amazing time, it’s now one of my favourite places but probably made a lot easier since I’m not vegan (yet!) I’m sorry it wasn’t the greatest place in terms of food for you though as I know the menus there can be pretty meat heavy too, glad to see you managed to find some options and maybe eventually there will be better vegan options there, fingers crossed! Thanks for sharing your experience x
Oooh there are some amazing spots here!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
To be honest it’s never been somewhere I’ve considered going! I’m lucky as I don’t have any dietary requirements any more other than I cannot eat mushrooms. It’s such a shame that the meatballs were disappointing! Sometimes I feel like restaurants put vegan/veggie/GF meals on the menu just so they can say they offer it when there’s no actual effort put into them.
Alice Xx
I’m glad they had stuff for you! it does all look really nice!
My mouth is watering! I am so glad that you found options that fit your lifestyle. It is so important to try the different dishes of the places you visit, so I am happy that you got to experience it!
I wish I could eat it ❤❥
I’m happy that you got to enjoy some delicious food while visiting Istanbul. Even though there were limited in choices, you still found some good treats. Wow, the bagels were so cheap!! Mmm, your lunch looks delicious. I am jealous of the pricing. You can never go wrong with wine, hehe. I like that you got some fresh meals – and glad you got to enjoy your trip!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
Oh my gosh this was such a great post!! I’ve been SOO interested in visiting Turkey and wondered what vegan options were available. I’m so happy you’re able to find some great alternatives while you were there!
xoxox
Amanda
I’ve never been to Istanbul or really heard much about it either to be honest but it sounds super cheap which is always handy! It’s a shame that you struggled so much there though – I think in more Western countries we’re getting used to vegan becoming much more accessible. It’s a shame about the meatballs- I hate when a place has had amazing reviews and then it turns out as a little bit of a let down!
Soph – https://sophhearts.com x
I’ve been to Turkey but not Istanbul but I’d love to go x
http://www.ofbeautyandnothingness.co.uk
The vegetarian casserole looks absolutely delicious! I had no idea food in Istanbul was so cheap. I can imagine it is incredibly difficult for vegans to find places to eat in the UK, let alone abroad! I’m so glad you still got to enjoy some tasty food on your trip xxx
Ashley
https://lellalee.com
It may have been a bit of a struggle, however that looks delish
Ana C, http://www.adreamersland.com
http://www.facebook.com/adreamersland
I’ve not heard much about Istanbul so this was so interesting! Great to hear more about what options there are. It seems like you did well given there weren’t as many choices as we have here! xx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
I love the food in Istanbul so much but (from a non vegan point of view) it must be so difficult for you. The bread is so good in Turkey, hopefully soon they will catch up and provide more options for everyone. In one of my recent posts I talk about my food journey in Istanbul – the Bazaar is definitely nothing like Oxford St – maybe istiklal caddesi would be more like Oxford Street … The food in all of your pictures looks amazing ♥ x
You did well with the food! Although I agree.. potato wedges for breakfast is a little strange?! The vegetarian casserole looks really good in the picture, I’m a big casserole fan though! I definitely eat too much bread so the amount of bread would make me happy haha.
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
This food looks delicious but it’s disappointing there weren’t as many vegan options available. I’m dairy free due to allergies so I’m also weary about what or where to eat when I go abroad.
I guess it wasn’t too bad considering it’s not really a vegan city. I have to admit though, I’d be disappointed. I pick my travel destinations based on food sometime ha.
I have noticed that about other countries that their price points were so much better than where I was from and living at the time (US/Japan), I have never been to Istanbul though. That would have been better options than I would have assumed that they would have to be honest!
Great Post! I´ve never been to Istanbul before but I totally want to go!
Jasmin
It’s interesting in how many places in the world it’s still this difficult to find good vegan options in restaurants :O
Best,
Laura // afinnontheloose.com