Hocapasa Restaurants, Istanbul

A minute's walk from Sirkeci railway station is a cluster of small, simple, pleasant restaurants serving tasty meals at moderate prices. If you're looking for a good, pleasant, inexpensive place to eat while visiting the Egyptian (Spice) Market or the Eminönü ferry docks, make the short walk to Hocapasa.

From Sultanahmet, take the Kabatas tram to Gülhane or Sirkeci station.

The restaurants are clustered by the Mosque of Hocapasa (HOH-jah-pah-shuh) just south of Sirkeci station. From the station, walk south uphill on busy Ankara Caddesi for one short block and turn left to find the mosque and restaurants.

In fine weather, tables and chairs are set out in the small square and nearby streets, filling many of them. The open-air dining and old-time neighborhood atmosphere are pleasant. Prices are all quite reasonable, so you might as well choose by first impressions: pick one you like, look at what's cooking, point to what you want, take a table and enjoy.

Take your choice from ready-food restaurants, grills, or pide (Turkish pizza) places. A light meal of pide and a drink may cost as little as YTL8. A ready-food lunch might cost YTL10 to YTL15; a big dinner YTL15 to 25.

In general, alcoholic beverages are not served here.

Here are descriptions:

Kasap Osman Iskender Kebap
"Osman the Butcher" knows good meat, which is why he wants you to try his savory Iskender kebap. This is the most prominent of the small restaurants here, located directly across from the Hocapasa mosque.

Namli Rumeli Köftecisi
At Hocapasa Sokak No. 22, across the street from Kasap Osman, is this longtime favorite place for izgara köfte. The chef, an immigrant from Komotini (Gümülcine) in Greece, selects his meat carefully, and prefers real tomatoes to the hard white hothouse fruit.

Kral Ocakbasi
An ocakbasi (oh-JAHK-bah-shuh) restaurant is one in which customers sit right at a long rectangular grill. That doesn't work here, but the grilled kebaps and köfte are still good, and inexpensive.

Et-Is
Pronounced "EHT-eesh," a literal translation would be "meat-work," but in fact there are as many ready-food dishes (if not more).

Kardesler Anadolu Lokantasi
Right on the corner opposite the mosque, this simple place has been here for decades serving ready food (soups, stews, pilavs, grills).

Balkan Lokantasi Self Service
A more modern ready-food restaurant with a good variety of dishes at low prices.

Hocapasa Pide Kebap Lahmacun Pizza
The name of this place is its menu. Your pide (Turkish-style pizza) is made to order: peynirli (with cheese), kiymali (with ground meat), sucuklu (with spicy sausage), tavuklu (with chicken). Quick, tasty, hygienic, inexpensive, good! You can also get kebaps and lahmacun, an Arabic-style pizza of thin, soft bread spread lightly with tomato sauce and sprinkled with ground meat and spices.

Akdamar Döner ve Köfte Salonu
Although the name makes you think this eatery specializes in döner kebap and izgara köfte, there is a ready-food steam table as well.

Another great place for a delicious, filling, nutritious, cheap meal is under the Galata Bridge at one of the small eateries selling traditional Istanbul fish sandwiches. More...

For fine dining in more upscale surroundings at moderate prices, try these restaurants.

Sirkeci Hotels

Sirkeci/Eminönü Restaurants

Sirkeci Railway Station

Istanbul Restaurants

Turkish Cuisine

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Shady sidewalk tables await lunch customers in Hocapasa.