How expensive is eating out in Istanbul, and what are the better-value cheap food options like fish wraps, kebabs, and doner?

In September 2026, a traveller reported these prices at a simple Istanbul café in an ordinary neighbourhood outside Sultanahmet, Taksim and Galata: vegetable salad, 350 lira; lentil soup, 400 lira; beef steak and salmon steak, 2,400 lira each; chicken sandwich, 700 lira; 250 ml cola, 150 lira; and Americano, 175 lira. She described the coffee as mediocre.

In September 2026, another contributor reported lower prices at a café in Sultanahmet near Hafız Mustafa: lentil soup cost 200 lira and İskender kebab cost 500 lira. They described the café as decent.

In response to a request for more affordable restaurants, a contributor recommended Kadınlar Pazarı, the Women's Market, for its concentration of restaurants serving regional cuisines from across Turkey. She reported visiting one of them and shared map links to two venues.

For meat dishes, the same contributor recommended Tarihi Hocapaşa Lokantakarı in Istanbul, describing a street with numerous meat-focused eateries that are consistently busy. She characterised them as simple places to eat rather than formal restaurants.

Another price example: a snack for two at a modest local lokanta (plastic tables, non-touristy street) — two ice creams, one salad, two fries, two juices — cost 4000 lira, showing even simple street food is no longer cheap.

Another cautionary example: a traveler on Büyükada island ordered a piece of fish for lunch without checking the price first, and the bill came to 12,000 lira. Takeaway — always ask the price of fish/seafood before ordering.

Another recent traveler (May trip) confirmed high prices, saying it's hard to eat out for two in Istanbul for less than $100.

Another recent report: a huge İskender kebab cost 820 lira, while fish was cheaper than meat and reportedly not overcooked.

One recent traveler said it was surprisingly hard to find a satisfying meal in Istanbul and that the best thing they had was a pre-made sandwich from a gas station fridge. That suggests quality depends heavily on the specific place, not just the type of food.

Another traveler pushed back on the food criticism and said Istanbul is especially strong for meat dishes, naming döner, köfte, steaks, and grilled lamb chops as standouts. The practical takeaway is to switch venues if the first place disappoints, because quality varies a lot by cook and restaurant.

An earlier report said that even basic eateries outside the center can feel expensive, roughly comparable to a good restaurant in Russia. To save money, the traveler switched to balık dürüm in the last days of the trip as a simpler, better-value option.

The original question in the chat was specifically about how much food prices have gone up and what fish and kebab cost now. No exact numbers were shared, but the overall message was clear: don’t expect Istanbul food to be cheap, and focus instead on places with good value and filling dishes like balık dürüm, döner, and köfte.