How to Read a Turkish Menu
Turkish menus are long, and the part that costs visitors the most is the part that arrives before the menu does. A waiter appears with a tray of cold dishes, you point at what looks good, and only later do you learn that every plate on that tray was priced individually. The rest of the menu is straightforward once you know that kebap is a family of very different dishes rather than a single one, and that the question about your coffee has four acceptable answers.
How a Turkish menu is organized
A Turkish meal moves from cold to hot to grilled, with soup available at any point in the day. The headings below appear in roughly this order on almost every menu.
| Turkish | Pronunciation | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Kahvaltı | kah-val-TUH | Breakfast, served late into the morning |
| Çorbalar | chor-ba-LAR | Soups, eaten at any hour |
| Soğuk mezeler | so-OOK me-ze-LER | Cold meze, brought on a tray to choose from |
| Ara sıcaklar | a-RA suh-jak-LAR | Hot starters, between meze and main |
| Salatalar | sa-la-ta-LAR | Salads |
| Izgara / Kebaplar | uz-ga-RA | Grilled meats and the kebap family |
| Pideler | pee-de-LER | Boat-shaped baked flatbreads with toppings |
| Ana yemekler | a-NA yem-ek-LER | Main courses, including stews |
| Zeytinyağlılar | zey-tin-ya-luh-LAR | Vegetables cooked in olive oil, served cold |
| Tatlılar | tat-luh-LAR | Desserts |
| İçecekler | ee-che-jek-LER | Drinks |
Meze is the section to watch. In a meyhane or a fish restaurant, a waiter brings a tray or wheels a trolley of small cold dishes to your table and you choose by pointing. It feels like a complimentary selection. It is not: each dish you keep is charged, and a table that says yes to everything has ordered a substantial and expensive meal before the grill has been lit. Take three or four, ask the price of anything you do not recognize, and send the rest of the tray away without embarrassment. Bread arrives free and is refilled.
Where you eat sets the format. An ocakbaşı is a grill house where meat is cooked over charcoal, sometimes at a pit in the middle of your table, and it is where the kebap list is longest. A lokanta is an everyday canteen with trays of home-style stews behind glass, priced per portion, ideal for lunch and for pointing at what you want. A meyhane is a tavern built around meze, raki and a long evening. A kebapçı, pideci or kokoreççi does one thing and does it all day. A pastane sells pastries and desserts and is not a restaurant.
Common dishes you'll see on the menu
| Turkish | Pronunciation | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| mercimek çorbası | mer-jee-MEK chor-ba-SUH | Red lentil soup | The national default, eaten at breakfast too |
| ezogelin çorbası | e-zo-ge-LEEN | Lentil and bulgur soup | Slightly spicier than mercimek |
| işkembe çorbası | ish-kem-BEH | Tripe soup | Eaten late at night, famously restorative |
| haydari | hay-da-RUH | Thick strained yogurt with garlic | Standard cold meze |
| acılı ezme | a-juh-LUH ez-MEH | Spicy chopped tomato and pepper paste | The hot one on the meze tray |
| patlıcan salatası | pat-luh-JAN | Smoked aubergine puree | Cold, smoky, with yogurt or oil |
| sigara böreği | see-ga-RA bu-re-EE | Fried cheese-filled pastry rolls | Hot starter, always ordered |
| dolma | dol-MA | Stuffed vine leaves or peppers | Cold with rice, or hot with meat |
| zeytinyağlı fasulye | zey-tin-ya-LUH | Green beans in olive oil | Served at room temperature |
| çoban salatası | cho-BAN | Chopped tomato and cucumber salad | Shepherd's salad, on every table |
| döner kebap | du-NER | Meat stacked and shaved from a vertical spit | Served in bread, on rice or on a plate |
| adana kebap | a-da-NA | Hand-minced lamb on a flat skewer | The spicy one |
| urfa kebap | ur-FA | The same skewer without chilli | The mild counterpart to adana |
| şiş kebap | SHEESH | Cubes of grilled lamb or chicken | The plainest of the family |
| iskender kebap | is-ken-DER | Döner over bread with tomato and butter | Rich; served with yogurt |
| cağ kebabı | JA ke-ba-buh | Horizontally spit-roasted lamb | From Erzurum, ordered by the skewer |
| beyti | bey-TEE | Minced meat wrapped in flatbread | Sliced into rounds, with yogurt |
| köfte | kuf-TEH | Grilled meatballs | Regional recipes vary widely |
| lahmacun | lah-ma-JOON | Thin flatbread with minced meat | Squeeze lemon, add greens, roll it up |
| pide | PEE-deh | Boat-shaped baked flatbread | Named for the topping: kaşarlı, kıymalı, sucuklu |
| kumpir | koom-PEER | Loaded baked potato | Street food, heavily customized |
| menemen | me-ne-MEN | Eggs scrambled with tomato and pepper | Breakfast staple, served in the pan |
| börek | bu-REK | Layered filled pastry | Cheese, spinach or minced meat |
| simit | see-MEET | Sesame bread ring | Sold from carts all morning |
| manti | man-TUH | Tiny dumplings in garlic yogurt | Topped with melted butter and mint |
| kuru fasulye | koo-ROO fa-sool-YEH | White bean stew | Ordered with rice; classic lokanta lunch |
| karnıyarık | kar-nuh-ya-RUK | Aubergine stuffed with minced meat | Home-style main |
| balık ekmek | ba-LUK ek-MEK | Grilled fish in bread | Waterfront staple in Istanbul |
| baklava | bak-la-VA | Layered pastry with nuts and syrup | Pistachio or walnut, sold by weight |
| künefe | ku-ne-FEH | Shredded pastry with melted cheese | Served hot, eaten immediately |
| sütlaç | soot-LACH | Baked rice pudding | The lighter dessert option |
| dondurma | don-dur-MA | Stretchy Turkish ice cream | Sold with a certain amount of theatre |
Words that repeat: et (meat), tavuk (chicken), kuzu (lamb), balık (fish), peynir (cheese), ekmek (bread), pilav (rice), acı (spicy), ızgara (grilled), fırında (baked), kızartma (fried), yoğurtlu (with yogurt), tam porsiyon (full portion), yarım porsiyon (half portion).
Two things worth ordering deliberately. Kahvaltı, Turkish breakfast, is not a plate but a whole table of cheeses, olives, tomato, cucumber, jams, honey, eggs and bread, usually priced per person and served until midday or later. And Türk kahvesi, Turkish coffee, is sweetened during brewing, so the waiter will ask how you want it before it is made. The four answers are sade (no sugar), az şekerli (a little), orta (medium) and şekerli (sweet). There is no adding sugar afterwards, which is why the question is not optional.
Useful phrases for ordering
| Turkish | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Merhaba | mer-ha-BA | Hello |
| Menü, lütfen | me-NU loot-FEN | The menu, please |
| Ne tavsiye edersiniz? | ne tav-see-YEH | What do you recommend? |
| Bu ne kadar? | boo ne ka-DAR | How much is this? |
| Bunu istiyorum | boo-NOO is-tee-yo-ROOM | I would like this one |
| Acı değil, lütfen | a-JUH de-EEL | Not spicy, please |
| Etsiz olsun | et-SEEZ ol-SOON | Without meat |
| Yarım porsiyon | ya-RUM por-see-YON | A half portion |
| Bir çay daha | beer CHAI da-HA | One more tea |
| Orta, lütfen | or-TA | Medium sweet, please (for coffee) |
| Hesap, lütfen | he-SAP | The bill, please |
| Çok lezzetliydi | chok lez-zet-lee-DEE | That was delicious |
Prices, paying and tipping
Prices on the menu include tax. Bread is free and brought without asking, and water is sold in bottles. Çay, black tea served in small tulip glasses, is cheap, poured all day and frequently offered on the house at the end of a meal or in a shop; accepting is polite and refusing is fine.
Meze is the one place where the bill can outrun expectations, because plates are counted individually and a tray-side yes is an order. Grilled meat and whole fish are sometimes priced by weight, which the menu shows next to the dish, and the final figure depends on the piece you are given, so it is reasonable to ask what a portion will weigh before agreeing.
Tipping is customary at around five to ten percent in sit-down restaurants, left in cash on the table even when you pay the rest by card. Fast, counter-service places and street stalls do not expect a tip. A service charge is occasionally added at tourist-facing restaurants, in which case there is no need to add more.
One warning specific to the busiest tourist streets: touts standing outside with laminated photo menus, and places that seat you first and produce the price later, are worth walking past. Restaurants that display prices clearly and are full of locals almost never operate that way.
Etiquette worth knowing
- Meals are shared. Meze, salads and pide are placed in the middle and everyone reaches in, so ordering strictly one dish per person leaves the table looking odd.
- Insisting on paying is part of the ritual. If a Turkish host or new acquaintance reaches for the bill, expect a real argument about it and expect to lose.
- Tea is a social obligation more than a drink. If a shopkeeper or restaurant owner offers you çay after a meal, sitting down for five minutes is the polite response.
- Turkish coffee is drunk slowly and never stirred at the end; the grounds settle in the bottom of the cup and are left there.
- During Ramadan, many restaurants stay open all day in tourist areas but fill instantly at sunset. Book, or eat well before.
When the menu has no English at all
Away from the main tourist strips, the menu is a laminated Turkish list, or a handwritten board of the day's stews, or a glass counter at a lokanta with twenty unlabeled trays behind it. The food there is better and cheaper than anything on a photo menu, and none of it is captioned in English. Reading a translated version of that board before you point is what lets you order the aubergine stew the kitchen has been simmering since morning instead of the one word on the wall you happened to recognize.
FAQ
Is the meze tray free? No. The tray is brought to your table so you can choose by sight, but every dish you keep is charged separately. Take a few, ask prices for anything unfamiliar, and let the rest go back.
What is the difference between adana and urfa kebap? Only the chilli. Both are hand-minced lamb pressed onto a flat skewer and grilled over charcoal. Adana is spicy, urfa is the mild version of the same dish.
How do I order Turkish coffee? State the sweetness when you order, because the sugar goes in during brewing. Say sade for none, az şekerli for a little, orta for medium or şekerli for sweet. Medium is the safest choice if you are unsure.