Items | Istanbul: The Tasting City — Drinks & Plates
Istanbul: The Tasting City — Drinks & Plates
Istanbul
Important Information
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Public transportation options are available nearby
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Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
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Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
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Not recommended for pregnant travelers
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Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
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Suitable for all physical fitness levels
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Not suitable for those with severe food allergies (nuts, dairy, gluten, seafood)
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
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Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
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If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
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This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
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Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Become our Lokal Curator
Are you ready to turn your hobbies into a business?
On this afternoon walk through the Asian side’s most spirited neighbourhood, you’ll taste your way through centuries of drinking culture: from an Ottoman confectioner founded in 1777 to a wine bar pouring Anatolia’s oldest grape varieties, from a century-old pastry house to a meyhane where the rakı flows as the evening settles over the city.
Seven stops. Seven stories: Turkish coffee, şerbet, çay, craft beer, native wine, limonata, rakı — each one rooted in a place, a tradition, a moment in this city’s long and layered history.
One neighbourhood that quietly holds more of Istanbul’s soul than any postcard ever could.
Maximum 6 guests. No to...
Highlights
From 4 hours to 5 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 4 hours to 5 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
A curated walk through Kadıköy's historic market district, Moda, and the Fenerbahçe waterfront
Seven drink tastings across seven historic Kadıköy venues
Licensed expert guide specializing in Istanbul's drinking culture & history
Gratuities (optional but appreciated)
Additional food or drinks outside the tasting selections
Transportation to the meeting point or from the end point
Meeting Points
Departure
Kadıköy
Easily reached by ferry from Eminönü (20 min), Beşiktaş (25 min), or Üsküdar (10 min). Your guide will be waiting at the Kadıköy ferry terminal entrance at 17:00. We recommend taking the ferry — it's the most scenic way to arrive on the Asian shore.
Return
Kalamış Marina
The tour ends in Fenerbahçe. To return to central Istanbul: take a taxi or ride-share to Kadıköy terminal (10-12 min), then ferry to Eminönü-Karaköy or Beşiktaş. Alternatively, buses 4, FB1, FB2 and 16D connect Fenerbahçe directly to Kadıköy terminal.
On this afternoon walk through the Asian side’s most spirited neighbourhood, you’ll taste your way through centuries of drinking culture: from an Ottoman confectioner founded in 1777 to a wine bar pouring Anatolia’s oldest grape varieties, from a century-old pastry house to a meyhane where the rakı flows as the evening settles over the city.
Seven stops. Seven stories: Turkish coffee, şerbet, çay, craft beer, native wine, limonata, rakı — each one rooted in a place, a tradition, a moment in this city’s long and layered history.
One neighbourhood that quietly holds more of Istanbul’s soul than any postcard ever could.
Maximum 6 guests. No to...
Highlights
From 4 hours to 5 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 4 hours to 5 hours
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
A curated walk through Kadıköy's historic market district, Moda, and the Fenerbahçe waterfront
Seven drink tastings across seven historic Kadıköy venues
Licensed expert guide specializing in Istanbul's drinking culture & history
Gratuities (optional but appreciated)
Additional food or drinks outside the tasting selections
Transportation to the meeting point or from the end point
Meeting Points
Departure
Kadıköy
Easily reached by ferry from Eminönü (20 min), Beşiktaş (25 min), or Üsküdar (10 min). Your guide will be waiting at the Kadıköy ferry terminal entrance at 17:00. We recommend taking the ferry — it's the most scenic way to arrive on the Asian shore.
Return
Kalamış Marina
The tour ends in Fenerbahçe. To return to central Istanbul: take a taxi or ride-share to Kadıköy terminal (10-12 min), then ferry to Eminönü-Karaköy or Beşiktaş. Alternatively, buses 4, FB1, FB2 and 16D connect Fenerbahçe directly to Kadıköy terminal.
Itinerary
1
Kadikoy Iskelesi
We meet at the ferry terminal, where the Asian shore begins. From here, we walk into the heart of Kadıköy — a neighbourhood that has been feeding and watering Istanbul for centuries.
30 minutes
2
Osmanağa
Since 1923, this narrow Kadıköy institution has been roasting and serving Turkish coffee the old way — thick, unfiltered, unhurried. We begin here with a cup and lokum, and the first story: how coffee arrived in Istanbul and changed the way the city thought.
20 minutes
3
Caferağa
Founded in 1923 by a Greek confectioner, It is one of Istanbul’s most quietly remarkable survivors. Over çay and chocolate, we trace the layered history of Kadıköy’s non-Muslim communities — and why this pastry house is still here when so many others are not.
20 minutes
4
KadIkoy CarsIsI
Istanbul’s oldest confectionery — supplier to the Ottoman Imperial Palace since 1777. We pause here for şerbet, one of the city’s oldest drinks, and the story of a family business that outlasted empires.
20 minutes
5
Sakız Sokak
From the Ottoman palace to the 21st century: Kadıköy’s craft beer movement arrived quietly and is now one of the most vibrant in the city. We try a glass and talk about how drinking culture shifts — and what it says about a neighbourhood in transition.
20 minutes
6
Ferit Tek Sokağı
Every bottle on their list is Turkish — sourced from over 70 Anatolian producers. We sit, we pour, and we talk about what it means that Turkey has been making wine for 7,000 years and most of the world doesn’t know it.
20 minutes
7
Şair Latifi Sokak
Between the wine bar and the meyhane, we slow down. Sofa’s garden is one of Kadıköy’s most quietly beautiful spots — a courtyard hidden from the street, where we pause for a limonata and let the afternoon settle before the final act.
20 minutes
8
Fenerbahce
We end at a meyhane with history in its walls — rakı, meze, and the particular kind of conversation that only happens when the day has been long and the table is good. No sunset over the sea, but something better: the feeling of a neighbourhood that has fed people well for a very long time.
