Hours
Daily approximately 8am–11pm (weather dependent)
Region
Middle East & Mediterranean
The Review
On the banks of the Golden Horn at Eminönü, a small fleet of rocking wooden boats serves what might be the simplest and most perfect sandwich in the world. Balık-ekmek is a grilled mackerel fillet — basted with salt and a little oil, cooked on an iron grill bolted to the boat's gunwale — tucked into a half-baguette with sliced onion, lettuce, a squeeze of lemon, and nothing else.
The boat rocks with the ferry wake. The grillman works the fish with a long-handled spatula without looking at it. The smoke drifts across the Bosphorus. You eat standing at a waterside counter with pigeons at your feet and cargo ships on the horizon and the minarets of the old city above you.
No restaurant could replicate this because the sandwich is not separable from the place. The mackerel is fresh from the Bosphorus. The bread is baked that morning. The setting is Istanbul. Some things can only be eaten where they were invented.
The price is roughly equivalent to one euro. That is not a joke.
What to Order
There's only one thing. Order it, add more onion than you think you want, squeeze the lemon vigorously, eat it before it goes cold.
Tips
The boats in Eminönü are the real thing. The simulacra on the tourist waterfront near Galata Bridge are fine but not the same. Go on a clear day — the setting matters.
Our Rating
★★★★★
Price Range
$