Yummy Istanbul Food Tours — Local services in Üsküdar

I first knew this was not going to be A great Tour When the Guide sat us down at a table and started pulling food out of the plastic bag and unwrapping it putting it on the table

the restaurant we at it was nice enough and gave us tea and water and eggs and bread But this was no traditional Turkish breakfast No cucumbers, no tomatoes, no jams How can you call that a traditional Turkish breakfast?

After she went into some long winded speeches that lasted 20 minutes And at the end of it, she went into the speech about how WE each had to tip each of the places we go to out our pockets I’m like what? I pay the money I should be treated to some awesome foods. We sat for 45 minutes to an hour, listening to all kinds of stuff, but not eating. And at the end of it We got up and did a another 45 to an hour tour of the spice market Sure, the guy at the spice market was very good at his explanation and had a excellent presentation but would even sell me some cinnamon sticks told me I had to come back again

So then we walked down towards the ferry and she explains some more tourist crap where is the food?? So I was a little disappointed at that time as we got on the ferry and I just wanted to go up and enjoy the view and not listen to any more long storty rhetoric that had nothing to do with food I’ve been on 3 other food tours in Istanbul. None where like this. ,While I’m up there, just trying to enjoy the view on the boat just trying to enjoy the view. She comes up to me and says I have to come back and listen. I said please leave me alone. I just want to watch the view. I said hey please just leave me alone and she wouldn’t Then she said I’m being rude and she doesn’t want me on the tour anymore And I said fine I’ll go back and She left me alone for a while and as the boat pulled up to the dock So I just exited and then got back on the ferry and went back to the European side which i payed for myself

The group and people where great and it wasn’t about food It was about Istanbul and even some of the history that she was explaining wasn’t correct but it’s not my duty to correct her ,I obviously picked the wrong company cause that’s definitely not what I was expecting on all the other food tours ,we went from one shop to another to another to another and ate it all of them This was a waste of time 2020 the...

I have done a few food tours or variations thereof before, but our tour with Yummy Istanbul was my very first walking food tour. Every part of this 10-stop tour was walked, except for a short ferry ride from Europe to Asia (and this part of the premise of dining on two continents). Walking gives you so much more opportunity to notice little details that you would have missed otherwise and it gives you a feel for the city that cannot easily be replicated in a single venue restaurant or driving from venue to venue…and in a city that consists of layer upon layer of rich history and culture, this was incredible. Every stop on the tour, whether it be breakfast or ice cream, visits to the markets or walking and snacking our way along little back alleys just felt so incredibly authentic and we loved it. Here, yes, credit has to go to the city and its incredible cuisine, but in equal measure, it has to go to our guide, Leyla. An avid foodie with a passion for her city, she not only looked after our culinary needs, but she was quick to share not only the history of the dishes that we enjoyed but also her extensive knowledge of the city’s history, making every stop and turn to feel like a little adventure. This tour took virtually a whole day and even though we had limited time in the city and there were so many more things that we wanted to do and see, I would, if given the chance for a do-over, choose to do this tour again. I cannot recommend it enough. As far as the food itself is concerned, be warned… it is a lot (and Leyla did warn us and despite this, we were ill-prepared for how much food there was). I found most of what was on offer incredibly delicious but the stand-out items that I would recommend keeping an eye out for were the grilled olives, hazelnut spreads, pomegranate Turkish delight, baklava, dolma, lentil soup (seriously, the best soup, I have ever eaten) and...

Mixed feelings about the tour, there were aspects of it that we enjoyed, and there were aspects of it that we wished were better. Pros: food was tasty you get to set foot on both continents + ferry meeting fellow travelers

Cons: we only had 8 stops, with one optional, so some only had 7 (not sure how many there are supposed to be, but other reviews said 10?) price not commensurate to the food. To better explain, let me list out the stops we had, and thoughts on each.

Family Breakfast: this was my favorite as it had the most amount of food/variety (breads, cheese’s, meats, spreads, honestly a really good stop) Turkish Delight: we had a sliver of a sample, like what is given for free when enticing customers to come and try their products. Soup Stop: half serving of lamb or lentil soup, probably could do a full serving for each person as they are not that big anyway. Turkish Coffee + Baklava: nice stop, you got a cup of coffee and baklava if you fancy Pickled Veggies: this was the opinional one, and I’d say half the group did it, half didn’t . Personally, I tried it and it was nice to experience the pickling of various items. Lunch Stop: food was tasty, but I feel like for a lunch stop, there could be more food, there were 2 kebab strips ordered for 10 people so imagine how small of a piece you got 😂 of course there were also sides, but yeah, I left a bit hungry still 😅 Mussels: one stuffed mussel Ice Cream: tasty stop, wish we could have picked what flavor we wanted vs. everyone getting the same one.

Overall, the food WAS TASTY and the history/culture that was shared was informative. Why I’m going 4 stars is because I wish we either had more food for the price or had a lower price point for the amount of food we got.

value: 3/5 food taste/variety 4.5/5 I was hoping for a food coma but barely got a...