Ortaköy Kumpir — Restaurant in Beşiktaş

If you love baked potatoes this is the place for you. My husband and I came here for lunch; we ordered two baked potatoes and a watermelon juice. You essentially come up to the man at the stand and say how many you want, he fires them up in the oven (with cheese and butter) and then calls you when he’s ready for you to pick your toppings. You can pick from different olives, corn, some coleslaws, sausage, and different pastes (there’s a spicy tomato one and a yogurt one!) and then you enjoy your potato.

Pros: we got our food in 10 minutes it was basically build your own potato - so you can pick what you like and avoid what you don’t like it’s cheap-ish (180 TL per potato, roughly 9 CAD) the potato’s pretty filling and if you’re not super hungry two people can have one

Cons the seatings outdoors (but shaded) so if it’s hot, you’re sweating - don’t expect restaurant level seating but more than the usual street vendor has the fresh juice was good but kind of on the small side; I got watermelon and they didn’t strain the seeds so mashed up watermelon seeds were at the bottom of my drink - not terrible, but not amazing either

Overall would recommend to tick off something your street food list, when visiting the mosques (as they’re close...

Visiting Ortaköy felt like stepping into a dream. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, with stunning light blue waters that shimmered under the sunlight. The atmosphere carried a peaceful, calming energy that made the experience feel almost spiritual.

We attempted to take one of the scenic boat tours priced at 400 TL per person. Unfortunately, they didn't accept credit cards, so make sure to carry enough Turkish Lira (TL) in cash. I tried exchanging USD, but the rate offered was quite low—so I highly recommend exchanging your money at a reliable place beforehand to avoid losing value.

For food, we enjoyed a delicious kumpir (stuffed baked potato) from Charlie’s. It was loaded with toppings and felt like a full meal—well worth the 300 TL each.

If you plan on taking the boat tour, try going in the evening. The views of the Bosphorus at sunset are magical and not...

I was so curious about the famous "ortakoy kumpir" so we decided to give it a try while we were there. There are soooo many shops that sell kumpir and some of them are literally in the same area so it can be a little bit overwhelming since every shop is literally trying so hard to talk to you and get you to buy the kumpir from their shop. I'm not really sure, but I think every shop has the same prices and the same toppings selection for the kumpir, so you can honestly pick wherever you want. We went to the one that's literally called Ortakoy Kumpir and it was delicious! Unfortunately, the seller didn't speak English, so it was a little bit hard to...