Istanbul is home to an incredible number of eateries, almost half of which seem to be those that sell at least some variety of pide, a Turkish dish that is baked in oven. You will see it in all its glory in the photos below in a second. My “professional” and unwavering position on eating a good pide in Turkey is that you need to go to Aegean cities like Aydın or Pontic ones like Trabzon to eat the “real” stuff. However, what if you do not have the time, energy, desire, or money for that? For those who are stuck in Istanbul, I am happy to say that the city does offer a few good options, almost all of which can satisfy most tourists, and can do a decent job with locals’ tastebuds as well. It goes without saying that due to my relatively recent decision to become a pescetarian, I will only be sharing about the more vegetarian options these joints sell, though that hardly means that these places do not sell meaty pides. With that out of the way, you can now read on to find out where to have some of these finest so called “Turkish pizzas” in Istanbul!
Hocapaşa Pidecisi – https://goo.gl/maps/F2ymmGq857YqaRKQA
It would not be fair to not start this list with Hocapaşa Pidecisi, not because I think they are the best, but because they are what most travellers will end up running into in many other lists like this, and likely on their way as they wander around Sultanahmet. Given its location and age, it is one of the best but also the priciest joints on this list. Credit where credit’s due though, despite its much higher price tag, Hocapaşa Pidecisi also bakes the biggest pide I had in 2023, so they are certainly giving you your money’s worth. It is important to note that I definitely adore the cheese they use, as well as the pickles they give with all their pides. So, if you want to have a decent pide, and do not want to travel far away from the more touristic parts of the town, this is a place you can trust for sure.
Küveloğlu Han Tarihi Pide Fırını – https://goo.gl/maps/o12e5NHcfb9rE2pXA
But what if you do want to travel a bit further away? Not that much to be honest with you all, but by walking a bit more to the north from where Hocapaşa Pidecisi is one can find this hidden gem that is steadily being put on maps of plenty of tourists every day. This fine establishment is found inside a historic inn and that alone makes the trip there worthy. They have very good pide that is smaller but also much cheaper than Hocapaşa Pidecisi, and I do prefer the dough of Küveloğlu. What really makes me come back here again and again though is not their food, but the rather rare “spicy ayran (a yoghurt drink)” you can get from a different joint in the same inn. Just ask for an “acılı ayran” when you order your pide, and they will get the drink ready for you as there seems to be an agreement between these two lovely owners.
Nizam Pide – https://goo.gl/maps/utjvbN5brc2SYeHeA
As the only entry in this list with multiple locations, it is self-evident that Nizam Pide made a name for itself in the industry. They specialize in what I would like to refer to as the more Pontic style of pides, ones that look more like a Georgian khachapuri than anything else. These are loaded with tasty cheese, tastier butter, and by some miracle even tastier dough! They are often extremely heavy due to these individually already quite fattening ingredients, but the taste is well worth the extra fat! You will definitely enjoy what you eat here, but my favourite is not their pide actually, but their “sütlaç” which is a sweet Turkish rice pudding. They make it so good; it is really difficult to even compare it with others and this is not even a dessert shop. They can top it with many condiments like different types of nuts and dried fruit, as well as a decent kind of honey, so you should go wild and experiment!
Tarihi Tokat Pidecisi – https://goo.gl/maps/ispaZSGT8QFkSsJFA
It should be clear by now that there is no one “singular” pide that we can all talk about, one variety to rule them all so to speak. There are plenty of variations to this admittedly simple recipe, and they all taste quite different. Tarihi Tokat Pidecisi serves yet another type, a local version from a province called Tokat. These are thinner pides with a focus on the toppings rather than the dough itself. This is not to say that the dough is bad, but that cheese and herbs combination certainly is the top reason to eat this wonderful creation! It is one of the lighter pides I had, so I can easily recommend it for even a breakfast but then again, I am the sort of person who can eat any one of these for a breakfast, so do not heed all my words…
Boheme Pizza&Panino – https://goo.gl/maps/skQA43hFwx7T68FZ7
I thought a lot about whether I should include this place or not in this short list of mine and decided to just go ahead with it for two reasons. There are people who consider pide a type of “Turkish pizza.” That is a very weird way to look at pide, especially because it hardly ever has any tomato or tomato sauce on it, but it is what it is. Secondly, I will not be writing a guide to find the best pizzas in town, but this is a rather strange (in a good way) establishment, so I just had to share it somewhere. Boheme Pizza specializes on selling some decent thin crust pizza with a focus on high quality toppings rather than the sauce and the cheese. This, in my book, makes it a very “Turkish” take on pizza. You hardly taste the tomato sauce, and that is okay if you do not want a particularly Italian pizza at the moment. It has great service, is found in the house of a former Turkish author and has many tasty (a few being vegetarian) options to choose from. If you are bored of Turkish food and want to try something different, you can go to Boheme for a fun lunch or dinner.