Food&Drink options

Even though local cuisine has many plant-based options there is always the risk of cross-contamination with animal secretions when eating out. Choosing olive oil dishes and salad bars with separate serving spoons are better options to avoid this risk. But please note that nonvegan restaurants traditionally serve olive oil dishes with dairy yogurt and you need to warn the waiters about that. 

Simit (or Gevrek in İzmir and Aegean Region) is a type of bagel and it is easy to find it on streets and bakeries. Even though cheap simits that you can find on street stalls are suitable for vegans, softer simits in pastry shops might contain dairy products and should be avoided. On the street stalls, you will also find roasted chestnuts (kestane in Turkish) and boiled corns on the cob (Mısır in Turkish) as snacks. 

Another mostly-vegan local food is Çiğköfte. There are several çiğköfte chains and some of them have vegan labels. (Please note that çiğköfte is traditionally a nonvegan dish, made of raw meat and spices, but it is meatless by law due to hygienic necessities. Homemade çiğköftes are not always suitable for vegans.) To make sure, look for some vegan brand or choose chains that provide information on their ingredients; such as Çiğköftem, Oses, Tatlıses and Komagene or the locations listed on HappyCow. Şalgam Suyu (turnip water) is available in most çiğköfte restaurants as a non-alcoholic drink and it is suitable for vegans. Çifköfte restaurants would offer you Ayran with your meal but it is a dairy product and should be avoided. 

In most cities, it is possible to find falafel and hummus as fast-food options. Those locations that sell falafel are also listed in HappyCow website.

For some cheap and easy meal, you can buy canned borlotti beans in olive oil (Barbunya Pilaki in Turkish), stuffed vine leaves (Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarma in Turkish) and other canned vegan meals from supermarkets and convenience stores. They are suitable for vegans, and some brands come with its own plastic spoon to make it easier to eat for travellers. 

Turkish delight or Lokum is a very popular local dessert and most of the delight brands are suitable for vegans, but you are supposed to be careful about the ones that are sweetened with honey (bal in Turkish). To be sure, you can look for Koska brand with “Suitable for vegans” sign on the packages. 

Local alcohol option “Raki” is suitable for vegans. Mainstream beer brands such as Efes, Bomonti and Tuborg are suitable for vegans. Even though there are several wines that are suitable for vegans, most of them are filtered with animal derived products and should be avoided. Some brands that are suitable for vegans are Sevilen, Arcadia, Büyülübağ, according to this list (Vegan wines are listed under “vegan”. Navegan means nonvegan and wines listed under “Navegan” are known to be unsuitable for vegans).

Meet other vegans

If you are planning on visiting Istanbul and if you would like to spend a Saturday evening with other vegans, you can join Vegan Picnics. Vegan picnics are held by Facebook group Veganİstanbul. Vegan Picnics are weekly vegan potluck events. There are several rules for this event: If you are planning to bring some vegan food, make sure that foods do not include animal ingredients or are not cross-contaminated (check allergy warning) by animal derived products. Also, if the food contains cocoa or coffee, it should be a fair-trade product or an ethically sourced product and coconut products should come from trusted sources that do not use monkeys for harvesting. Bringing food to the event is not obligatory but it is considered polite to at least contribute with some fruits or nuts. 

These tips were brought to you by Vegan Oluyorum.   For more tips go to OUR VEGAN PAGE