Dish finder in Istanbul

A sesame-crusted bread ring sold from red carts on every corner. Have it with tea, or with a triangle of cheese from the cart.

A spread of cheeses, olives, tomatoes, honey, clotted cream (kaymak), eggs and endless tea. A weekend institution, best in Beşiktaş's breakfast street.

Eggs scrambled into tomatoes and green peppers in a small pan, eaten with bread. Meat-free unless you add sucuk sausage.

Layered filo pastry with cheese, spinach or mince, sold by weight at a börekçi. Su böreği, the boiled-layer version, is the richest.

Grilled mackerel with onion and salad in half a loaf, sold by the Galata Bridge at Eminönü and Karaköy.

Mussels stuffed with spiced rice, sold by the piece from street trays with a squeeze of lemon. Eat them where turnover is high.

Meat from the vertical spit, in bread (ekmek arası) or a wrap (dürüm). Chicken döner is the cheapest lunch in the city.

A thin flatbread spread with spiced mince, baked in a stone oven. Squeeze lemon over it, add parsley and roll it up.

Boat-shaped flatbread baked with cheese, egg, mince or pastırma. Kaşarlı, with cheese only, is the meat-free choice.

Tiny lamb or beef dumplings under garlic yoghurt and melted chilli butter.

Döner sliced over pieces of pide, with tomato sauce, yoghurt and sizzling butter poured on at the table. Originally from Bursa.

Hand-minced lamb with chilli, grilled on a wide skewer over charcoal. Ask for Urfa kebap if you want the mild version.

Cold plates brought round on a tray at a meyhane: aubergine salads, haydari yoghurt, white cheese and melon with rakı. Choose what you want; you pay per plate.

Whole aubergine stuffed with onion, garlic and tomato, slow-cooked in olive oil and served cool. One of many meat-free zeytinyağlı dishes.

Smooth red lentil soup with lemon and chilli flakes, served at every lokanta. Ask whether the stock is meat-based if it matters.

Black Sea anchovies dusted in cornmeal and fried, with raw onion and lemon. A winter dish, at its best from November to February.

Filo layered with pistachio or walnut and soaked in syrup, sold by the kilo. Fıstıklı, with pistachio from Gaziantep, is the standard.

Shredded pastry around stretchy unsalted cheese, baked and soaked in syrup, eaten hot with pistachio.