Istanbul

The busiest districts on the list are Etiler, Beyoğlu, Eminönü / Karaköy, Bağdat Caddesi and Nişantaşı; the busiest kitchens are meat and kebab, esnaf lokantası and seafood. You can filter the cards by district and by cuisine.

Start with our favourite: Alaf in Kuruçeşme may be our favourite restaurant in İstanbul — we think Michelin did it a real injustice by not giving it a star. Two more at the same level: Lokanta 1741, inside the Cağaloğlu hamam, and Olden 1772, inside a 250-year-old han in Sirkeci.

On the esnaf lokantası side: Lale Lokantası, in Hasköy since 1970; Mahkeme Lokantası in Perşembe Pazarı with its daily menu; and Hayvore, just off İstiklal, for Black Sea cooking.

For fish, two classics: Balat Sahil Restoran, on the Balat shore since the 1980s, and Balıkçı Sabahattin in the old city. In Arnavutköy, Revma Balık has silverfish caught off Akıntıburnu, in March and April only.

For kebab, the Adana at Önder Ocakbaşı in Beşiktaş is among the best we have had in İstanbul; and Tatbak in Nişantaşı, doing the same thing for over sixty years, is our childhood.