A Vegetarian Tour on Istiklal Avenue From Taksim to Tünel 🌿
Walking from Taksim to Tünel? Make room for olive-oil vegetables, home-style dishes and Circassian dumplings. Our vegetarian guide shows you where to stop along Istiklal, how to find each restaurant and what to ask before ordering.
A lunch break on Istiklal can mean green beans cooked in olive oil, vegetable stews or a plate of Circassian dumplings. Along the walk from Taksim toward Tünel, these restaurants offer different ways to try Turkish home cooking.
📍 Save the route: Taksim → Balkan → Lookanta → Hacı Abdullah → Hayvore → Fıccın → Tünel. Choose a meal stop as you go; most are on side streets just off the avenue.
🍲 Balkan Lokantası Taksim: Check the day’s counter
Near the Taksim end, turn into Büyük Parmakkapı Sokak and look for No:9/1. This home-style lokanta, the Turkish word for a restaurant, serves a changing selection of cooked dishes. Ask which vegetable and bean dishes are prepared without meat or meat stock before choosing.
👉 Find Balkan Lokantası Taksim on veganistanbul.com
🥬 Lookanta Beyoğlu: Choose your plate on the avenue
Continue toward İstiklal Caddesi No:48/A. Lookanta is directly on the main street, making it easy to spot without a detour. Its self-service counter brings together hot dishes and zeytinyağlılar: vegetables cooked in olive oil, often served cool or at room temperature. Check the day’s selection before ordering.
👉 Find Lookanta Beyoğlu on veganistanbul.com
🫒 Hacı Abdullah: A sit-down stop by Ağa Mosque
At Ağa Mosque, leave the avenue for Atıf Yılmaz Caddesi No:9/A. The menu includes olive-oil artichokes, celery root, broad beans, green beans and imam bayıldı, eggplant cooked with onions and tomatoes. Availability varies, so ask which are being served that day.
👉 Find Hacı Abdullah on veganistanbul.com
🥘 Hayvore: Black Sea cooking near Galatasaray
Around the Galatasaray High School section of the avenue, turn into Turnacıbaşı Sokak. Hayvore is at No:4, close to the street entrance. Its menu lists green beans, spinach, other daily vegetables and mücver, vegetable fritters usually made with egg. There is also a vegetarian combination plate.
👉 Find Hayvore on veganistanbul.com
🥟 Fıccın: Dumplings and vegetables before Tünel
Continue toward Tünel and turn into Kallavi Sokak, looking for Fıccın at No:13/1. Its Circassian and Anatolian menu includes potato or cheese dumplings, mushroom dishes and olive-oil vegetables. The published daily menu also lists artichokes, okra, green beans and stuffed vine leaves. Choices can change.
👉 Find Fıccın on veganistanbul.com
💬 A useful phrase: “Et, tavuk, balık veya et suyu var mı?” means “Does it contain meat, chicken, fish or meat stock?”
These restaurants also serve meat. For vegan orders, ask about butter, yogurt, cheese and eggs too. Then return to Istiklal and continue to Tünel, the avenue’s southern end. 🚶