Kanlıca Yogurt: How to Visit Istanbul’s Famous Yogurt Neighbourhood
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Did you know that there's a special type of traditional yogurt in Istanbul that's eaten with sweet toppings like powdered sugar, honey, jam and even ice cream? Yes, really.
Well neither did we. That is until last week when my Turkish teacher told me to check out the tiny neighbourhood of Kanlıca on the Asian side of Istanbul to…try the yogurt there.
Apparently the area has historically always been famous for it. The yogurt making techniques have been passed down over many generations and in the past people would cross the water to Kanlıca specifically to buy yogurt. It was that famous and tasted that good!
Have you ever seen yogurt served like this?
Happily, the tradition still lives on today.
Actually getting to Kanlıca is half the fun - we travelled on a rickety-looking wooden boat across the Bosphorus and it was a fun ride on a very windy day.
If you love a bit of friendly bacteria and want more of the delicious white stuff, read on and we will tell you everything you need to know about Kanlıca yogurt including how to get to Kanlıca, what to expect when you get there and even what toppings to try on your Kanlıca yogurt!
Hang On - Why Do Turks Love Yogurt So Much?
It’s no secret that Turkey is a nation obsessed with yogurt.
There are even countless TikTok memes dedicated to this exact thing.
My favourite starts with a perfectly normal bowl of rice, with a generous wooden spoonful of yogurt dolloped onto it, and then very quickly escalates into yogurt being slapped onto… a tub of yoghurt. (Yep, you read that right.) Then a fence. Then a car windscreen. I cried laughing watching it.
In Turkey, yogurt isn’t just something you have at breakfast with muesli, or as part of a Müller Fruit Corner. (The latter was a cornerstone of a ‘90s school packed lunch by the way).
And it ain’t no side dish either. It’s an essential part of Turkish cuisine. You’ll find it in soups, meze, salads, kebabs, sauces, and even drinks like ayran and kefir.
A kebab topped with a yogurt and chilli butter sauce. Yums!
Yogurt’s place in Turkish culture goes all the way back to when they were nomads.
Long before supermarkets and fridge aisles, Turkic people were moving across Central Asia, dealing with cold climates and a pretty practical need for food that would last. Fermented dairy ticked a lot of boxes: it kept well, helped people survive harsh temperatures, was filling, and it travelled easily.
Walk into any Turkish supermarket now and you can easily lose a good few minutes just staring at the yogurt section.
Alongside the usual suspects like probiotic, organic or natural yoghurt, you’ll find things like süzme yogurt, which is thick, rich and strained (some people will say it’s basically Greek yoghurt. But not me. I’m staying well out of that argument!)
Do you reckon there’s enough yogurt sauce on this tantuni?
Then there’s kaymaklı yoghurt with a thick layer of cream on top, kaymaksız yogurt (without the cream), goat’s or sheep’s milk yoghurt, and tava yoghurt, which is especially dense and creamy.
And then, occasionally, you’ll spot yanık yogurt, or “burnt” yogurt, a slightly caramelised, clotted style from Denizli that’s traditionally made with sheep or goat’s milk.
Many Turkish people, including my teacher, also still make their own yogurt at home as it’s considered fresher and healthier than supermarket versions.
So naturally, when we heard there was a whole neighbourhood in Istanbul famous specifically for its yoghurt, it suddenly made a lot more sense. Of course there is. And of course we had to go and try it for ourselves in Kanlıca.
So…How Did Kanlıca Yogurt Become a Thing?
In the 19th century, Bulgarian immigrants fleeing the Ottoman–Russian War arrived in Turkey and settled in Kanlıca, in an area known as Muhacir Mahallesi, literally “the foreigners’ neighbourhood”. They brought with them traditional farming knowledge and started producing yogurt.
Then in 1893, one of those early settlers, Poyraz Ibrahim Aga, set up a business selling what we now know as Kanlıca yogurt and the rest, as they say, is history. The yogurt is still sold as “Tarihi Kanlıca Yoğurdu”, which basically translates to “historical Kanlıca yogurt”.
The business was later taken over by the Sakkaf family and is now run by his grandson, Muhammed Ali Sakkaf.
There are now plenty of other Kanlica yogurt producers too, including the Ahmet Nazli and Ugur Özdemir brands. Recipes vary depending on the company: some use a mix of cow’s and sheep’s milk, others go for buffalo, goat, or just cow’s milk.
The one thing they all seem to agree on is keeping it simple: no preservatives, no additives, just milk and a good starter culture.
How to Get to Kanlıca, Istanbul (and Plan Your Trip)
The simplest way to get to Kanlıca is via Üsküdar. From there you can hop on bus 15 towards Beykoz or jump on a dolmuş (small minibus) heading in the same direction. You can also take the Çengelköy–İstinye ferry line, although it’s not very frequent and doesn’t run on Sundays.
But if you’re up for a bit more of an adventure, there’s a far more fun way to do it.
After visiting Emirgan for the Istanbul Tulip Festival in April (and on the advice of my teacher) we decided to take one of the very charming, slightly rickety-looking wooden motorboats that were picking people up and dropping them off along the promenade.
These ‘water taxis’ are private boats that shuttle back and forth between Emirgan and Kanlıca.
It wasn’t immediately obvious where they left from - we kept seeing them buzzing up and down the Bosphorus but there didn’t seem to be an actual stop. We even went to the Emirgan ferry terminal before realising that was just for the main ferries.
The very charming water taxis moored near Kanlıca ferry terminal
In the end, we did the very scientific thing of standing on the promenade and waiting. Sure enough, one boat eventually sidled up to drop off passengers.
We caught the skipper’s eye while he was picking up a family (who I’d overheard asking about a Bosphorus cruise). He mouthed “Kanlıca”, I nodded, and next thing we knew he was pulling the boat towards the edge of the promenade and we were climbing on, trying not to fall straight into the water.
The family looked mildly annoyed that we were crashing their trip. Earlier, one of them had tried to blag my head that you had to call ahead to get one of these boats, which - for the record - you don’t.
One person in the group offered to take a photo of us on the boat though, so, no hard feelings from me.
Once we were in, the little boat started chugging across the Bosphorus. It was a windy day, so we got splashed a fair bit, but honestly it was great fun. It was also slightly weird being that close to the water when we’re so used to the big ferries.
We paid 150 TL each, which we strongly suspect included a bit of a “yabancı tax” (aka a price just for foreigners). It felt a little steep to us as we were expecting something closer to double a public ferry fare, so around 80 TL.
It also seemed too high for my Turkish teacher, who offered to call the skipper and check (this kind of thing is what I love about Turkey). He told her the same price, but we’re still not entirely convinced that’s the standard rate.
But possible yabancı prices aside, it’s by far our favourite way to get to Kanlıca.
Planning Your Trip to Kanlıca?
If you’re tempted to recreate this very enjoyable day out, here’s what we’d sort in advance:
🚤 Bosphorus cruise
- The easier version of what we did, no waiting around for mystery wooden boats.
- We’ve done this Bosphorus cruise with lunch ourselves - a great way to see the full stretch of the Bosphorus and its waterfront mansions.
- You’ll pass Kanlıca too, just without stopping.
→ Check out this Bosphorus cruise with lunch
Or read our guide to the Best Bosphorus Tours
🍽️ Food tour
- Want to try more Turkish food beyond the yogurt? This is a great next step.
- We’ve done this this amazing food tour and it’s a fantastic way to try dishes you probably wouldn’t order on your own.
→ Check out this Istanbul food tour
Or read our guide to the Best Food Tours
⛴️ Transport (Istanbulkart)
- If you’re doing this independently, get an Istanbulkart. It makes getting to places like Kanlıca much easier.
🛏️ Where to Stay
- Base yourself in Karaköy or Kadıköy for easy access to places like Kanlıca.
→ Browse places to stay in Istanbul
Or read our guide to the Best Areas to Stay in Istanbul
Where to Try Kanlıca Yogurt and What to Order
Once we arrived in Kanlıca we headed straight for Asırlık Kanlıca Yoğurdu - Ismailağa Kahvesi Cafe, right by the water.
It’s probably the most touristy place to try Kanlıca yogurt, but it’s hard to argue with the setting. It’s very picturesque: there is seating looking out onto the Bosphorus or a cosy wood-panelled interior, decorated with antiques.
Importantly they offer lots of different toppings that you can try on your yogurt - which is the whole reason why we wanted to visit Kanlıca in the first place!
The yogurt at Asırlık Kanlıca Yoğurdu cafe comes in small or medium portions and you can choose from toppings like honey, strawberry or cherry jam, pekmez (grape molasses) or even one or two scoops of ice cream. You can check out the full menu here.
If you want to keep things traditional, you can go for plain yogurt with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. That being said, powdered sugar is also provided free alongside all the other options, because clearly no one here is worrying about your blood sugar.
On weekends the cafe also serves a creamy mix of buffalo and cow’s yogurt in a traditional earthenware pot which you can pair with the same toppings.
The outdoor tables were completely packed when we arrived, so we ended up sitting inside, which actually worked out given it was still a pretty cold and windy April day.
I went for a small yogurt with cherry jam (165 TL), while Vincent ordered the same size with two scoops of ice cream (320 TL). A very Vincent-like order! We also added a couple of glasses of tea on the side.
The yogurt with the cherry jam was a clear winner for both of us. The sweetness of the jam with the whole cherries in there and the slightly tangy creamy yogurt was a match made in heaven.
Vincent’s yogurt and ice cream combo also went down a treat which surprised both of us as we thought it would be a little weird. He got vanilla and pistachio ice cream (we didn’t get a choice on flavours) and it actually tasted great!
If we were going to order again we’d both get the cherry jam topping as it was delish. Though I might be tempted by the pekmez and yogurt combo because I love pekmez.
Vincent in heaven eating two of his favourite things: yogurt and ice cream
What Else is There to Do in Kanlıca, Istanbul?
Kanlıca is a tiny neighbourhood, but it’s so pretty, chilled and such a nice place to wander that we’d recommend spending a bit of time exploring.
There’s a cute town square near the ferry port, a small mosque and lots of very charming wooden houses and Ottoman waterfront mansions that are beautiful and very photogenic.
You actually get the best views of those mansions from the water, so if that kind of thing tickles your pickles, it’s worth doing a Bosphorus tour at some point.
And if you can’t decide which tour to do, well we’ve actually also written an article about the Best Bosphorus Tours in Istanbul that will help.
The gorgeous waterfront mansions in Kanlıca
Back to Kanlıca. We ended up walking through the backstreets and came upon a small teahouse where the owner was super friendly - he basically insisted that we come in and take photos.
They were also serving another well-known Kanlıca yogurt brand: the Ahmet Nazli one. Vincent decided to try an ayran (a savoury yogurt drink) which he said tasted a bit stronger and slightly more farmy than the yogurt we’d had earlier.
We loved the decorations inside this local tea house!
Vincent trying out an Ahmet Nazli ayran
After that we walked up to Hidiv Kasrı Korusu, a park that is a leisurely 15 minutes or so stroll from the centre. It’s a beautiful place - lots of tulips are planted here during the festival season as well, but it’s much quieter than Emirgan.
The park has a network of lovely walking paths with gorgeous views over the Bosphorus plus the stunning old Khedive Palace, where Khedive Abbas Hilmi Pasha, the last Ottoman governor of Egypt lived.
There’s also a small cafe for drinks and snacks. And slightly unexpectedly, we discovered a stunning waterfall inside the park that we had no idea existed!
Our Final Thoughts on Kanlıca
And that’s the end of this very yogurty post.
We loved our day out in Kanlıca. It was a good reminder that even when you’ve been living in a city for a while, there are still plenty of small, unexpected things to discover. Sometimes you just have to get on a slightly rickety boat and see where you end up.
If you’ve been to Kanlıca, let us know in the comments. And if you’ve found other spots in Istanbul we should check out, we’d love to hear about them. Brownie points if yogurt (or food generally) is somehow involved.
Useful Resources For Your Trip
🛬 Need an airport transfer?
🙋 Top things to do in Istanbul:
- Take an evening Bosphorus dinner cruise (#1 best selling tour)
- Go on a guided food tour (our favourite tour)
- Take a Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia & Basilica Cistern Tour (skip the lines on this fab tour)
🌟 Don't forget:
- Stay connected with an Airalo eSIM.
- Get travel medical insurance with SafetyWing.
- Save money with a Wise International Debit Card!
Before you go, make sure to check out some of our other Istanbul and Turkey/Türkiye guides:
🗓️ The Best 1 Day in Istanbul Itinerary
🏠 Best Areas to Stay in Istanbul: Coolest Neighbourhoods & Top Hotels
🛌 Where to Stay in Cappadocia: Best Areas, Hotels & Top Tips
🛫 How to Get from Istanbul Airport to the City Centre
🗓 The Ultimate Turkey Itinerary 10 Days
🏖️ Where to Stay in Izmir: Best Izmir Districts, Top Hotels + Useful Tips
🕌 Things to Do in Mardin: Turkey’s City of Golden Stone
🇹🇷 The Best Places to Visit in Turkey
🌷 Visit the Istanbul Tulip Festival
🎪 18 Best Festivals in Istanbul
🚂 Sirkeci Station: Discover Istanbul's Orient Express Station
🍴 A Foodie’s Guide to the Best Mardin Restaurants
🍯 Where to Find the Best Baklava in Istanbul
🏔 Cappadocia in Winter: 7 Reasons to Visit + 16 Amazing Things to Do
🏞️ Zelve Open Air Museum Cappadocia: A Complete Guide
🎄 Christmas in Istanbul: All You Need to Know for a Magical Stay
⛄ 9 Awesome Reasons to Spend Winter in Istanbul
🍳 Best Breakfast in Istanbul - 16 Incredible Places to Try
✅ 12 Things You Need To Do in Istanbul
✈️ How to Get From SAW Airport to Istanbul City Center
🔎 Explore Balat Istanbul: An Insider's Guide to One of Istanbul's Most Unique Neighbourhoods
🍟 Best Vegan Fast Food in Istanbul
🥑 Where to Find the Best Vegan Turkish Breakfast in Istanbul
🖼️ 14 Top Things To Do in Gaziantep
🍔 Off the Eaten Track: The Best Street Food in Istanbul
🥦 Vegan Istanbul: The Best Under-the-Radar Restaurants
Find more travel tips and useful information on Turkey here.
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