Found this gem of a place on Happy Cow after spending a few days in Istanbul. Turkey is a pretty…read moremeat heavy culture, but you can seek out some good veggies places. This is one of them. It is a little hole in the wall place, but they serve up a traditional flavorful dish a bit like seitan basically. You can get it in a wrap and if you are staying somewhere can take a box home for fairly cheap. Also be sure to check out nearby Parsifal. This is a simple sit down affordable place that is 100 percent vegetarian and has many vegan options. The menu labels what is vegetarian and what is vegan making ordering easy.

Zencefil which means "ginger" in English is located Istiklal street area and it is one of the few…read morevegetarian restaurants in Istanbul. I have been going to Zencefil for years but last time I was there was about 4-5 years ago. The restaurants has been keeping its style, quality for many years. Even the menu looks like the same except for a few new dishes depending on the season. There are several kinds of vegetable quiches such as eggplant, spinach, etc. The nice think is that before the meal they serve butter mixed with herbs accompanied with bread. There were two kinds of bread; with corn flour and whole wheat. However, the bread could be better, I didn't like the whole wheat bread. I can make batter breads and I am wondering why they do not make their own bread adding different kinds of herbs and vegetables. Although it is a vegetarian restaurant, there one or two chicken dishes on the menu. Since there wasn't so much change on the menu for years, I have already tried most dishes which were OK. I mean the tastes are nice, not heavenly but you know that all of them are healthy. This time I had warm served Aegean stew made of artichokes, faba beans and black-eyed beans. It was so light and tasty, I really like it. I had homemade ginger ale for a drink but frankly saying I didn't like it maybe because I am used to Canadian dry or other brands. But I recommend its lemonade with ginger. I hope they add more experimental vegetable recipes on the menu next time. At the end of the meal they always serve coriander and some dry herb to refreshen the breath which I really like. Lastly, the ambiance is nice, bright, colorful and the place is mostly full of young people and tourists during lunch hours. The service is not bad but I wish they smile more...

I will keep my review short. This is a very historic and unique place you cannot find anywhere in…read morethe world. There are different kinds of boza especially in Eastern Europe market -and I've tried many. I love Vefa the best. You can find Vefa boza in the markets all over Istanbul, but it's very fresh (and nostalgic) to get it from here. This street has ancient specialty stores (soda-sevda gazoscusu, chickpea - tarihi vefa leblebicisi), each of them should be tried in no particular order. I am from Istanbul, I'm ashamed to not visit here very often in the past. Bonus tip #1: Put some chickpeas on your boza. Get some chickpea cookies from the ancient cookie store nextdoor (tarihi vefa leblebicisi), they have very soft texture and go great with boza. Bonus tip #2: Ataturk used to drink his boza here. It is written that he was making time to come and sit here- you can see his seat. Bonus tip #3: Besides boza, they produce their own vinegar.

Very interesting little shop, they sell boza and few other different drinks including lemonade and…read moresyrup. They also sell ice cream. $3 lira for one boza. It tastes very different from any other drinks I've ever had. They claim that boza is good for digestion and lactation for women postpartum. It also contains lots of vitamins. If you ever visit Istanbul you must try this place! It's within walking distance from M2 Vezneciler station. They close whenever they are out of boza when we were there on 05/30/15 which was a Saturday, they close at approximately 10:50 pm, 20 mins after we got there.