Güneşlibahçe Sokak: The Fish Market

Why is it significant?

Listen first. Fishmongers calling out prices, a hose splashing over ice, a knife thudding on a wooden board.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Listen first. Fishmongers calling out prices, a hose splashing over ice, a knife thudding on a wooden board. Then look down at the stalls on Güneşlibahçe Sokak: silver rows of fish laid out like fans, with the gills of some turned outward to show off a bright red, the fishmonger's proof that the catch is fresh.

Istanbul sits on one of the great fish highways of the world. Every year shoals migrate through the Bosphorus between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and the city's calendar follows them. In autumn, people talk about lüfer, bluefish, the most prized fish of Istanbul, grilled simply with salt. In winter, the stalls fill with hamsi, small anchovies from the Black Sea, fried in cornmeal or baked with rice.

Hamsi is almost a religion on the Black Sea coast. People there claim to know dozens of dishes made from it, including bread, pilaf and even a dessert... whether anyone actually eats the dessert is a question for a long evening. Here in Kadıköy you will also see istavrit, horse mackerel, red mullet, sea bass, and in season the famous turbot from the Black Sea, sold in thick slices.

The fishermen will tell you, with a sigh, that the catch is not what it was. Overfishing and pollution have thinned the shoals, and lüfer in particular has become rarer and smaller, which is why there are now rules on how small a fish may legally be caught. When you choose fish here, the locals' advice is simple: buy what is in season, and ask the fishmonger what came in this morning.

Look out, too, for the midye dolma sellers in the evenings, with trays of mussels stuffed with spiced rice; you squeeze lemon over one and eat it straight from the shell. Then wander a little further down the market lanes, where the windows fill with jars of every colour... the pickle shops of Kadıköy.