Little could be worse than being in a country like Turkey with no way to communicate your appetite and thirst. If the thickly ground coffee doesn’t get you going, try being surrounded by the smell of flaky börek or döner kebab all day with only your stilted English to lean on for survival. With just a few basic Turkish food words in your arsenal, you can navigate the delicious smells of Istanbul like a slightly more sophisticated tourist — and maybe even talk your way into a few menu items you normally wouldn’t know to order.
Here are a few essential Turkish food words you’ll want to study before your trip (or merely to round out your studies). Click each word below to hear how it’s pronounced.
Essential Turkish Food Words
Meal-Related Words
Starter — meze
Main course — ana yemek
Side dish — garnitür
Dessert — tatlı
Sunday breakfast* — pazar kahvaltısı
Lunch — öğle yemeği
Dinner — akşam yemeği
Vegetarian — vejetaryen
*”Sunday breakfast” is kind of like the Turkish version of “brunch” in the U.S. For regular breakfast, say kahvaltısı.
Food Words
To eat — yemek
Fruit — meyve
Potato — patates
Bread — ekmek
Cheese — peynir
Meat — et
Beef — sığır eti
Pork — domuz eti
Poultry — kümes hayvanları
Fish — balık
Seafood — deniz ürünleri
Drink Words
Drink — içecek
To drink — içmek
Mineral water — maden suyu
Tap water — musluk suyu
Soft drink — soğuk içecek
Juice — meyve suyu
Coffee — kahve
Milk — süt
Lemonade — limonata
Wine — şarap
Beer — bira
Tea — çay