Vefa Bozacısı

The Strangest Glass in the City

3.5 of 5

Vefa Bozacısı has been serving boza since 1876. Boza is a thick, lightly sour, lightly sweet drink made from fermented grain, and nobody gives it a fair first reading. Culinary Backstreets titled its piece on the shop Strange Brew, which is about right. You do not order it because it is delicious in the way a cake is. You order it because you are tasting Istanbul at its oldest.

The shop sits on Vefa Caddesi in the Fatih district, a short trip from the main sights and a good excuse to leave them. One source lists hours of 8 in the morning to noon, so check before a special trip. Boza is a winter drink in Turkey, so go on a cold morning and drink it as locals do.

Take it as a small, odd, cheap, and very old piece of the city's history. If the first sip puzzles you, that is fine. Have a second. A hundred and fifty years of customers cannot all be wrong, and the ones who came back were not wrong about the second sip.

Order this: Boza, Leblebi (roasted chickpeas) on top, if offered
The damage: ₺
Go: Winter mornings, when boza belongs
Find it: Molla Hüsrev Mah., Vefa Cad. No:66, Fatih, Istanbul 34134