Çiya Sofrası

Overview

In the market lanes of Kadıköy, between fishmongers and pickle shops, three restaurants share one short street and one name. Çiya started here in 1987 as a small kebab and lahmacun shop. Today, its sister, Çiya Sofrası, serves dishes that many Anatolian villages have forgotten, and they are worth the ferry ride across the Bosphorus. For a tasting walk, join our Kadıköy food tour.

The Story of Çiya Sofrası

Musa Dağdeviren was born in 1960 in Nizip, near Gaziantep, into a family of bakers. In 1987, he opened Çiya Kebap in the Kadıköy market and worked the kebab and lahmacun counter himself for years. At the same time, he collected recipes, and the menu grew from the usual forty or so kebabs to about a hundred.

Then, in 1998, he opened Çiya Sofrası a few doors away, as a “table of cultures”. A second kebab house followed in 2001, so today the three Çiyas stand about twenty meters apart on Güneşlibahçe Street. In 2018, Dağdeviren also appeared in the Netflix series Chef’s Table.

What to Eat at Çiya Sofrası

The menu changes with the seasons and the markets, so there is no fixed list to learn. Start at the counter, where the day’s dishes wait in trays: stuffed vegetables, stews with fruit, wild greens in olive oil, soups of yogurt and grain. For more meat-free dishes, see vegetarian food in Turkey. Point at a few, take a seat, and let them come to you.

Look out for the dishes you will not find elsewhere in Istanbul. In early summer, for example, Gaziantep’s cherry kebab appears, lamb meatballs cooked with sour cherries. Leave room, too, for the desserts, such as candied vegetables and fruits that change through the year: tomato in domates tatlısı, eggplant in patlıcan tatlısı, or bitter orange, turunç.

Caferağa and the Menu of the Day

The full address of Çiya Sofrası is Caferağa Mahallesi, Güneşlibahçe Sokak No. 43, in the heart of the Kadıköy market. It posts a menu of the day, and your guide tells you what waits at the counter before you cross the water. From the start in 1998, the aim has been to cook regional dishes that were disappearing even in their home regions, which is why the counter looks different every season.

Kebap or Sofrası?

The two kebab houses are the place for grilled meat, lahmacun and pide from the oven. Çiya Sofrası, at number 43, is the one for home cooking. With a group, you can eat at both: a lahmacun first, then a few plates from the Sofrası counter.

Our suggestion

Our Istanbul Asian side tour crosses to Kadıköy, so an early lunch at the Çiya Sofrası counter fits the day. Then walk down to Moda for tea by the sea.

How to Get to Çiya Sofrası

The easiest way is the ferry. Boats from Eminönü and Karaköy cross to Kadıköy in about twenty minutes. From the pier, walk into the market streets, and Güneşlibahçe Street is a few minutes away. Afterward, stroll down to the seaside park of Moda for tea. For more tables around the city, see our guide on where to eat in Istanbul, and if you would like a local to lead the way, try our food tours. On our food tours, your guide takes you to Çiya in the Kadıköy market.