Yigit Sofram Istanbul Best Breakfast Spot

Heading out early in the morning and exploring for breakfast spots is possibly one of my most favourite things to do when travelling abroad. During our 10-day trip to Istanbul back in March, I’ve had some ups and downs when it comes to the city’s food scene. But one thing for sure is that I’ve discovered some nice breakfasts and Yigit Sofram is definitely one that impressed me the most.

On the day of visiting, it was heavily snowing through the night and the roads were rather ridiculously slippery. Istanbul is a city built on seven hills and that means you get some pretty steep slopes to climb to reach certain places – including me trying to reach Yigit Sofram, which is located on a slope in Beyoglu, from the bottom at Karakoy seaside. Luckily, a very kind taxi driver offered me a free ride up the slope when he found me struggling. Though attempting my walk downhills afterwards was a complete different story! Anyhow, the breakfast was worth all the effort. If I were to visit Istanbul again, it’s a place I’d definitely pop by again.

Yigit Sofram: Turkish Breakfast Spread of Dreams

Walking in, I really enjoyed the simple but bright interiors, with a cozy vibe to it. There are both travellers and locals alike hanging around the restaurant. Many were just chilling with a massive breakfast spread in front of them and sipping cup after cup of Turkish teas. It’s definitely a vibe I could get used to!

Yigit Sofram’s menu comes with either a huge Turkish breakfast spread to share or a “mini breakfast” for one. You get to choose your main dish and the breakfast comes along with a couple of breakfast mezze as well as Turkish tea. For main dish, you can choose from the likes of Turkish menemen, omelettes, halloumi breakfast, or various eggs combos. All of them will come with a side of tomatoes & olives, Turkish cheese, bread, their homemade bazlama bread, and jam. In addition to the breakfast sets, they also offer a range of gozleme flavours and additional side dishes.

The Food: What I Ordered

Hot Milk with Honey (TLR 12)

If I had known the breakfast set comes with Turkish Tea anyway, I probably wouldn’t have ordered another drink. But then I would’ve missed out on discovering this fantastic combo of warm milk with honey (yes, I’m probably rather late to the party)!

It honestly doesn’t get more homely than this. Obviously, it gets quite sweet but it’s very nice and doesn’t get sickening. Perhaps a little bit less honey for my own personal preference but I thoroughly enjoyed every sip of it. It was really warming too, which was perfect for the brutally frosty weather during the time of my visit.

Sujuk Menemen Mini Breakfast (TLR 55) / Sujuk Eggs Breakfast (TLR 49)

I was rather confused to start with as I known Turkish Menemen is supposed to come with that signature reddish colour as it’s meant to be eggs scrambled with tomatoes and pepper. However, I came to realise that there was probably a mix up and they served me the Turkish Sausages Eggs Breakfast ainstead. I didn’t question much at that moment and, to be fair, all is good especially when I got a taste of it and the dish had hit the spot for me.

The sujuk (Turkish sausage) offered a strong savoury edge to the dish, which was such a refreshing surprise to the palate after many bland dishes from the first few days in Istanbul. I really liked the two runny yolks on top, which was simply delightful and I thoroughly enjoyed dipping my bread into them.

As mentioned above, the “mini breakfast” includes a couple of breakfast mezze such as tomatoes & olives, Turkish cheese, bread and jam. Regular bread slices aside, they also offer their signature homemade Bazlama bread, i.e. Turkish flatbread, which was definitely the highlight for me. It was so incredibly soft, fluffy, and simply an excellent munch. I enjoyed it a lot with the accompanying jam as well as dipping it into my eggs – either way it’s such a moreish treat!

In true Turkish fashion, the breakfast is finished with a glass of Turkish tea. The tea was not too strong to taste and was just right for me.

Yigit Sofram Restaurant Review Summary

As already mentioned at the beginning of this post, I loved my breakfast at Yigit Sofram and would happily come again. In fact, I was planning to take my other half to join me for brunch on our final day in Istanbul and to show him this place. However, the weather got really bad and we thought it’s best to stay somewhere local instead of attempting any hilly walks in the slippery snow.

Anyhow, I’m sure there will be a next time and, if you’re planning to visit Istanbul any time soon, I’d highly recommend you visiting Yigit Sofram for breakfast/brunch. It’s the very first restaurant I listed on my Istanbul Best Food & Restaurants guide so you can tell I genuinely enjoyed this a lot!