Mandabatmaz (Turkish coffee)

Mandabatmaz

Turkish coffee with foam thick enough to 'hold up a water buffalo'

Budget

70 lira a cup (2025)

Address

Olivya Geçidi 1/A, a passage off İstiklal Avenue

The name means 'the water buffalo won't sink': a brag about how thick the foam is. Turn off İstiklal into a narrow passage and low stools line the alley, each one holding someone with a tiny cup. Turkish coffee brewed from beans they roast themselves is more or less the whole menu; they also sell beans and souvenir cups. A single was 70 lira and a double 120 in May 2025.