Best Baklava in Istanbul: Beyond Karaköy Güllüoğlu
Best baklava in Istanbul, beyond the obvious answer
If you ask three different Istanbul food writers where to get baklava, two will say Karaköy Güllüoğlu and the third will say Hafız Mustafa 1864. Both are good. Karaköy Güllüoğlu in particular makes a respectable fıstıklı (pistachio) baklava and the Karaköy shop has been doing it since the 1940s. We don't have a problem with either place.
But they are also the two names every visitor already knows, and after a few trips most people start asking the more interesting question: where else.
Baklava in Istanbul comes in more variations than the pistachio square most travellers know. There's cevizli (walnut), which is the older and more common version in Turkish homes. There's kuru baklava, drier and less syrupy, made to last longer. There's sütlü nuriye, the milky version layered with a thin milk soak instead of pure syrup, less sweet, easier to eat two pieces of. And there's şöbiyet, a triangle shape stuffed with a thicker cream and pistachio mix. A good shop will have all of these in the case. A tourist-trap shop will have a wall of identical pistachio squares and not much else.
Köşkeroğlu in Aksaray (and the Kapalı Çarşı branch)
Köşkeroğlu is a Gaziantep family that opened in Istanbul decades ago and still bakes daily. The pistachio comes from Antep proper, which matters more than people think (the local pistachios are smaller, greener, and more aromatic than the Iranian ones most cheaper shops use). A box of mixed baklava runs around 600-800 lira per kilo in 2026, depending on the nut. Order the şöbiyet if you want to know what good baklava actually tastes like.
Kapalı Çarşı→Bekiroğulları in Eminönü, near the Mısır Çarşısı
Bekiroğulları is a smaller operation and gets a fraction of the foot traffic of the big names two streets over. They do a particularly good cevizli baklava, which is the version most Turkish grandmothers actually prefer over pistachio. If you've only ever had pistachio baklava, walnut is worth trying once. The texture is denser, the flavour rounder. A 250-gram box is around 200 lira.
Mısır Çarşısı→Emiroğlu in Kadıköy
On the Asian side, Emiroğlu is the answer to "where do people who live in Kadıköy buy baklava for guests." It's near the market, easy to find, and the sütlü nuriye is what we'd send you for. Less sweet, lighter, and you can eat it after a heavy dinner without feeling assaulted. Take the ferry from Eminönü or Karaköy, walk ten minutes inland, and you're there.
Çiya Sofrası→One note on the lokum-and-baklava combination
A question that comes up often: where to buy good lokum (Turkish delight) and good baklava in one stop. Hafız Mustafa 1864 does both under one roof and is reliable for both, even if the prices reflect the location. Köşkeroğlu also stocks lokum from a partner producer that's better than what most tourist shops sell. If you're buying gifts to take home, doing both at one shop saves a stop and the lokum keeps for weeks at room temperature.
A few practical things
Baklava is best eaten the day it's made. The syrup keeps the layers soft for a day or two, then the pastry starts to go. If you're flying home, ask for kuru baklava specifically. It's made to travel, lasts a week or more, and survives a suitcase. A 500-gram box is usually enough for four or five people to share once.
Skip the airport baklava shops. The prices are double and the freshness is worse.
