Tarihi Eminönü Balık Ekmek

The three royal-blue, wooden boats docked against the concrete pier at Eminönü sway with the current of the Golden Horn. These floating kitchens serve grilled mackerel fillets tucked into crusty loaves of bread, topped with nothing more than raw onions and a squeeze of lemon. For decades, the boats provided a quick, hot meal for laborers working the nearby spice markets. Today, the vendors grill hundreds of fish every hour, their charcoal smoke clouding the air throughout the busy afternoon.