Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir is the birthplace of Turkish delight as the world knows it — a confectioner founded in 1777 and run by the same family for seven generations. Its historic shop near the Spice Bazaar in Eminönü is a fragrant, glass-cabineted temple to lokum, and a genuine piece of living Istanbul history rather than a tourist trap.
The draw is the sweets: jewel-like Turkish delight in dozens of flavours — rose, pistachio, pomegranate, double-roasted — alongside akide boiled sweets, marzipan and helva, weighed out and boxed to take away. Hacı Bekir is credited with popularising modern lokum, so a box from here is about as authentic a sweet souvenir as Istanbul offers.
Local tip: Ask to taste before you buy — they are generous with samples — and mix your own box of flavours. The double-roasted pistachio (çifte kavrulmuş) is the connoisseur's pick, and it travels home beautifully.
Good to know
- Where: Hamidiye Cd., Eminönü, Fatih, Istanbul
- City: Istanbul