Moda: A Lovely Place to Spend a Sunday in Istanbul
If your ideal weekend in Istanbul means a slow start, a ferry ride, and long glasses of tea, moda istanbul breakfast cats and tea is a very real and very enjoyable plan. Wake up, collect yourself, and go out without having breakfast. The destination is Moda. If you are coming from other districts on the Anatolian side, you may prefer a dolmuş, bus, private car, or taxi. If you are coming from the European side and do not want to deal with traffic, the best way is to take a ferry. A morning ferry ride is part of the pleasure, and you can check current routes on Şehir Hatları.
After you get off the ferry or dolmuş, you may take a taxi-dolmuş near Bostancı dolmuş station, or simply walk to Moda. As you go, head toward the tea gardens on Moda Avenue. There are three places where you can pick up a delicious breakfast. One is Elif Patisserie, just opposite Cem Street, a place often remembered for homemade savory pastries. Another is Moda Kup, next to Ali Usta Ice-cream Seller, where the variety can make choosing difficult. A third option is Eyfel Patisserie, on the left toward Moda Cape; it has a nostalgic feel and was known for affordable prices, though it is always wise to check current menus and prices on site.
After getting your food, it is time to get the newspapers. Sunday enjoyment feels complete with a newspaper as company. Buy one before reaching the tea garden, because there is nowhere there to get one. Then walk down Ferit Tek Street, where Dodo, Kırıntı, Casa D'Moda and Guvert Cafe line the right side, while Sedef Cafe and Şütte are on the left. This path takes you to Moda Tea Garden. If you want to continue your day on the water after tea, you might also look at a trip to the Princes' Islands.
Moda Istanbul Breakfast Cats and Tea at the Tea Garden
When you enter the tea garden, one of the first things that catches your eye is the giant plane tree with a trunk covered in ivy. Once you pass it, you may meet Rambo, a vaccinated street dog and one of the regulars of the tea garden, usually lying in the same spot for hours. Istanbul is famous for its large street-animal population, and a great many cats seem to gather here. Rambo gets along with them very well. They rest calmly near one another, and you should not be surprised if a cat suddenly sits on the chair next to you, or even falls asleep on your lap.
These well-fed, tame cats sometimes want to share your breakfast too. If you are a cat lover, that may become part of the experience. Find a table under the big parasols and settle in. At some point you may hear a voice calling out, “Evvet efenim çaylar! Çay isteyen var mı?” That is likely Brother Ramazan, bringing out fresh tea. He is one of the long-time veterans of the place, and his jokes while serving tea or reckoning the bill are part of the charm.
One thing to remember: your tea may not arrive the moment you order it. Tea is steeped, poured into many glasses at once, and then distributed among tables, so some waiting is normal. There is no need to press the staff. After tea comes newspaper time. If you forgot to buy one, do not worry too much. You can often find daily newspapers left behind by other visitors, usually on a chair next to the soft-drink cupboard. You may borrow one as long as you return it after reading. You can leave yours there too, though the habit is accepted more quietly than enthusiastically.
Old-Style Bill and Old-School Habits
The best-known quality of Moda Tea Garden, open in both winter and summer for many years, is its artisan tradition and warmth. The billing system is still old-fashioned. Usually there is no written bill listing everything you ate or drank. Instead, the glasses and plates on the table are counted and that becomes the bill. After you have been here once or twice, you start to notice another local custom: the employees remember frequent customers and their preferences, often bringing tea or coffee almost before an order is spoken.
And “coffee” here means Turkish coffee. If you ask for Nescafe, the answer is simple: you cannot find it here. Turkish coffee, whether plain, slightly sweet, medium, or sweet, is the coffee of the place. Even small details feel traditional. Watch the staff describe orders to each other with signs instead of many words.
If you smoke, do not look for ashtrays. Because the area is large, ashtrays are not practical to clean and manage everywhere, so cigarette stubs are often thrown to the ground and swept up at closing. You may also play Okey, backgammon, or cards at Moda Tea Garden, but only in the indoor section. Game sets are not allowed outside. In winter, that indoor area gets especially crowded. The wood stove and the green, sweet-smelling basil on the tables are among its constants.
Frequenters of the Place
Moda is known as a nostalgic district, and that feeling extends beyond the streets and houses to the people who spend time here. You hear it in conversations, notice it in faces, and feel it in the overall atmosphere of Moda Tea Garden. If you do not like crowds, the best time to come is from morning until noon, on either weekdays or weekends. In the evening it can become so crowded that the old Turkish saying about a place being so packed “even a needle cannot fall” comes to mind.
Whether crowded or not, some faces appear again and again. The original character of this place is shaped by its regulars: familiar actors, musicians, professors, old Istanbulites, families with children, and long-time tea drinkers who seem almost inseparable from their chairs. There is also the young man selling simit from his carefully kept cart. Many people buy bagels from him for that classic bagel-and-tea pleasure. He recently started offering cheese and olive paste alongside the simit. You order from him and sit down, and depending on how busy he is, he brings fresh bagels to your table in several minutes. Throughout the day, some of those bagels are also shared with pigeons, sparrows, and doves.
Like the simit seller, the kokoreç seller is another veteran of the place. Sometimes he gets so busy that he cannot serve everyone at once, but he is very much part of the routine of the tea garden.
Continuous Sightseeing by the Sea
When you sit here, especially in spring, there is almost always something to watch. You may see sailboats heading out from Moda Sailing Club, touring boats, ferries coming and going, and sea buses crossing the water. Ferries to and from the Princes' Islands are part of the moving scenery. It is also an excellent place to watch the calm sea and the shifting colors of the sky at sunset before the fluorescent lamps come on.
When the air is clear and the stars rise, the moonlight over the water adds another layer to the view. Moda remains lively at these hours too. In the area just in front of the tea garden, you may find handmade ornaments, kitchen equipment, and incense for sale. Families leave their children to play at Moda Park, only a few meters away, while they enjoy tea and conversation. If you are comparing sides of the city, this slower rhythm offers a very different mood from places like Taksim Square.
Even in winter, when rain arrives, the regulars do not really leave. Most tables are set aside except for a few near the entrance, the parasols are removed against the wind, and the stove is lit indoors. It becomes a pleasure to drink tea, talk about life and country affairs, play games, and watch the rain and clouds. According to the original routine described here, the tea garden opens around 08:00-08:30 in the morning and closes about midnight, though it is best to confirm current hours locally or through up-to-date transport and area information such as Metro İstanbul.
You understand the closing signal when the lamps flicker a few times. It does not exactly mean “leave now.” It is more a call for the bills. Glasses are collected, the ground is swept, garbage is gathered, soft drinks are placed in the cooler for the next day, and the coffee pots are shut off. The lamps go dark, but the feeling of the place lingers. It is up to you whether to go home, continue toward the shoreline, or sit a little longer with the attractive gloom of the night. Everybody leaves, but the conversations seem to remain.
If your Sunday in Kadıköy turns into a wider city day, Istanbul's better-known landmarks on the historic peninsula, such as Hagia Sophia, make an interesting contrast to Moda's local and leisurely character.
