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5.00am, first buzz, snooze. 5.15am again then jumped out of bed around 5.30am remembering why! I was on my way to Ali Haydar for morning liver kebab! How could I forget! I took a taxi and at 6.00am and one … Continue reading
Leban is the place to eat and drink in Antakya. Being the first and the best humus maker of Antakya, Semir Yoğurtçu and his family, a neighbourhood headman, opened this big restaurant, actually a very old Antioch house just across his very old but true gem mini humus and bakla place.
We were sent to the top floor, local people and tourists around us, the waiters running up and down the stairs, carrying big trays of food.
We ordered almost all the mezes on the menu and of course rakı. The ones that are outstanding were cevizli biber, humus, zeytin salatası, zahter salatası, abugannuş, patlıcan yoğurtlama, I think everything… The place is famous for its humus, I have to agree, it is the best I had in town. The humus is topped with home made pickles, tomato, pepper flakes and olive oil. But all the other mezes we ate, they are far more better than any other place in town.
Cevizli biber, walnuts with pepper, made from dried hot chilies soaked in water and pounded with walnuts, spices added, finished with tahin. The taste is robust, hot, nutty, rich and genius!
Zahter, is literally a kind of a thyme mostly grows on the outskirts of Antakya and zahter meaning thyme salad, filled with green onions, tomato, parsley, pomegranate molasses, olive oil and zahter itself, giving the salad a kinky flavor. It is very freshening after cevizli biber. Zeytin salatası, meaning olive salad made from the regional brine olives, spring onions, parsley, olive oil.
Prepare to eat pide, lots of it!
When we thought we could not eat any more, or could not get any better, the chicken amazes us with the marinated, soft, juicy taste. Yummy chicken thigh pieces skewered and grilled on the charcoal BBQ. We are in food heaven.
Sitting at the top floor, we were surrounded with beautiful view of Antakya, the rooftops, the mountains, not to mention we were facing the garden and the bell tower of the most peaceful church I have ever seen and been to, as the sun set down so we had the city in our hands, sharing table with the loved ones and enjoying the feast.
Life is good, even better when you are in Antakya and dining at Leban.
Address: Gazipaşa Cad. No:6, Antakya
Phone: (326) 213 4255
This place became one of our safest places. It is like an escape from that fancy, so called kebab restaurants that try to make us forget the real taste of food. Yusuf Usta himself is in charge of the food, the service, customer relations, well, everything.
Aligned on the long skewers, parted by tail fat, just grilled to perfection, moist and tasty lamb liver. When you have a bite, the nutty meaty taste surrounds you and then you throw a little piece crunchy tail fat in your mouth, the balance of the universe! Wrap them all in a pide and sprinkle some cumin on top, this as well, can go on forever.
The Adana kebab is made from lean veal meat and tail fat, minced with a special knife called zırk, by hand and pulled to skewers, a long, flat, well rounded minced meat. It is not very spicy, just mild, which is great because it is the meat you have to taste, not block our papilla’s with excess spices. Cooked medium-well, never dried out while grilling, just succulent!
The aubergine salad with hot peppers, ezme, and the legendary simmered onions – drizzle some pomegranate molasses on top- , the mini lahmacun and mini cheese pide, çiğköfte will keep your plates always full, and a freshly baked puffy pide to mop them up!
Eat, drink and be merry!
Address: Eminali Paşa Cad. No:65/3, Bostancı, Istanbul
Phone: (216)463 5136
Service Hours: Opens around 12:00pm and till the last customer leaves, 12:00-1:00am. Open everyday.
Şanlıurfa is famous with her liver kebabs. All around the city you see a lot of on-the-street-kebab corners. Open 24 hours, so there is always smoke in the city. Dedecan Ocakbaşı is a restaurant and a big one where all the locals eat and always full. There is a big fire pit, ocakbaşı -a big bbq-, inside and a very masterful chef, managing all the skewers with haste, all by himself.
The menu consists of liver, heart, kidney, lamb meat, chicken, all on skewers, and cooked on charcoal at the ocakbaşı. Cooked to perfection, grilled on the outside, moist inside.
The moment you chose your table, you are served a house special very spicy pepper salad with pomegranate molasses, a little tomato paste, just the right consistency to dunk your pide in. Also a big pile of red grilled very very hot-spicy local peppers. In Şanlıurfa they call pepper, isot by the way. Then your kebab arrives on a pide, and on a paper as a plate. You begin to feast yourself, wrapping the pide with all the ingredients on the table. Then you order more kebab and some more…
Delicious, simple, grilled, spicy!
Address: Kasaptaşı Parkı Yanı, 300 Evler çarşı içi No: 11, Şanlıurfa
Phone: (414) 315 2525
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A swoosh sound in the air, coming from the special knife called zırk, sliding front and back, on the well worn, literally beaten board, making mince meat form the veal and lamb. The hardest part. The movements mesmerize you. The woods are cracking under fire, getting ready for lunch service. This little local place is almost 90 years old and left from father to son.
There is only spicy and non spicy kebab on the menu. The soft, tasty, meat is pulled on the skewer and then grilled on the charcoal. Served on a pide bread, coming from the neighbour baker. Kebab is served with a simple salad, onions with sumac, and a traditional ayran in a bowl. Yes, in a bowl and you drink it with a spoon.
No need for fancy words, this place has it all.
Address: 1. Cadde No:203, Mardin
Phone: (482) 212 1744
