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With excellent food and stylish ambience, this restaurant has won itself a place at the top of Mardin's dining scene. There is a mix of Western dishes such as steak and pasta, with Turkish standards and local specialities like kaburga (stuffed lamb) and kuz tandir (slow oven-cooked lamb). The meze dishes are also unusual regional specialities and very tasty. Local wine is available. Meals are served on a pleasant outdoor terrace in the evening and the vaulted stone rooms of an old house during the day.
1 Cadde Vali Adil Sok. 2, Mardin, Mardin, Turkey
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One of Mardin's best restaurants (known throughout Turkey) occupies a restored stone house with several terraces that provide spectacular views of the plain that unfolds below the town. Dishes served are authentic local ones, such as lamb braised in a tangy green plum sauce and kitel raha, layers of mince and chickpea dough. There is also a full spread of tantalizing cold and hot mezes, including tasty chickpea fritters and, owing to the Arab influence on Mardin, hummus and falafel. A locally made red wine is served traditionally, in metal bowls, although you can ask for a glass.
Birinci Cad. 517, Mardin, Mardin, 47000, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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Open since 1887, Imam Çağdaş is certainly doing something right, as the crowds that pack this restaurant in the bazaar district day and night will tell you. Besides top notch lahmucan (crispy stone baked dough topped with spiced minced meat), there's a small menu of standard kebabs such as ali nazik (minced-meat kebab served on a puree of roasted eggplant, garlic, and yogurt) and the sebzeli kebab, a skewer of grilled vegetables and lamb minced with garlic and parsley. The star however is the terrific syrupy baklava, so widely regarded as the best in the country that orders have regularly been received from Turkish presidents and from as far afield as Fidel Castro.
Uzun Çarşı 49, Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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Something of a local institution, Zekeriya Usta is not to be missed. Try the katmer, which is a sort of large folded pancake, and here it comes filled with crushed pistachio and kaymak (a type of clotted cream). Witnessing the team of master chefs at work is all part of the fun here, and they do it with a flourish for all to see, before cooking in a stone oven. Try skipping breakfast one day and head here instead for a filling brunch, or save it as a spot to savor a decadent dessert treat.
Körükcü Sok., Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey
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This charming, family-run restaurant is all dark wood and nostalgia, and is said to have been serving the same dishes since 1856. The specialty is buttery rice with either slow-cooked lamb or kuru fasülye (white beans in a tomato sauce). Accompany your meal with a frothy ayran (salty yogurt drink) or another house speciality: a sweet, refreshing drink made from sun-dried apricots.
Tophane Sok. 3, Trabzon, Trabzon, Turkey
Known For
- A local institution
- Closes at 6 pm
- Komposto, a juice made from sun-dried apricots
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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The word ocakbaşı means "by the hearth" and the emphasis here is on grilled meats: the usual kebabs, plus the Black Sea meatball specialty, akçaabat köfte. The kitchen also prepares some local stews, but usually only at lunchtime. Vegetarian options, including delicious fresh mezes, are also available.
Kazım Paşa Cad. 128, Kars, Kars, Turkey
Known For
- Delicious veggie mezes
- Ali nazik (kebab with eggplant in yogurt)
- Boiled lamb shank
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In good weather, the place to sit is the stone-lined terrace with wooden picnic tables that look over the mountains and the waterfall. The kitchen turns out trout and local dishes such as stuffed cabbage and turşu kavurması (roasted pickled vegetables), as well as meat options, and serves an open buffet breakfast every day.
Known For
- Fresh trout
- Local ingredients
- Traditional folk dance performances
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This little shop inside a spice bazaar is considered by many Turks nationwide to have the best baklava in the country. Run by a fifth-generation baklava maker, this humble store turns out a delicious version of the classic dessert, as well as other phyllo-and-nut-based sweets.
Elmacı Pazarı 4, Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun., No credit cards
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A warehouse built in 1909 for a tobacco merchant is now a spot for diners to enjoy their meals in either a large outdoor courtyard or the cool stone-vaulted chambers at the back. There are excellent mezes, quality incarnations of standard kebabs, and a good sampling of local dishes like smoky eggplant kebabs and fantastic yavulama (meatball-and-yogurt soup). This is not only one of the nicest places in town, but is also one of the few that serves alcohol.
Atatürk Bulvarı 119, about 1 km (½ mile) west of İstasyon Cad., Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey
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This busy, counter-serve spot is the place for pide (stone-baked dough with savory toppings). The kavurmalı version, topped with slow-cooked chunks of lamb is especially recommended or, if you can't decide go for the üçlü option, which has three toppings.
Uzun Sok. 4, Trabzon, Trabzon, Turkey
Known For
- Kavurmalı pide
- Sky-light in the seating area
- Casual, fast-food atmosphere
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An old Urfa stone house looks out over the city's citadel and the fish-pool complex. Sit on the terrace or in one of the several çardaks, small private rooms where you can recline on pillows. The food, the usual mix of kebabs and pides, is unexciting, but the location makes up for it and they have live local traditional music most nights.
Balıkgöl Cad. 40, Sanliurfa, Sanliurfa, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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You have to pass through a small door off one of Diybarbakır's narrow old city lanes to get to this simple restaurant in a restored historic stone home with a shaded courtyard—there's a sign but you may need to ask for directions. The small menu includes delicious sac tava, chunks of beef sautéed in a woklike pan with tomatoes and green peppers; it's served in the pan, with a mound of flatbread to soak up the tasty juices. This is also a pleasant spot to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea.
Diyarbakir, Diyarbakir, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards
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In an old stone building on the north side of Atatürk Alanı, Cemil Usta serves a mix of seafood and local dishes like akçaabat köfte (the local meatball specialty) and kuymak (fondue made of cheese and cornmeal). Grab a seat street-side or on the long balcony upstairs, which makes this a great spot for watching the square on a summer evening. The service is typically speedy, sometimes bordering on abrupt, but the free hazelnut baklava dessert provides an excuse to linger.
Atatürk Alanı 6, Trabzon, Trabzon, Turkey
Known For
- Fast service
- Local specialties
- Free hazlenut baklava for dessert
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This former hotel now operates as just a restaurant, specializing in the local nightlife experience known as Sıra Gecesi, which is as close as you're going to get to a big night out in Urfa. Re-creating a scene more often held in people's houses, guests take a seat on cushions and enjoy live music, dancing, and aabout eight courses of tasty local food including stuffed peppers, pistachio kebabs, and kunefe (a cheese-based dessert soaked in syrup). No alcohol is served.. The event is held every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for the fixed price of 65 TL.
Büyükyol Cad., Sanliurfa, Sanliurfa, Turkey
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This basic steam-table restaurant serves the usual menu of stews and casseroles but the owners have tried to add some class by hanging white lace curtains and putting pots of plastic yellow flowers on the walls—your call if it's classy or tacky. Either way, the food is tasty, the staff is friendly, and the location, down the street from the Mor Barsaumo church, makes this one of the few decent options near Midyat's old town.
Karakol Karş 52, Midyat, Mardin, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No credit cards
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Tucked away down the street from the bustling produce market, this pleasant find may not have the sweeping views of some other restaurants in the area, but it benefits from a much more intimate feel. Enjoy a glass of local wine on its terrace or for a fixed priced of 40 TL, and try one of the many regional dishes in its two indoor chambers.
Mut 104 Sok., Mardin, Mardin, Turkey
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This restaurant does exactly what its name suggests: serves up tasty döner kebabs, pide topped with the usual range of meat and cheese, and crispy lahmacun (baked dough topped with ground meat, fresh parsley, and a squeeze of lemon). Try a mercimek (lentil) soup to start (ask for az porsiyon to get a small bowl).
Kazım Paşa Cad. No. 87, Kars, Kars, Turkey
Known For
- Good, inexpensive option
- Cheerful atmosphere
- Popular with locals
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There's no menu here at Fevzi Hoca, Trabzon's most serious seafood restaurant; you'll simply be shown the fish available and you choose how you want your order to be cooked. The restaurant is decorated with photos of famous Turks dining on the premises, a hint of just how popular it is. Non-fish eaters can order the delicious akçaabat köfte (meatballs).
Salacık Mahallesi 61300, Trabzon, Trabzon, Turkey
Known For
- Hamsi (anchovies) when in season
- Perenially popular
- Akçaabat köfte (meatballs) for non-fish eaters
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This pebbly lakeside beach set with plastic tables is a good spot for lunch or dinner after a visit to Akdamar. The food, which includes local dishes such as kebabs and trout baked in a terra-cotta dish, is delicious, and afterwards you can swim off the rocks and use one of the showers.
Van-Tatvan Karayolu Km 40, Gevas, Van, Turkey
Known For
- Baked trout
- Grilled chicken wings
- Lakeside swimming
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Two blocks behind the Zeugma Museum, hidden away in a quiet neighborhood, is this Gaziantep institution. While you shouldn't expect a serene dining experience (it can get pretty noisy and crowded), it's surprisingly simple and as the photos on the wall demonstrate, anyone who's anyone in Turkey has eaten here. There's no menu, but the antep (pistachio) kebabs are what it's most famous for, though you should also sample their unbelievably tender kuşleme (marinated cubes of lamb). Note that it's only open for lunch.
Tekel Cad. and Öcükoğlu Sokak, Gaziantep, Gaziantep, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner
