My top 10 savory bites in Istanbul with one interloper, followed by some other delicious bites. I owe pretty much everything in this list to
Culinary Backstreets.
Waraq enib from Saruja, a Syrian restaurant. Filled with spiced ground beef and rice and then stewed for hours in a lemony, garlicky beef broth, this is the dish I've thought about the most since my trip ended. Thoroughly addictive.
Yogurt with smoked dried tomatoes and walnuts from Zerze. I had a lot of excellent yogurt in Turkey and this dish was the best.
Avşar from Tarihi Paşahan Konağı. Büryan is lamb slow roasted for hours in and underground oven. They take the drippings from that and turn it into a delicious rich fatty spiced soup. I didn't love the büryan, which may have been entirely unseasoned and the tenderness of the meat alone wasn't enough to save it, but man was this soup good.
Karnıyarı from Tarihi Şahin Lokantası is a roasted eggplant stuffed with mincemeat, onions, and spices that was completed by cacık, a yogurt/cucumber/mint concoction that I kept eating long after the eggplant was done.
Antakya Mutfağı - Tepsi kebabi (sini kebabı in Arabic) is a well seasoned mix of beef and lamb from far southern Turkey where the 2023 earthquakes were.
Not in my top 10, but the hummus from Antakya Mutfağı was really excellent.
Kokoreç from Ozzie's 1968'Den Beri Kokoreç. Spit roasted lamb intestines that are grilled and covered in a mix of spices before serving. Tender crispy deliciousness that even people who don't think they'd like intestines would inhale.
Manti from Cihangir Manticisi are covered in a yogurt sauce, a spicy tomato sauce and a sumac-heavy seasoning. I didn't catch which Central Asian country the owners come from, but I'd like to find out and visit.
I wouldn't have guessed a warm yogurt-based soup could be delicious but the antep yuvalama from Mahir Lokantası, which also has meatballs and chickpeas, that it definitely can be.
The hünkar beğendi from Karaköy Lokantası has ridiculously tender lamb and a show-stopping mixture of mashed grilled eggplants, cheese and milk.
On the opposite end of the difficulty to cook spectrum but on the same end of the deliciousness one were the olive oil braised artichokes with a little dill and green onion.
Honorable Mention:
Şehzade Cağ Kebap - cag is the lamb only precursor to doner kebabs.
Cracker crust pizza? Nope, the lahmacun from Mahir Lokantası.
Ezo gelin (lentil soup with oregano and red pepper) and diyarbakir guvec (lamb, eggplant and tomato stew) from Ciya Sofrasi.
Kebabs from Saki Ocakbaşı Nevizade.