The rich legacy and diverse flavours of Turkish cuisine — touched by Mediterranean, Central Asian and Iranian influences, among many others — is what many visitors most remember about calling into port in Turkey. After all, who could forget that first strong, yet layered taste of your first real Turkish coee or raising a delicate glass of the ubiquitous apple tea enjoyed almost everywhere? But if you try only one Turkish speciality in Istanbul, make it the country’s venerable and humble kebap (also called kebab). Perhaps Türkiye’s most legendary food export — and a favourite among late-night revellers in cities all over the world, where it roasts on vertical rotisseries as döner kebap everywhere from Manhattan to Berlin — kebap is Turkish for 'roasted.' The name refers to a dish of marinated meats cooked on a skewer, preferably over a charcoal grill. As you might expect in a country that brings as much to the table as Turkey, however, döner kebap — one version of the dish, made with lamb on a spit — only scratches the surface when it comes to the diverse kebaps you can sink your teeth into in the dish’s motherland. Read on for a few of the best ocakbaşı (grill side) restaurants across Istanbul’s lively neighbourhoods, from Ortaköy and Fatih to Taksim and Nişantaşı, and get ready to sample various styles of kebap in the city that knows them best. HARBI ADANA OCAKBAŞI For an inexpensive feast in Ortaköy, in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş neighbourhood (one of the city’s oldest barrios), Harbi Adana Ocakbaşı is known for its delicious Adana kebap . A speciality of the large southern Turkey city of Adana, it’s made from hand-minced ground lamb squeezed around a skewer and bears similarities to the Persian dish called kabab koobideh . Order a bottle of Turkish raki and settle in for a meal to remember.
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