Meat and kebab places in Istanbul
33 meat and kebab places in Istanbul that we tried and liked. We went to every one and paid our own bill — no scores, no advertising.
10Fiko
First in Etiler and later in Yeniköy, Fiko has left its mark on the kebab scene for years — and now it's back with a brand-new, far smarter room. Fiko…
7Koska Köftecisi
In places where simplicity can't produce quality, plenty of restaurants try to reach for goodness through sophistication — yet simplicity is beautiful…
8Ispartalı 1937
Ispartalı 1937 is in Şişli and, as the name suggests, serves the flavours of Isparta. The şiş köfte served with soaked flatbread is very good, and the…
10Chef Erdal Adana Kebap
Chef Göktürk Erdal has been keeping his customers happy since 2016 with a quality he hasn't let slip. Serving under the slogan 'you don't go to Adana …
10Adana Ocakbaşı
Serving since 1978, Kurtuluş Adana Ocakbaşı has for years been in our eyes one of the best ocakbaşı restaurants in Istanbul. The room is small and rou…
10Alaf
Alaf may be our very favourite restaurant in Istanbul. We think Michelin did it a great injustice by not awarding a star. Alaf presents Yörük culture …
7Tatbak
Tatbak means our childhood and our youth. Very few restaurants in Turkey have run uninterrupted for more than sixty years; Tatbak is one of them. Serv…
9Önder Ocakbaşı
Önder Ocakbaşı, whose praises we've been hearing a great deal lately, more than deserves them. We ate one of the best Adana kebabs we've had in Istanb…
9Şeyhmus Kebap Salonu
Şeyhmuz Kebap Salonu in Çemberlitaş has been welcoming guests with a lunchtime service for nearly fifty years, since 1975. A long-standing favourite o…
10Ali Ocakbaşı
Ali Ocakbaşı, which we know from Karaköy, has created a very pleasant place in Kuruçeşme, right on the water inside Oligark. First of all, it has a wo…
10Sıralı Kebap
Sıralı Kebap's journey, which began in Antalya and continued in Ankara, has recently reached Etiler in Istanbul. We finally got the chance to try the …
10Tehroon
Iranian food is both close to ours and different from it. Among its many rice dishes, saffron rice is the best known. Tehroon in Maslak, with its Iran…
10Nazende
We finally got the chance to visit Nazende, whose praises we'd been hearing for a long time. With the slogan 'the neighbourhood restaurant that loves …
8Esentepe Köftecisi
In Tuzla, famous for its köfte, Esentepe Köftecisi was our choice for its quality. With fresh, good ingredients, cheerful and fast service and real fl…
10Kulu Büryan
In Istanbul, the first area that comes to mind for büryan kebab is Kadınlar Pazarı in Fatih. But there are good examples in other districts too. Kulu …
5Markus
Markus first showed its mastery of short rib at its shop inside the Maslak auto industrial estate. As its reputation spread, we started to see more of…
6Tütsü by Düvee
Tütsü by Düvee is an important address for meat lovers. Cooking meat from animals raised on its own farm for hours over oak, Tütsü pleased us with eve…
10Zübeyir Ocakbaşı
We're regulars at Zübeyir Ocakbaşı's Beyoğlu shop. We finally got the chance to try the Ataşehir branch we'd heard so much about. The meat quality is …
10Alaf
Alaf remains one of our very favourite places in Istanbul. Carrying nomadic Yörük cooking into the present, Alaf serves Anatolian flavours in a new re…
6Şehzade Erzurum Cağ Kebabı
Şehzade Cağ Kebap in Sirkeci has carried the flavour of Erzurum to Istanbul. Cooked over a wood fire, cağ kebab of this quality is hard to find even i…
10Markus To Go
The back garden of Boyner on Bağdat Caddesi has been turned into an oasis under the name Vertical İstanbul. This pleasant space, holding Markus, Nappo…
8Çamlık Ocakbaşı
On a cold, snowy day, the neighbourhood ocakbaşı is the right address. At Çamlık Ocakbaşı in Etiler we put ourselves in İzzet Usta's hands. With meze …
9Madam Niça
After Bozcaada, Madam Niça now also serves in Istanbul, on the terrace floor of the Artisan hotel in Gümüşsuyu. With a superb 270-degree view of the B…
10Günaydın Kebap
You don't often find chain restaurants on acıktım.be. Holding a standard usually means compromising on quality, so they rarely satisfy us. The Etiler …
7Emre Mermer Ocakbaşı
Emre Mermer, one of the first names that come to mind for steak in Turkey, has opened an ocakbaşı in Armutlu, where he started out, and it's become a …
4Necip Uludağ Kebapçısı
Staying open for fifty years in a city like Istanbul is no easy job. Necip Uludağ Kebapçısı has been welcoming guests on Bağdat Caddesi since 1972. Wi…
5Tike
Founded in 1998 and one of the first brands to spread kebab culture to a wide audience, Tike is renewing itself after a quiet period. We've tried the …
6Yıldız Konyalı
Yıldız Konyalı is a family business on Ortaklar Caddesi in Mecidiyeköy, serving examples of Konya cooking since 1995. We were very pleased with the fl…
6Birbiçer Ciğer
Ataşehir is an area offering a very wide range of options for eating. Birbiçer Ciğer scored positively with us for its accomplished grill, delicious e…
4Şeref Büryan
Without getting into the argument about whether büryan kebab originates in Siirt or Bitlis, you can find several different büryan options at the mostl…
9Antiochia Concept
We tried the large, airy new home of Antiochia, which has been serving from its small shop since 2008, and gave it full marks. Details on our website.…
Namlı Kebap
Time for a good lahmacun.…
7Alaf
Offal is life, and we have a particular love for places that bring new readings to it. Our new discovery, Alaf, has been open seven or eight days and …
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