In the Turkish city of Istanbul, the humble kebab — a dish that dates back to the 11th century — is celebrated in a kaleidoscope of restaurants and small cafes where chefs serve it up in both traditional and inventive ways. Istanbul wasn’t much of a kebab city, but that changed rapidly after the second half of the 20th century, when migrants brought their grilled specialties with them.
Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn
With a population of 16 million in a colossal area of 2,000 square miles, there are enclaves representing numerous areas of Türkiye (Turkey) nestled throughout the country’s largest city, so the potential for discovering a vast array of authentic regional kebabs is practically endless here.
“Istanbul’s kebab culture as we know it today did not exist until as late as the 1990s,” says Cemre Torun, an Istanbul-based food writer, editor and academy chair of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. “Now the kebab scene involves ocakbasilari (grill houses that often serve alcohol) and kebab restaurants found in every neighborhood, offering a wide variety of dishes and catering to all segments and occasions. Obviously, there were kebab restaurants scattered around the city before then,” he adds. But they specialized in regional dishes, he says, mostly owned by families from cities like Urfa, Gaziantep or Adana, and southeastern Anatolia — the region known for its rich kebab culture. However, kebab restaurants were neither as widespread nor as branched out like they are today.
Kebab has been an integral part of culinary culture throughout Türkiye, the Caucasus, Iran, the Levant and the Arab world for centuries. The etymology is likely Persian, while saslik, a Turkic word, refers to the grilled skewers of meat popular throughout the former Soviet Union, where there are large populations of numerous Turkic ethnic groups. Outside of Türkiye, the first thing that comes to the minds of many when the subject of kebab is broached is döner, which originates from the Turkish verb dönmek, meaning to turn or revolve. Its Arab counterpart shawarma also comes from a Turkish verb çevirmek, meaning to turn over or rotate. Other cousins include Greece’s gyro and Mexico’s tacos al pastor.
Kebab vendor on the streets of Istanbul
DÖNER - THE MOST ICONIC KEBAB?
“Döner is technically a type of kebab, but it’s a category on its own. If you’re going to eat döner as a quick bite and you know what you’re doing, you have various favorite döner places in different neighborhoods around town,” says Cemre. “In Istanbul, you also eat döner at restaurants, making sure to go early in the day, lest they run out.
Another distinction is the usta (master). A döner master is different from the ocakbasi or kebap master.” Indeed, the döner you encounter in Istanbul and elsewhere in Türkiye is much different than what you’ll find in Germany or other parts of Europe, where large Turkish communities have made it one of the most popular fast-food items.
The döner in Türkiye, known as Yaprak döner, is made with fresh filets of beef and lamb that are assembled by hand to form a meat tower of sorts. After, the cuts are marinated for up to 48 hours, then slowly cooked while rotating, then cut and served on a plate over buttery rice or as a sandwich with sliced tomatoes and pickles, with no sauce. The European version is often composed of frozen, processed ground meat logs that come wrapped in plastic before being loaded onto the spit. Since the meat isn’t of the highest quality, it’s topped with numerous vegetables and up to three different aioli-style sauces, which has become the norm in Germany but is still anathema in Türkiye.
For most people here, kebab amounts to something kissed by the grill after being spiked with a skewer, or sis, which is where the term shish kebab comes from. This can be Adana, named after the city of Adana, from where the beloved kebab has its roots. It’s ideally made from lamb cut with a large mincing knife, known as a zirh. Tail fat is added to the mix, and the result is meat so juicy and tender that it practically falls apart when sliced with a fork and wrapped in a piece of fresh flatbread. There’s also ciger sis, morsels of grilled liver carefully separated and sliced into cubes before being pierced by the skewer, and tavuk sis, chunks of chicken breast or thigh marinated in olive oil, tomato paste and spices before being thrown over the flames.
Chicken Kebabs
ZÜBEYIR OCAKBASI - MASTERS OF GRILLED MEAT
These classics and more, including tarak, tantalizingly delicious lamb ribs, can be found at Zübeyir Ocakbasi, right in the heart of Istanbul’s Beyoglu district. This hotspot might be near many like-minded establishments, but it stands out as the best in its class. It’s a traditional grill house that offers ample indoor and outdoor seating but also adheres to the classic concept of the ocakbasi, where customers sit around the grill, watch the master flip the skewers over charcoal and even have a cordial chat with him as he works his magic.
“These days, there are ocakbasi restaurants that are sprawled over large spaces, but originally the idea came about because of a lack of space or funds to open a large-scale restaurant. It’s supposed to be intimate, both in space and feeling. Another distinction is that at the ocakbasi, the grill master is in interaction with those sitting by the grill. You expect to come out of the ocakbasi smelling like kebab and having shared the meal with other meat-lovers,” Cemre says. This is exactly what you can expect at Zübeyir, which serves some of the best kebab in Istanbul. It was opened just shy of 20 years ago by two brothers from Türkiye’s eastern province of Van, and the mezes served before the kebab arrives are specialties of their hometown.
Istanbul cafes
BASTA STREET FOOD DÜRÜM - ELEVATED KEBAB WRAPS
Chef Kaan Sakarya was a founder of Nicole, a Michelin-starred restaurant celebrated as one of the top fine-dining spots in Istanbul. The inspiration for his next project, a small street food bar called Basta, which serves elevated kebab wraps, came from his visits to Babel Ocakbasi. One night, after a long shift at the restaurant, Zübeyir was closed, so he and his team opted to step into Babel, which keeps the grill open until one or two in the morning.
“Once or twice a week, we went to relieve the stress from work at that kebab joint,” says Sakarya. “Somehow, we became regulars. At one point [at Nicole], we had this lamb brisket that was slow-cooked for 24 hours. We brought it there, had it placed on the grill, wrapped it in flatbread and began to eat it,” Sakarya explained. They quickly realized this would be the foundation for an excellent dürüm (kebab wrap) and that is where the inspiration for the Basta Street Food Bar — which opened in 2016 — originated. In no small part due to the reputation of Sakarya and his co-founder Derin Aribas, Basta quickly became renowned for its refined take on the dürüm. The menu features three options: a wrap of lamb rib cooked at a low temperature with paprika yogurt sauce, roasted onion, parsley, lettuce and harissa; one with smoked beef rib, honey and mustard mayo, lettuce, pickles and purple cabbage; and a vegetarian option made with hummus, roasted asparagus, cabbage, pumpkin and a mix of herbs.
Sarma beyti wrap at Mahir
MAHIR LOKANTASI - WHERE EVERYTHING IS GOOD
Mahir Lokantasi opened a decade ago in Istanbul’s Osmanbey district, a bustling area in the center of the city. Its namesake comes from owner Mahir Nazlican, who hails from the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, one of Türkiye’s most crucial kebab cities — particularly celebrated for its excellent grilled liver, often eaten for breakfast alongside fiery peppers. Mahir’s menu includes a number of home-style dishes and stews that come from regions all over Türkiye, and their ovens produce some of the best lahmacun (flatbread with minced meat and spices) in all of Istanbul. They also have a stellar kebab menu and, like Zübeyir, use only the highest-quality lamb and beef. My favorite is the Mardin kebabi, which comes from the province of the same name, next to Mahir’s hometown. It’s similar to Adana, but rather than pure lamb, they use a mix of lamb and beef that is, of course, sliced with a zirh. No machinery involved here.
Writer: Paul Benjamin Osterlund
