Gourmet Selection

According to Spain's denominación de origen rules and current regulations on jamón, the dry-cured jamón ibérico must be made from either pure breed Black Iberian pigs or cross-bred pigs at least 50% Black Iberian mixed only with Duroc pigs, the same restriction as required to keep official ibérico denomination on any Spanish pork meat product.

Jamón ibérico, especially the one labeled de bellota, has a smooth texture, rich, savoury taste, and regular marbling. The fat content is high

Jamón ibérico

The Kaburga Burger is a gastronomic delight that elevates the humble burger to gourmet status. Distinguished by its use of tender, flavorful rib meat (kaburga) instead of a standard ground beef patty, this burger offers a unique textural and taste experience. The rib meat is slow-cooked to perfection, allowing the fat to render and infuse the meat with a rich, smoky depth that is simply irresistible. Served on a toasted brioche bun that adds a subtle sweetness and crunch, the Kaburga Burger is often complemented by caramelized onions, a slice of sharp cheddar or smoked gouda, and a house-made sauce that balances the richness of the meat. Every bite is a journey through layers of savory goodness, made even better with fresh lettuce and ripe tomatoes that provide a refreshing contrast. Ideally paired with hand-cut fries or onion rings, this burger is a must-try for meat lovers seeking something beyond the ordinary. Its popularity has soared in recent years, becoming a staple in modern Turkish steakhouses and burger joints. Experience the melting tenderness of the rib meat combined with the classic comfort of a burger.

Kaburga Burger

Kalamar ekmek

Kalamar ızgara

Karışık pide means mixed pide: the house combination of several toppings on one boat of dough, usually kıyma (spiced minced meat), kuşbaşı (small diced meat), sucuk (dry-cured garlicky beef sausage) and kaşar cheese, sometimes finished with an egg. There is no fixed recipe, and that is the point. Each pide house decides its own mix, so the karışık on one board can differ from the next shop's by two or three ingredients. It belongs to the same Turkish tradition as the single-topping pides it borrows from: kıymalı for the mince, kuşbaşılı for the diced meat, sucuklu for the sausage, kaşarlı for the cheese. Because it carries the most meat, it is usually the most expensive open pide on the board after any house special, and it is the one to order when the table wants to judge a shop's whole range at once.

Three toppings with different cooking times share a five-to-seven-minute bake in a stone oven at 300°C or more, and the skill lies in preparing each one so they finish together. The kıyma is mixed with grated onion, tomato and green pepper, then squeezed or drained so its juice does not soak the dough. Kuşbaşı is cut small, around a centimetre, and many shops sauté it briefly first, because raw cubes of that size need longer than the dough can take. Sucuk is sliced thin so its fat renders and its edges crisp. The usual order is mince spread as a thin base layer, kaşar over it, then kuşbaşı and sucuk scattered on top where the heat is strongest. An egg, if used, goes on for the final minute so the yolk stays soft. After baking, the rim gets a brush of butter, as with any pide.

Look at the distribution before you taste. Every strip should carry each topping; a karışık that is a pile of mince with a few sucuk coins in the middle is a kıymalı pide sold at a higher price. The base takes more moisture than a cheese pide, so check it carefully: it should still be crisp and spotted underneath, not grey and floppy under the meat. The kuşbaşı should be tender and browned, not chewy grey pellets; the sucuk should be crisp at the edges, with its red fat soaked into the cheese rather than pooling on the paper. Seasoning has to hold together: sucuk is salty and the mince is spiced, so a heavy hand with salt on the rest tips the whole thing over. Ask what goes on the house karışık before rating it, because a shop that puts pastırma or kavurma in the mix is playing a different game from one that stops at mince and cheese.

Mixed Pide

Köfte ama üstüne kaşar serpiştirilir

Kaşarlı köfte

Kaşarlı pide is the Turkish oven flatbread in its plainest form: an oval of yeasted dough, its edges folded up into a boat, filled with grated kaşar cheese and baked in a stone oven until the cheese bubbles. Kaşar is a semi-hard yellow cheese made from cow's or sheep's milk, milder and more elastic than an aged cheddar. The Kars region in eastern Türkiye is known for the aged version, while pide shops usually use young (taze) kaşar because it melts evenly. Pide traditions are strongest along the Black Sea coast, in Samsun, Trabzon and Rize, and in Konya, but kaşarlı pide is on the board of almost every kebab and pide house in the country. The other variants are built on it: add diced meat and you have kuşbaşılı kaşarlı, add mushrooms and you have mantarlı kaşarlı, swap the kaşar for crumbly white cheese and it becomes peynirli pide.

The dough is wheat flour, water, yeast and salt, sometimes enriched with a little milk or oil, and it needs a proper rest so it stretches without tearing. It is rolled into a long oval about as thick as a coin, the cheese goes down the middle with a clear margin, and the long edges are folded over and pinched at both ends. The oven matters more than the recipe. A wood- or gas-fired stone floor at 300°C or more bakes a pide in five to seven minutes, which sets the crust before the cheese has time to split into oil. A domestic oven at 220°C takes three times as long and gives a paler, drier result. Straight out of the oven the rim is brushed with melted butter, and many shops crack an egg into the centre for the last minute if the customer asks.

Judge the base first. Lift a slice: it should hold flat, with brown spotting underneath and no pale, damp patch where the cheese sits. The rim should crackle and still be chewy inside. The cheese should be stretchy and slightly salty, with small browned blisters on top, not a pool of orange fat. The most common shortcut is cheap "pizza cheese" made with vegetable fat instead of real kaşar; it tastes flat, turns rubbery as it cools and leaves an oily sheen on the paper. A thin brush of butter after baking is expected; a drowned pide that soaks through the paper is not. Pide is cut into strips across the width and eaten by hand, and it should reach the table the minute it leaves the oven, because ten minutes on the pass is enough to make the crust leathery. Ayran or şalgam is the usual drink alongside.

Kashar Cheese Pide

Kaşarlı Tavuk Dürüm takes the classic chicken wrap to a cheesier level. It consists of marinated, grilled chicken slices (döner or shish) wrapped in a warm lavash or tortilla along with fresh salad, tomatoes, and onions. The key addition is melting kasar cheese, which adds a creamy, savory layer that binds the ingredients together. The heat from the chicken melts the cheese, creating a gooey, delicious bite. It is a popular fast-food choice, offering a complete meal in a convenient, portable package.

Cheesy Chicken Wrap

Kavurmalı kapalı pide is a closed Turkish pide: the yeasted dough is folded right over a filling of kavurma and sealed, so it bakes into a long, enclosed loaf that is cut into slices across the width. Kavurma is meat, usually beef or lamb, cut into cubes and cooked slowly in its own fat until the moisture has gone; in eastern and central Anatolia it was traditionally made in autumn and stored under its fat as a winter supply, known as kış kavurması. The closed format comes from the Black Sea tradition, where Bafra in Samsun province is best known for long, thin closed pides filled with mince or diced meat. Kavurma suits a closed pide better than an open one, because the meat is already cooked and dries out quickly in direct heat; sealed in dough, it reheats in its own fat. A version with kaşar cheese added is common on the same boards and is judged by the same standards.

Because the filling is already cooked, the bake is about the dough. The kavurma is chopped small, often mixed with a little onion softened in the same fat, sometimes with black pepper or pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes), and spread thinly along the centre of a rolled oval. The long sides are folded over until they meet or overlap, pressed to seal, and the ends pinched shut. A closed pide has two layers of dough over the filling, so it needs slightly longer in the stone oven than an open one, typically seven to ten minutes at around 300°C, until the top is evenly golden. Some bakers prick or score the top so steam can escape. As soon as it comes out, the top is brushed generously with butter, which soaks into the upper crust and gives a closed pide its shine. It is then cut into pieces about three fingers wide.

Cut into a piece and look at the cross-section. The dough should be thin on both sides of the filling, with the meat taking up most of the slice; a thick roll of bread with a stripe of meat inside is the commonest letdown. The inner layer of dough, where it touches the filling, is where undercooking shows: it should be cooked through, not gummy or doughy. The kavurma itself should be tender and moist, carrying the taste of its fat, not dry and stringy from being heated twice. It should not leak a pool of grease when cut; kavurma brings its own fat, and a baker who adds more makes the base soggy. Seams should hold, without blowouts where filling has burst through and burnt. Salt is the other check, because preserved kavurma is often heavily salted. Ayran is the usual partner, and pickled peppers on the side help cut the richness.

Closed Kavurma Pide

Kimchili katsu tavuk udon

Kiremitte et

Kıyma alinazik

Kıymalı kaşarlı kapalı pide is a closed Turkish pide filled with seasoned minced meat and kaşar cheese, the dough folded right over the filling and sealed so it bakes into a long loaf that is sliced across. Minced meat is the classic closed-pide filling: Bafra, in Samsun province on the Black Sea, is known for long, very thin closed pides of exactly this kind, and most closed pides served in kebab houses elsewhere follow that model. Adding kaşar, the semi-hard yellow cheese used on most Turkish pides, gives a filling that holds together and stretches when a slice is pulled apart. The difference from an open kıymalı kaşarlı pide is the cooking environment. On an open pide the mince browns and dries a little in direct heat; sealed in dough, it cooks in its own steam and stays juicier, and the cheese melts through it rather than sitting on top.

Unlike a kavurma filling, the mince goes in raw, so the whole bake has to cook it through. The meat, usually beef or a beef and lamb mix with around a fifth fat, is kneaded with grated onion that has been squeezed dry, finely chopped tomato and green pepper, parsley, salt, black pepper and pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes). It is spread in a thin, even layer of about half a centimetre along the centre of a rolled oval, grated kaşar goes on top, and the long sides are folded over, overlapped and pressed shut. The thin layer is the key: the stone oven, at around 300°C, has seven to ten minutes to cook both layers of dough and the meat inside, and a thick ridge of mince will still be raw in the middle when the crust is done. Butter goes over the top straight from the oven, and the loaf is cut into strips about three fingers wide.

Doneness is the first thing to check, and the one that matters most. Pull a slice apart: the meat should be cooked through, with no pink, cold or raw-looking core, while still being moist. Grey, crumbly mince that has released all its juice into the dough was overcooked or too lean. The cheese should be fully melted along the whole length and stretch between the two halves of a slice; cold or rubbery patches mean the filling was too thick or the oven too cool. As with any closed pide, the inner layer of dough where it meets the filling should be cooked, not gummy, and the bread-to-meat ratio should favour the meat. A pool of orange grease on the plate means fatty mince was not balanced with enough dough or onion. The filling should taste of onion, pepper and meat; one that is soft, bready and bland has been bulked out with bread or breadcrumbs. Pickled peppers and ayran are the usual company.

Closed Minced Meat and Kashar Cheese Pide

İnce hamur üzerine dana kıyması ile yapılan pizza benzeri Türk usulü yemek

Kıymalı pide

Kolla

Kuru Cacık

Kuşbaşılı kaşarlı pide

Kuşbaşılı Pide is a favorite among meat lovers in Turkey. 'Kuşbaşı' refers to small, bird-head-sized cubes of meat, typically lamb or beef. These tender morsels are sautéed with onions, peppers, and tomatoes before being spread generously onto the boat-shaped dough. The open-faced pie is then baked in a wood-fired oven until the crust is crisp and the meat is sizzling. The juice from the meat and vegetables soaks into the dough, making it incredibly flavorful. It is often served with a side of parsley and lemon to cut through the richness.

Diced Meat Pide

Kuşkonmaz

Kuzu çöp şiş is lamb cut into very small pieces, roughly the size of a fingertip, threaded tightly onto thin wooden skewers and grilled fast over charcoal. Çöp means twig or stick, after the thin skewers, and that is what separates it from ordinary kuzu şiş, which uses larger cubes on wide metal skewers. The dish is most strongly associated with the Aegean, Selçuk near İzmir in particular, and it is also served across the south and east of Türkiye, often ordered by the skewer and arriving as a stack of six or ten. The classic plate puts the skewers on thin lavaş or pide bread with grilled tomatoes and green peppers and a salad of sliced onion, parsley and sumac. Because each piece is so small, there is more charred surface per bite than in any other lamb kebab, and the fat between the pieces drips into the bread underneath.

The cut is usually leg or shoulder, with small pieces of tail fat (kuyruk yağı) or the meat's own fat threaded between the lean so that the skewer bastes itself. The meat is marinated for a few hours, commonly in grated onion juice, salt, black pepper and a little olive oil, sometimes with thyme or pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes); onion juice tenderises and seasons without making the meat sour. The pieces must be uniform so they cook at the same rate, and they are packed close together so the skewer cooks as one strip rather than as separate beads. Wooden skewers are soaked in water beforehand so they do not burn through. Over very hot charcoal, a skewer needs only three to four minutes, turned often. Salt is often added at the end, and the cooked skewers are laid straight onto the bread so it catches the juices.

Small pieces leave no room for error, so look at doneness first. The outside should be browned and charred at the edges while the inside stays pink and juicy; uniformly grey, dry pieces mean the skewers stayed on the grill too long or the fire was too cool. The fat pieces should be rendered and crisp, not white and chewy. Uneven cutting shows on the plate as some pieces burnt and others underdone on the same skewer. Tough, stringy meat points to the wrong cut or no marinade. The lamb should taste of lamb and smoke, with onion and pepper behind it; a heavy, pasty marinade that coats everything is covering for poor meat. A common shortcut is beef or mutton sold as lamb, which is darker and chewier. Check the bread underneath: it should be soaked with juices and fat, and the onion and sumac salad should be fresh and sharp, not drowned in oil.

Gourmet Selection

Jamón ibérico 1 review

Kaburga Burger 1 review

Kalamar ekmek 2 reviews

Kalamar ızgara 1 review

Mixed Pide

Kaşarlı köfte 1 review

Kashar Cheese Pide

Cheesy Chicken Wrap 1 review

Closed Kavurma Pide

Kimchili katsu tavuk udon 1 review

Kiremitte et 1 review

Kıyma alinazik 1 review

Closed Minced Meat and Kashar Cheese Pide

Kıymalı pide 1 review

Kolla 1 review

Kuru Cacık 1 review

Kuşbaşılı kaşarlı pide 1 review

Diced Meat Pide 5 reviews

Kuşkonmaz 1 review

Lamb Çöp Şiş

Jamón ibérico (1)1 review

Kaburga Burger (1)1 review

Kalamar ekmek (2)2 reviews

Kalamar ızgara (1)1 review

Mixed Pide

Kaşarlı köfte (1)1 review

Kashar Cheese Pide

Cheesy Chicken Wrap (1)1 review

Closed Kavurma Pide

Kimchili katsu tavuk udon (1)1 review

Kiremitte et (1)1 review

Kıyma alinazik (1)1 review

Closed Minced Meat and Kashar Cheese Pide

Kıymalı pide (1)1 review

Kolla (1)1 review

Kuru Cacık (1)1 review

Kuşbaşılı kaşarlı pide (1)1 review

Diced Meat Pide (5)5 reviews

Kuşkonmaz (1)1 review

Lamb Çöp Şiş

Jamón ibérico 1 review

Kaburga Burger 1 review

Kalamar ekmek 2 reviews

Kalamar ızgara 1 review

Kaşarlı köfte 1 review

Cheesy Chicken Wrap 1 review

Kimchili katsu tavuk udon 1 review

Kiremitte et 1 review

Kıyma alinazik 1 review

Kıymalı pide 1 review

Kolla 1 review

Kuru Cacık 1 review

Kuşbaşılı kaşarlı pide 1 review

Diced Meat Pide 5 reviews

Kuşkonmaz 1 review