10 best spots for top 10 tastes

1- Get your classic Black Sea pide at Bafra

If you are hungry for something different, how about some unforgettable pide filled with ingredients such as kavurma, pastırma and ground beef? The most delicious pide for your time and money can be found at Bafra, a spot where the pide dough will practically melt in your mouth and where the servings are generous. You won’t regret your choices! There are so many varieties of pide here, including leek pide and “light” pide. Bafra now has three locations, with the first and original in Kadıköy Kızıltoprak. Bafra has been serving its wide range of pide to people from all over Turkey since 1981. When you head to the Bafra location in Esentepe, you will also be overcome by the wonderful decor chosen by Nimet abla and will have difficulty deciding which type of pide you are going to order. This restaurant is open seven days a week until 10:30 p.m., and we suggest that you don’t leave without tasting the one-meter-long Bafra pide. Tel: 0212 216 12 12. Pastırma pide: TL 14; kaşar cheese and ground beef pide: TL 11; kaşar and sucuk pide: TL 12; kaşar and pastırma pide: TL 14; and one portion of the closed-top long pide: TL 8.5 to 13.

2- Hacı Abdullah: the right address for incik kebab

Beyoğlu’s Hacı Abdullah restaurant has been a favorite for a century for anyone with a taste and love of classic dishes. This chic spot has also been popular among politicians and artists for a long time and is definitely a must for anyone headed to Beyoğlu. One of the most popular dishes served since 1881 is the famous incik kebab, made from eggplant and lamb. Interestingly, no new restaurant, no matter how popular, seems to be able to take over the throne occupied by Hacı Abdullah. If you find yourself in İstanbul, and more specifically in Beyoğlu, do yourself a favor and head to Hacı Abdullah and try their incik kebab. Tel: 0212 293 85 61. İncik kebab: TL 16

3- Sate your hunger with a Sur kebab from Sur Ocakbaşı

The famous “women’s bazaar” in Fatih is largely popular with people from the Siirt region of Turkey, and the mixed kebabs served up by brothers Ali, Ibrahim, Halil, Mehmet, Ismail and Mustafa Çubuk from Diyarbakır are wildly popular here. This is a restaurant constantly full of people who can’t wait to treat themselves and their stomachs to some of the best kebabs in İstanbul. If you don’t care nearly as much about decor as you do about taste, this restaurant is a place where you can head even at midnight to quell your pangs of hunger. And what’s more, the sheer variety of kebabs here will overwhelm you, in addition to the unforgettable tastes. Also notable when it comes to the desserts here is irmik helva. Another unique dessert you can try here is, as Mehmet Çubuk calls it, the “nemenin tatlısı.” Tel: 0212 533 80 88. Sur kebab: TL 16; nenemin tatlısı: TL 6.

4- Traditional Uzbeki pilav in Üsküdar

The Tarihi Buhara Özbekler tekkesi (historic Bukhara Uzbek dervish lodge) located in İstanbul’s Üsküdar district was a place where, during Ottoman times, Muslim dervishes who came from Central Asia to İstanbul would go. And for many years, guests here would be served traditional Uzbeki pilav, which is why Üsküdar’s Kanat restaurant (open since 1933) serves Uzbeki pilav, too, inherited as a tradition from the district’s local dervish lodge. This place has a range of unparalleled dishes. This special pilav is cooked and served seven days a week and is, of course, a favorite with customers. Tel: 0216 553 37 91. Uzbek pilav: TL 12.

5- Mıhlama is in a category of its own at Fasuli

This restaurant is one that has long been a favorite for those who love the white bean dish kurufasulye. But actually, Fasuli made its name for itself with the dish mıhlama. To make mıhlama, one mixes butter, Trabzon cheese and corn flour in a copper pan. But don’t think that this typical Black Sea dish is only eaten in Rize! In fact, this dish has become a favorite on the menus of many restaurants these days. The difference in the mıhlama you will eat at Fasuli, though, a spot owned, of course, by someone from the Black Sea, is one you won’t forget, starting with the delicious taste of the Trabzon string cheese used to make it. And the buttery smells also whet the appetite. Tel: 0212 243 65 80. Mıhlama: TL 6

6- İstanbul’s best lahana sarması is at Hasırlı

If you who adore Ottoman dishes and have a particular love for lahana sarması, or stuffed collard greens, head to the Hasırlı restaurant, where you won’t be disappointed. The stone oven-cooked lahana sarması here is simply magnificent. The level of flavor in this lahana sarması outdoes even Black Sea cooks, who are known to be the masters of this dish. Restaurant founder Ahmet Tuzlu didn’t neglect to add a prayer area and a play place for kids. This is a chic restaurant, too -- the perfect place to take your family -- and you will definitely have some trouble choosing a dish, though once again, our suggestion is lahana sarması. Tel: 0212 243 65 80

7- Taste Konya’s etli ekmeği at Ovalı

This restaurant is one that boasts cuisine with distinct and delicious tastes from Konya. One of the best dishes is “etli ekmeği,” or bread with meat. At Ovalı Konya Mutfağı, the meat bread is served up generously and will fill you up. It’s as though you could eat and eat and never finish! The meat bread seems to cover the table from one end to the other. So if you are wondering where you can find İstanbul’s best etli ekmeği, even though you are far from Konya, try Ovalı Konya Mutfağı. Tel: 0212 424 63 34

8- Looking for great beyti kebab? Head to Ankara!

When it comes to beyti kebab, it is often difficult to find a place that offers a good one. After all, it’s not so easy to claim to be the best at this delicious and masterful kebab. And when you do head out to eat kebabs, you sometimes have to think long and hard before actually ordering beyti kebab since there’s always a chance that what you are served might be something else. We traveled far and wide looking for the best beyti kebab we could find in İstanbul, but we had to head to Ankara, where a restaurant located not far from the prime minister’s home serves up delicious beyti as well as many other dishes right in the middle of Keçiören. The spot takes its name from Urfa’s Balıkgöl and is a meeting place for people who can agree -- if not on anything else -- that they love the beyti kebabs here. Balıklıgöl Restaurant, Tel: 0312 318 73 43. Beyti kebab: TL 19.

9- Kaburga dolma from Mehmet Usta

If you want to try some of the most delicious and light kaburga dolma, or stuffed ribs, you can find, there is no better place than from the hands of Mehmet Usta! Mehmet Usta takes personal interest in all his customers, and don’t worry, you don’t even have to head here with a group to get this unforgettable dish, for the kitchen offers single servings as well. Order some of the “iç pilavı,” or inner pilav, from inside the ribs. You can enjoy this dish every day from 12 p.m. until 11 p.m. Kaburgacı Mehmet Usta awaits those who want to try this heavy, serious meal cooked with a light hand. Tel: 0216 370 46 10. Single serving of kaburga dolma: TL 24.

10- They say one cup of Turkish coffee contains 40 years of memories!

After a great meal, one of the first things that many people want to taste is the familiar flavor of a mildly sugary Turkish coffee. And now this is a tradition that can be found in many restaurants, not just at home. In fact, there are some spots where people head simply to drink this coffee. For example, the Hacıbozanoğulları restaurant, where you can sip your traditionally made cup of delicious Turkish coffee (and experience your 40 years of memory too!) for just TL 3.