Sheets of hand-rolled phyllo layered with crushed Antep pistachios, baked golden, then drenched in clear sugar syrup and cut into diamonds. Karaköy Güllüoğlu is the Istanbul reference counter.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Baklava as a layered phyllo dish reaches back to the Ottoman palace kitchens of Topkapı, with documented court versions in the 15th century. Karaköy Güllüoğlu, founded 1949 by Nadir Güllü's family from Gaziantep, set the modern Istanbul standard, with single-counter pistachio versions cut to order on Rıhtım Caddesi. Antep pistachios with their distinctive deep green colour are the canonical filling; cheaper rooms substitute walnut. The clear syrup is poured over the bake hot and absorbed slowly as the trays cool.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Nuts
Tip from the editors. The syrup must be cold over hot baklava, never the other way round; that is the only way the layers stay crisp under the sweetness.
Karaköy Güllüoğlu, the 1949 baklava counter on Rıhtım still cutting pistachio baklava with a scoop of clotted cream until midnight for after-dinner Karaköy.
TryPistachio baklava with kaymak
Hafız Mustafa 1864 on Hamidiye Caddesi, the original Sultan Abdülaziz-era confectioner still rolling lokum and laminated baklava in Eminönü over a 160-year.
Worth the queuePomegranate Turkish delight
More cities are in research. Want pistachio baklava covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.
