Shredded kadayıf pastry packed above and below a layer of unsalted stretching cheese, baked or fired over charcoal until the outside is bronzed, then soaked in syrup and buried in pistachio.
Where to eat it: 6 restaurants across 2 cities.
Künefe belongs to the wider Levantine belt and Hatay claims the loudest version, but Gaziantep makes it its own with the pistachio and with the charcoal. Dessert rooms across Şehitkamil fire individual copper trays to order rather than reheating a large tray, so the cheese is still pulling when it reaches the table. It is eaten late: the künefe rooms of Pancarlı and Sarıgüllük run to one or two in the morning and treat the after-dinner crowd as their main service. Erçelebi finishes its kadayıf over coals, which gives a smokier edge than an oven ever does.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Nuts
Tip from the editors. Soak and dry the cheese properly. Salty or wet cheese either seasons the dessert wrongly or floods the pastry.
Künefe Han bakes cheese pastry until two in the morning in Şehitkamil, and Gaziantep treats a late künefe as a second dinner rather than dessert.
Try: Künefe
Tip: One tray between two. Order it at the table so the cheese is still stretching.
Cumba Künefe runs until two in the morning on Ali Nadi Ünler Bulvarı, serving the oversized Gaziantep künefe trays that families share after dinner.
Try: Künefe with pistachio
Tip: Add the ice cream rather than ordering a second tray. The portions are already large.
Erçelebi Kömürde Kadayıf fires kadayıf over charcoal until one in the morning in Sarıgüllük, so nothing here has been sitting on a tray for hours.
Try: Charcoal kadayıf
Tip: Expect a ten-minute wait. Nothing is pre-made, which is the reason to come.
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 queue: Pomegranate Turkish delight
Saray Muhallebicisi on Istiklal, the 1935 muhallebici keeping milk puddings, kazandibi and tavuk göğsü flowing for late Beyoğlu walkers until 02:00.
Try: Tavuk göğsü chicken-breast pudding
Karaköy Güllüoğlu, the 1949 baklava counter on Rıhtım still cutting pistachio baklava with a scoop of clotted cream until midnight for after-dinner Karaköy.
Try: Pistachio baklava with kaymak
More cities are in research. Want künefe covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.