Top Turkish restaurants in Turkey

Turk Fatih Tutak ★ 4.9

Two Michelin stars, a Green Star and a 12-course seasonal tasting menu of chef Fatih Tutak's reworked Anatolian cooking, served to 30 guests a night in Şişli.

İmam Çağdaş ★ 4.8

İmam Çağdaş has cooked kebab and rolled its own baklava on Uzun Çarşı in Gaziantep since 1887, and the founding family still works both counters.

OrderAli Nazik, then a plate of havuç dilimi baklava from the same counter.

TipSit upstairs, order the Ali Nazik, and buy baklava on the way out rather than eating it at the table.

İmam Çağdaş ★ 4.8

İmam Çağdaş is the benchmark kebab house of Gaziantep, running since 1887 and still judged on its Ali Nazik and on its havuç dilimi baklava tray.

OrderAli Nazik and a plate of havuç dilimi to finish.

TipPrices sit above the bazaar average. That is the trade for the address and the age of the kitchen.

Çiya Sofrası ★ 4.8

Chef Musa Dağdeviren's culinary-anthropology lokanta in Kadıköy market, plating regional Turkish dishes drawn from his fieldwork since 1998.

OrderKebap of the day, Forgotten Anatolian stews, Vegetarian dolma

Neolokal ★ 4.8

Chef Maksut Aşkar's Michelin-starred kitchen inside SALT Galata, reviving forgotten Anatolian ingredients on a tasting menu that won the 2026 Michelin.

Metanet Lokantası ★ 4.7

Metanet Lokantası in Gaziantep opens at 05:00 and sells beyran until the pot runs dry, which is why locals queue before the bazaar wakes up.

OrderBeyran, the lamb and rice broth the kitchen has simmered overnight.

TipGet there before 09:00. The beyran is gone by early afternoon and the kitchen will not make a second batch.

Karaköy Güllüoğlu ★ 4.7

Karaköy Güllüoğlu has rolled phyllo baklava since 1949 at one Rıhtım Caddesi counter near Galataport, Nadir Güllü's pistachio version the canonical Istanbul.

OrderFıstıklı baklava, Şöbiyet, Kadayıf

Mikla ★ 4.7

Mehmet Gürs's rooftop room at the Marmara Pera, holding a Michelin star and a Gault Millau ranking on its New Anatolian Kitchen across a Golden Horn skyline.

Kebapçı Halil Usta ★ 4.6

Kebapçı Halil Usta grills küşleme over charcoal in Şehitkamil, and the Gaziantep lunch crowd empties the tenderloin allocation most days by 15:00.

OrderKüşleme, the unmarinated lamb tenderloin grilled over charcoal.

TipClosed Sundays and shuts mid-evening. Book the terrace if you want the cooler upstairs tables in summer.

Kebapçı Halil Usta ★ 4.6

Kebapçı Halil Usta charges fine-dining money for one thing in Gaziantep, küşleme, and shuts the grill once the day's lamb tenderloin has gone.

OrderKüşleme, ordered by weight rather than by portion.

TipArrive by 12:30. The tenderloin allocation is the whole business and it does not last.

Araka ★ 4.6

Chef Zeynep Pınar Taşdemir's one-star Yeniköy room, a vegetable-led modern Turkish kitchen on a cobbled lane behind the upper Bosphorus marina.

Yeni Lokanta ★ 4.6

Civan Er's first Istanbul kitchen, off Istiklal in Beyoğlu since 2013, doing wood-oven Anatolian plates and a long-running 50 Best Discovery listing.

Çulcuoğlu Et Lokantası ★ 4.5

Çulcuoğlu Et Lokantası sits at the exit of the coppersmiths' bazaar in Gaziantep, opposite the Suriye Pasajı, and the family has run it since the 1920s.

OrderPatlıcan kebabı with firik pilav, the smoked green-wheat rice.

TipThere is often no printed menu. Ask what the grill has and let the waiter build the order for you.

Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi ★ 4.5

The municipal Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi in Gaziantep cooks a weekly changing set menu of regional pot dishes and runs workshops in the same building.

OrderThe weekly set menu, built around geographical-indication ingredients.

TipWalk in for lunch without a reservation, but book by phone if you want a place on a workshop.

Çulcuoğlu Et Lokantası ★ 4.5

Çulcuoğlu Et Lokantası is the esnaf lokanta of the Gaziantep bazaar, serving kebab, pide and bottomless soup to coppersmiths and shoppers alike.

OrderKuşbaşı kebab with firik pilav and the free soup refill.

TipComplimentary fruit and soup arrive unasked. Do not over-order the starters.

Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi ★ 4.5

Mutfak Sanatları Merkezi is the Gaziantep municipality's culinary centre, cooking a weekly set menu from geographical-indication regional produce.

OrderThe set menu, which changes with what the region is harvesting.

TipThe building also runs cookery workshops, so the dining room can be busy with course groups.

Antiochia ★ 4.5

Antiochia in Asmalımescit cooks the kebabs and mezze of Antakya, Turkey's Levant border city, on a tight Beyoğlu side-street menu of southeastern grills.

OrderCiğer kebap, Künefe, Hatay-style hummus

Apartıman Yeniköy ★ 4.5

Chef Burçak Kazdal's Michelin-listed Bosphorus bistro in Yeniköy, mixing Mediterranean verve with Middle Eastern spice and an orange-wine-heavy Turkish.

Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı ★ 4.4

Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı cooks the home dishes the kebab houses skip, from yuvalama to alaca çorba, a short walk downhill from Gaziantep Castle.

OrderYuvalama, the yoghurt and chickpea soup Gaziantep eats at feast time.

TipHalf portions are available, which is the way to taste four regional dishes in one sitting.

Bayazhan ★ 4.4

Bayazhan pours rakı and grills küşleme inside a Silk Road caravanserai on Atatürk Bulvarı, one of the few licensed rooms in central Gaziantep.

OrderKüşleme, which the kitchen portions in limited numbers each night.

TipThe upstairs meyhane runs live fasıl music. Reserve the küşleme when you book, it sells out.

Küşlemeci Mehmet Usta ★ 4.4

Küşlemeci Mehmet Usta grills nothing but lamb tenderloin on Kemal Köker Caddesi in Gaziantep, and the founder's son now works the charcoal himself.

OrderKüşleme with a glass of churned yayık ayran to cut the fat.

TipPortions are small because the cut is small. Order two if you have walked the bazaar all morning.

Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı ★ 4.4

Yesemek Gaziantep Mutfağı plates regional home cooking near the castle, and half portions make it the easiest place in Gaziantep to taste widely.

OrderEkşili köfte, the sour meatball soup.

TipVegetarian dishes are listed separately. The kuru patlıcan dolması is meat-free on request.

Bayazhan ★ 4.4

Bayazhan turns a Silk Road caravanserai in Gaziantep into a meyhane, a winter dining room and a bar, with live fasıl music on most nights of the week.

OrderKüşleme, reserved in advance because the nightly allocation is small.

TipThe non-alcoholic family section is separate from the meyhane. Say which you want when booking.

Küşlemeci Mehmet Usta ★ 4.4

Küşlemeci Mehmet Usta is a single-dish kitchen in Gaziantep, grilling lamb tenderloin over charcoal and serving it with churned yayık ayran.

OrderKüşleme, plus the yayık ayran that comes with it.

TipSmall portions, high price per gram. That is what the cut costs, not a tourist mark-up.

Develi1912 Samatya ★ 4.4

Develi has fired Gaziantep kebabs at its Samatya address for decades, the canonical Istanbul pistachio kebap stop behind the old Marmara walls.

OrderFıstıklı kebap, Içli köfte, Antep katmer

Hayvore ★ 4.4

Hayvore tucked off Istiklal, cooking the corn-bread, anchovies and smoky bean stews of the Black Sea since 2009 in a noisy steam-table lokanta close.

OrderHamsi pilav, Muhlama, Karadeniz pidesi

Yakup 2 ★ 4.4

Yakup 2 on Asmalı Mescit Sokak, the Yakup Arslan meyhane founded in 1977 after seventeen years at Refik next door, multi-time winner of best-meyhane awards.

OrderTopik, Arnavut ciğeri, Kuzu pirzola

Çiya Kebap ★ 4.4

Çiya Kebap, the original 1987 sister to Çiya Sofrası on the opposite side of Güneşlibahçe in Kadıköy market, fires kebabs, lahmacun and pide from a single.

OrderPistachio kebap, Lahmacun, Pide

Hışvahan ★ 4.3

Hışvahan serves Antep cooking inside a restored 16th-century han beneath Gaziantep Castle, which now works as a hotel, restaurant and shop in one.

OrderAnalı kızlı, the twin-dumpling soup, followed by the semolina halva.

TipDevelik is the dining room and Susamhane the event space. Ask for a courtyard table in spring.

Sakıp Usta Paça Beyran Kebap ★ 4.3

Sakıp Usta serves beyran and paça on Kemal Köker Caddesi in Gaziantep from 05:30 until the small hours, which covers both the dawn bowl and the late one.

OrderBeyran at midnight, when the second pot comes up.

TipThe kitchen runs from 05:30 to 02:00, so this is the one beyran counter that suits either end of the day.