Kebab @ Halil Usta’s Place

Gaziantep, long known for its gastronomic history, was inducted into the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2015. (More info here … https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/gaziantep). As such food is an important element of any visit to the city.

When we visited Gaziantep in 2018, our friend, Nilgün, took us to have lunch at Halil Usta, one of the city’s foremost kebab houses where the chef himself greets arrivals at the door. Located on a back street behind the Zeugma Museum, this is a restaurant patronized mostly by the locals … just the kind of place we try to seek out when we are traveling.

Our early arrival around 11:30a meant that we pretty much had the place to ourselves and avoided the crowds that start to show up soon after noon. You can order specific dishes, but we just told the waiter to bring us small portions of several dishes to share … “acısız” (without hot spices) at our request, though there is no such thing as totally hot-spice-free in this region.

We started with the famous “kaşık salatası” … a juicy tomato and lettuce salad eaten with a spoon (kaşık) and served with pide. Then came yağlı ekmek … buttered, slightly spicy pide. A variety of meats followed … each from a specific cut of lamb meat. Ordering small portions was the smart way to go about our meal as it left us with just enough room for sweets … all filled with pistachios … for which the city is known.

Thus sated, it was time to proceed with the rest of our plans for the day.Read more