Best Turkish Food!! EXTREME KEBAB TOUR in Istanbul, Turkey! 🇹🇷

This is literally a lamb steam room. The vapors of the lamb, oh, oh. When you think about Turkish food, you probably think meat. Gigantic spinning meat carousels, spicy skewered Adana kebabs grilled right before your eyes. One of the king of all kebabs, the Adana kebab. Guaranteed, Turkey will fulfill all of your meat dreams. And in Istanbul, if you know where to look, you can find meat specialties from around the country. Oh, it's falling apart, it's so tender. In this ultimate Turkish meat tour in Istanbul, we'll be eating lamb straight from an underground pit. Introducing you to lamb heaven. Tasting local kefta in a hidden back alley. And feasting on melting your mouth meat baked in a clay pot. Hey everyone, it's Mark Wiens. I'm in the incredible city of Istanbul. And if you love to eat meat, this is a city that won't let you down. Guiding us, Ur from Culinary Backstreets, who will also be helping me eat a few mountains of protein. But to start things off, we're going to one of my all-time favorite meat restaurants in Istanbul, where we'll get a rare behind-the-scenes peek into the kitchen before we eat. Oh, there it is. The meat gets rubbed with onions, pepper, salt in between every layer. It's cut perfectly thin, and they really have to just mash it down, compress it so it stays evenly tight. Okay, we were lucky to see the final steps of the preparation, but they stacked it all the way. I mean, it's actually to your chest. It's as high as your chest. That is so much meat. It's definitely as big as my torso. That's incredible. I cannot wait to see them put it on the fire. So they've wrapped the cake kebab in a plastic bag for the transportation. Oh, it's a workout. So yeah, what I didn't mention before is that the kitchen is on the third story. So they build the kebab on the third story. There's no elevator. They have to bring it down the stairs, hoist it onto the kebab. And now we're in position. The jack kebab is in its horizontal resting position with the burning fire. So they only cook with fire. Oh, it just cooks almost instantaneously. And he really has to kind of almost like balance, balance the kebab so it's straight, so that it kind of rotates, like balancing 120 kilos of meat, like also so that it turns smoothly as well, almost like a spoke, like a wheel, the wheel of meat. And immediately you can start to hear the hiss of the meat as it, as that reacts with that fire and that heat. But in the meantime, they're just gonna keep on roasting it, spit roasting it, slowly turning it, cooking it on different edges. And it just, that it's, I mean, that's the attraction of this type of kebab is it just absorbs that smoke and that fire slowly as it continues to turn and then just keeps cooking the edges of the meat, which are then gonna be shaved off in a totally unique way as well. He also does a little bit of trimming as well. All right, I get the first bite. Yes. The juiciest, the first meat of the day. First bite of the day. Mm-hmm. Oh, and that's like perfectly cooked too. Doesn't get any juicier than this. Oh man. The first bite of the day. Okay, so then to slice it off, he has these unique skewers, which he then pokes into the done part of the meat and just slices it off directly onto the skewer. Okay, here it is. Yes. Mm. Oh, wow. Oh, that's so juicy. Oh, it's dripping. Wow. Oh, that might be the best bite of jack kebab you could ever have, as it's the freshest bite, cooked like perfectly. You saw that we already had a taste test right off the, we were snacking right off the kebab, but this is now the full meal, sitting down for the full meal. So what would be the typical way to eat it? Would you wrap it in the lavash or would you? We wrapped here of the lavash bread. Okay. Get some of the lavash. We can slide off the meat. All right. Using the bread to get some in between. All right. Then, I especially love the ezme of this place. Oh, okay. It's one of my favorites. Think of it as Turkish salsa. I also like to spice it up a little bit with this. Okay. And wrap it up. You can also add some onions, other things, but I like to keep it simple. I'll try your method as well. Yeah. I'll follow Urs' example. So take some of that meat. I'll squeeze it off the skewer. Oh, that feels so good. So it's a combination of, is it tomatoes or mostly peppers? Tomatoes. Tomatoes? Tomatoes is the main ingredient, then onions, parsley, peppers, and chili in there. All chopped down together. And roasted? All the fresh vegetables. Okay. Wrap this all up. Wow, yes. The lamb, it's extraordinary flavor. The texture, the fat, those onions. Oh, that is really nice too. Yeah, that brings out the flavors as well. The acidity of the tomatoes, the smokiness, the chilies, and yet even with that flavor though, you can just taste the lamb coming through. The freshness of that lamb. Yeah, one of the greatest uses of a lamb. I mean, it really is the entire lamb just rearranged into a pillar of a kebab. Onions, sumac, parsley. Oh, a lot of them. I love it with those fresh onions too, which are quite mild, but they have a really nice crispness, a fresh crispness to them. And then with that sourness from the sumac. Sumac. Oh, that's great too. And this is just giving me flashbacks. When I, on my first trip to Istanbul, I came here, this exact place. I think we sat maybe at one of these tables out here. And I just remember it being some of the greatest lamb I've ever had in my life. It is a pretty packed environment here for lunch. First, have to immediately taste that meat with nothing on it. Get some of that meat off. Just look at this, look at this thing of beauty. Oh yeah. That is stunning. It's awesome to see that they're still doing exactly the same. The flavor, yeah. They've been doing it for years. Nothing has changed. It's the same flavor you get every day. Same chairs and tables, same location, same. And the same nice guy. Yeah, same amazing guy. Yep. Oh, this is a place that you absolutely have to come when you visit Istanbul. Thank you. Oh, he is the man. And an absolute must-eat restaurant when you're in Istanbul. For that Cah Kebab. Cah. Şehzade Cah Kebab. Cah Kebab. Şehzade, Şehzade Cah Kebab. Sirkeci Fatih Şehzade Cah Kebab. Şehzade Cah Kebab. Çok teşekkür ederim. Thank you. Yes. Oh yeah. Just down the alley and to the left-hand side and we have arrived at the next meat destination in Istanbul. So the restaurant is called Gevenge Konyali. It's a great place, again, to eat lamb. Sit-down restaurant. They specialize in just ultra tender, really flavorful lamb. Nice to meet you. Thank you. You can smell the lamb and we're coming up straight to the kitchen. Yes. Hello. Okay. And it's so long. It's like the size of a whole paddle. Edli ekmek. Oh, so he really stretches out that dough into like a paddle shape. Oh, look at that stretching technique. Okay, and now on goes the meat, the minced meat mixture. Oh, okay. Oh yeah, you're right. Okay. Okay, so this one is chunky meat mixture. A chunky meat mixture. See the tomatoes in there and you see how wet and juicy it is and he just flattens it out into that dough. Again, stretching it out. That goes directly onto the paddle. Stretched out again. The sides of the paddle. Oh, look at that stretch. Oh, it's so long. And that goes directly into the oven to bake. Okay, ready, hot and fresh. Right out of the oven. Steaming hot. Gets some parsley on top. Then sliced all the way down. Okay. Oh, thank you. Oh, wrapped up with lemon juice. Look at the crispy bread. Oh, that's a welcome bite into the kitchen. Literally seconds after entering the kitchen. Oh, so he's gonna put the dough over the lamb. Stretches out the dough over the lamb. Oh, it gets a little sprinkle of meat juice. Okay, and that goes directly into the oven. Oh, it's been braised in its own fat, baked. All the lamb fat has come out. Okay. Oh, wow. Oh, it's falling apart. It's so tender. Oh, look at how tender that is. Oh, the bone just slides out. Oh, it just slides out. It's so tender. So one of the things that they're most well-known for is their lamb, which is braised in its own fat, in copper pots, which it bakes in the oven for hours. And so all the fat is released, and then it just starts to simmer and reabsorb into itself, into the meat. Then from there, they take the lamb, they put it onto a plate, they put some dough on top of it, plaster the dough over it, and then rebake it into the oven to seal it together. It's ready. And it comes out of the oven bubbling crispy, yes. Oh, thank you. The reveal. Oh, the lid, the bread on top, look at that meat. Yes. Oh, the backbone. Oh, that just peels off the bone. Oh, the vertebrae. Wow. That is amazing. Insane tenderness. It just slides out. It's the most tender lamb ever. That crispy bread on top. Am I getting a bite? Yes. It's very hot, be careful. Go away. Oh, it's burning hot. It's melting in my mouth. Oh, wow. That's unbelievable. Oh, man, that lamb is extraordinary. It really is just effortless to chew. You could, even if you didn't have teeth, you could chew that lamb. Next thing from the oven? Lamb tandoori in a pumpkin. Wow. That pumpkin is huge. He's gonna slice it open for us at the table. Ayran. Oh, look. The yogurt dispenser. Yogurt, salt, water. Oh, nice. Natural, natural. Natural ayran. Ayran. Oh, that's so much heat. Oh, the aroma of that pumpkin. Oh, folding it like a flower. Oh, that pumpkin. Oh, look at the lamb inside. Oh, what a dish. Oh, that's amazing. And that aroma of the sweet pumpkin is incredible. The tender lamb inside. Oh, again, the bones, the vertebrae are just sliding out. Just completely fall off the bone tender lamb. Oh, okay. Right out of the pumpkin. That's a combination I've never had before. Pumpkin and lamb. Oh, it works. The sweetness of the pumpkin. The savoriness of the lamb. The what? Five hours baking? Wow, thank you. It's like everything is just melting in your mouth. Flavorful, tender. And I think with the pumpkin, it's just held in all of the juice and the moisture of that lamb. Thank you. Amazing. What a lamb. Wash it down with some ayran. And he's going around now, feeding other people. Yes, everybody gets a bite. Yes, yes. Yes, hi, hey. Oh, yes. Yes, awesome. Thank you. Mark. Thank you. He welcomed you to Turkey and he follows you. He loves your videos on YouTube. Thank you. And he welcomes all your followers to his restaurant. Oh, thank you, thank you. Thank you very much, yes. For the lamb, it's an absolute must. The braised confit lamb. Absolute must. From here, we are continuing with this meat tour in Istanbul. So much meat to eat. We're at what's called the Egyptian Bazaar or the Spice Bazaar, right in the heart of Istanbul. We're on our way to eat the next food. Fresh kofta right off the grill. He's a master of the meatballs, has the meatball tray here. And I love how there's just a loose, a loose mixture of the minced meat. And he just kind of like squeezes it, hand squeezes it. Oh, here's the whole, here's the whole platter of the minced meat. So he has a combination, 70% beef, 30% lamb. And then he just puts those onto the grill and then just continually flips them. That smoke is released and just embeds into the meatballs, into the bread, into the peppers. Oh, one right off the grill. Oh, it's so fatty and juicy and salty. Oh, that's delicious. Oh man. Oh, it's so tasty. Oh, thank you. I love how he serves this. Beneath, nestled beneath are the meatballs, the kofta, plus some of the smoked roasted peppers, some tomatoes, and also a scoop of tomato sauce as well. And then with the whole half a loaf of bread on top, we're gonna start with breaking some of the bread, really crusty. And he put this bread right directly into the smoke. Let's grab our piece. And grab a meatball. Grab one of those below there that's nice and juicy. Oh, juicy. He grills them so juicy. Okay, some of that hot sauce. Oh yes. Here we go. Oh wow, that's tasty. Sorry, mom, he makes it better. These meatballs, that is just so fatty and the texture is so good. Bouncing, juicy, smoky. Yeah, definitely fatty and salty. So tasty. With that hot sauce too. Oh, that's incredible. It's kind of relatively similar to a kebab, but just in different shape and little meatball formations. And the spices are a little bit different. It doesn't go in the skewer, of course. And less of the spices used as well. But overall, it's as glorious. Okay, but I mean, yeah, they're straight up little ground meatballs with just huge flavor. Okay, I'm gonna taste that with the pepper, yeah. Need a pepper. You can taste the meatiness in that pepper. Oh, it's smoky and charred, yet still crisp at the same time. I'm gonna go in for another meatball patty. The chili sauce. Oh, the juices just squeeze out. The chili sauce. Pick up one of those tomatoes as well. I love cooked tomatoes. They enhance the flavor. Yeah, definitely. Especially when they're roasted like this too. Perfectly cooked in the middle. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Medium rare steak almost. And the way he grills them, he keeps flipping them quite a few times to make sure that they're cooked perfectly. And then also to make sure that the smoke just totally absorbs all the way to the center, all the way to the core of those little mini patties. With that chili sauce, it's so good. That was incredibly tasty. Really friendly place. And again, just tucked away down an alley from the Egyptian Bazaar, the spice also known as the Spice Market, Spice Bazaar in Istanbul. Highly recommended. Great kafta. Next up on this ultimate meat tour in Istanbul, we're gonna go eat something that I've been just dreaming of eating when I was coming back to Istanbul. This is the one thing I desperately had to try. So we're in Fatih. We're gonna go eat what might be considered the king of meats. Biryan in Turkish, but very differently than biryani in the other countries. This one is a pit-roasted lamb. This neighborhood is so beautiful with the Roman aqueduct in the back. Treelined boulevards. It's breezy, it's local, and yet it's right in the heart of Istanbul. And from what I was looking at the map and also reading, this entire area is full of biryani restaurants, right? There's like, is this like the concentration? Or this area is known for biryani? It is the Mecca of biryani in Istanbul. And so we're just walking one street over to get to the restaurant, but this entire neighborhood just smells of meat. All the lamb is in the air. It's a huge restaurant with multiple layers of seating, probably five levels of seating, but we're heading straight to the basement where they're about to pull the meat, the lamb, out of the pit. Okay. Here it is. How long has it been cooking? It's been cooking for about two hours? Okay. So he's gonna start unearthing the lamb. It's within this residing, within this pit right now, and they haven't even cemented or mudded, mudded up. So none of that steam, none of that smoke escapes. This is a technique that you can already tell. I mean, it's gonna be the lamb, it's gonna be smoked, grilled, steamed, all at the same time. Oh, even when he picks up that, that like mud, you can see the steam coming out of it. Oh, I'm starting to get that lamb vapor. Okay. Ooh. Oh, there's a crane. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, wow. Oh, it's on a pulley system. It's on a crane. I don't know what I'm supposed to say to all that. Very, very careful. It's gonna be better. Oh, wow. Oh, it melts in your mouth. Oh, that is just straight out of the oven. It's scorching hot. All that just totally melts in your mouth. This is one of the most beautiful lamb sculptures I've ever seen in my life. Wow, this is introducing you to lamb heaven. Okay, so in order to make the burrion, this part that they have roasting, it's kind of like the, is that the backbone with the back meat and the side with the fat? But then they cut off the ribs, which then go below in a pan below there, and they absorb all of the fat that drips down. I mean, it's multidimensional. There's multiple meals from the lamb all cooked in the pit. Oh, I can smell the lamb coming from here. Oh, so that's the pit all the way down there. Now he's gonna lift the lamb all the way up to where they're serving it on the ground floor. Oh, this restaurant is so cool. The engineering. So it's all on this pulley system here. Crane going all the way down, like three stories down below. Oh, there it comes. That's such a cool, this is such an innovative restaurant. The technology, the lamb technology, all invented for this burrion that comes from the basement up on the pulley system, and then on a zip line. It's a lamb zip line that goes to its resting place where it's then served, chopped right here. Okay, so we're gonna go back down and see the juicy ribs at the bottom. That's what they're pulling up next. Oh, wow. That is straight up a bathtub, just lamb confit in its own fat, all that liquid. Yeah, it's swimming. It's a jacuzzi of lamb. Oh, the ribs. And the ribs, because they've been boiled in the fat and the juices, they're just insanely tender. I mean, he uses a knife, but sometimes he even just breaks it apart with his fingers because they're so soft. Oh, feeding me one more bite of it. Oh, that's the ribs. Oh. Oh, wow. The whole strip. Oh, man. And he slices it directly onto the bread so that all the fat, all the juices and oils just absorb into the bread. Nothing goes to waste. So the way he serves it, oh, okay, you have two different choices. You have the roasted meat, which are the backbones of the lambs with the whole sides of the lambs. So that's roasted and steamed. And then you have the kind of braised, actually like confit in its own fat, the ribs. And so you can choose what you want. He slices it up. He puts it onto a piece of bread, a sprinkle of salt. That's all. All right. Oh, this is like the pinnacle of this meat tour. Ready for the meat coma? Oh, yes. I already got a taste of it in the kitchen and straight out of the pit. All right, let's go. All right. And even he kind of dished out a variety of different pieces. So you have some different fatty pieces, some pieces with the skin. You can see this piece right here, just absolutely glistening, like waterfalls of juices, fat, skin. All right, man. Cheers. Oh, man. That part of the crispy skin. Nice combination. It's so tender. And so, so just like pure lamb flavor. Let's go in for the ribs. Yeah, and you were telling me that the ribs are actually your favorite part. Exactly, you want to pull it apart? Oh, look at how tender they are. Oh. Oh, you're lucky today. You lost. Exactly. I mean, if you shake this hard enough, the meat would just fall off the bone. Totally clean. Go for it. Yeah. Just insanely tender. Melt in your mouth. All of that flavor is preserved inside of the lamb because it's boiled in its own fat. It's so rich. So fatty and gooey. Oh, man, it's good. Natural dipstick. Oh, yeah. You immediately get some oil on your lips and just that's the full lamb experience in your mouth. And again, they cook it so expertly. I mean, knowing that the ribs will dry out if they cook it the same way. I mean, what better way to cook ribs than boiled in their own fat as it drops below as the body of the lamb just starts to roast and drips below. The dish is called Mumbar. Made with the lamb intestines filled inside with the meat and rice. But don't think of it as a sausage. There's more rice than the meat, actually. I mean, it looks pretty awesome. Yeah. Okay. Cheers. I thought the intestines were gonna be chewier. Actually, very tender. Yeah. Really tender. It's just like a fatty casing encasing the rice. And mostly, it is mostly rice on the inside. Not- Exactly. It's not what you would expect. At the same time, the intestines have kind of melted so that fat on the inside of the intestines has melted into the rice, making it really moist and juicy. And as you bite down, kind of this explosion of oily lamb fat juices and the pepper in there, and the rice comes together. Has a nice humus. Humus combination. This is another one of their specialties here, right? Exactly. Specialty of that city, region, called perde pilavı. Perde means a curtain because there's a crust, the dough on the outside, holding the rice like a curtain around it. Pilav is in a rice dish. So, as we break it. Oh, so the dough wraps the entire thing. Exactly. Oh, and then the rice spills out. It's an encased rice dish. Oh, and it's still hot after being sitting there out of the oven for like, it's been out of the oven for like 15, 20 minutes. So, we got the almonds over here, pine nuts, currants, chicken, and the rice. It will be the black pepper. So, let's go in with hands and just kind of break some of the dough. Oh, and you can feel the dough is kind of oily as well and really crispy. Maybe even go in with some of the rice like that. Mm. That's good. It's more on the aromatic, fragrant side. It's not too strong in flavor. But just really, really fragrant and aromatic. And again, the sweetness from the raisins, the nuttiness from the pine nut, the chicken to give it some extra body and some extra protein. And then you have the crispiness of the dough as well. Moving on to the next dish. The next up is what's called içli köfte, literally meaning filled in meatballs. So, on the outside, we have the crust made from bulgur, cracked wheat made into a dough. They give it an egg shell shape, leaving the center hollow. Then fill it inside with the ground meat cooked with the onions and spices. Then they close it up. Then you can have it boiled or fried. We are having the boiled version over here. Patty almost. Ooh, it's heavy. Yeah, that's dense. Yeah, there is. Yeah. Mm. Little juicy inside. Mm. That is delicious. And yeah, it's kind of like a really thick wrapper. Really hearty and filling and dense. But then you bite your teeth into it and you just sink into this oily meat mixture that's just so flavorful. I mean, it's kind of like a dumpling in shape and feel, but just really, really hearty. And then we've got another side dish here. Red pepper paste with roasted tomatoes, peppers. Oh man, you can actually see the char of the roasted vegetables in here. Mm. Oh, and all of the herbs in there is what really makes it. Maybe the coriander, maybe some dill in there. Really herbaceous to contrast that roasted, fiery flavor of the roasted tomatoes and roasted peppers in there. So the restaurant is called Sirt, which is the region where it's from. Sharaf, Buryan. And if you love lamb, it's hard to get better than that. That was an unbelievable meal. Next up on this Turkish food tour in Istanbul, we're going to a restaurant that specializes in some of the meaty dishes and very unique dishes from Antakya, which is a province in the very south-southern part of Turkey on the border of Syria. And so we're off to eat our next dishes at a restaurant called Akdeniz Hatay Sobrasi. Akdeniz means Mediterranean in Turkish. Hatay is the city where this family is from, which is also called Antioch in ancient times. Right down south, right by the Syrian border, which has a mixed ethnic background of the Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, all mixed together, and which reflects on the cuisine of that area too. What is the main dish we're going to try? Chicken baked in salt. Okay. And clay pot kebab. You will see the preparation. Okay, so there's a whole salt tub. Okay, so it's going to be stuffed with the rice mixture. You can see almonds in there. The rice has been seasoned already. That's going to be stuffed into the cavity of the chicken, loaded all in. What a move. Pokes a hole in the skin and then puts a drumstick, folds its legs, cross legs the chicken so it seals it. Oh, and here comes the salt. Okay. That's a whole chicken hiding under a mountain of salt. The chicken was stuffed again. He stuffed it with rice and nuts and the spice-mixtured rice, covered it in a mountain of salt, and then that goes directly to the baker. It's going to take two hours to bake, and I can't wait to see how the chicken's going to turn out. Next dish is clay pot kebab. Clay pot kebab. Is it called, what's the name of it? Tasty kebab. Tasty kebab, si. So we use lamb's leg part. Okay. With onions and garlic, and we marinate it with our two different types of sauces, which is 100% tomato sauce and 100% pepper paste sauce. Okay. Okay, let's start with that lamb leg. Oh man, so he deboned that perfectly. End up with all the fresh meat. Oh, so now he's going to marinate that meat. Whole cloves of garlic go in. Okay, and now comes some of the seasoning. Some pepper goes in. Black pepper. This is the dry basil, dry sweet basil. Salt. Then this one is the tomato paste, tomato paste, and then the pepper paste. Now comes the part where he's filling it up into the clay pot, which is more like almost a base shape. Oh, and the butter. The butter goes in. And the rest of, not forgetting the rest of that juice. Oh, and that goes into a salt tub as well. And now chef will seal it with some foil. Okay, and this goes to the oven as well. Okay. Thank you, chef. That's another incredible preparation. All of the spices, all the vegetables. I love how, I mean, because it's going to bake for two hours, he can just leave all those vegetables chunky and they're just going to melt into the sauce. Okay, the wait is over. Yes. Oh, okay. Oh, yes. Bread, yes. Nice. Oh, look at that bread. Okay, and before we start eating, this is quite a special treat. It's not every day you get your name written on huge pieces of bread. Oh, and I can feel the heat radiating from that bread. Oh, it smells so good. So it's going to be served table-side and I think they're going to light it on fire. Oh, yes. Whoa. Oh, oh, I think he's cracking it. Oh, take off the lid, dumps it in, and underneath, that's the two-hour cooked lamb leg with all the spices, with all the tomatoes and peppers and onions. Oh, man, it's melting, it's juicy. And I think he's going to dump that onto the tray. All that broth, all the meaty aroma, the peppers, the garlic, the shallots, dip the tomatoes in there. He's pulling out the tools. Pulling out the tools, and it seems they will light this on fire as well. Yes. Whoa. Oh, with a chisel. He uses a full chisel. Straight up doing construction. There's the chicken underneath. We're getting our first glimpse of the chicken underneath. That salt has totally dehydrated. Really like plastered onto the chicken. Okay, here comes the chicken. It's intact. Oh, he pokes it. Yes, oh, the juices. Okay. Oh, with the rice in the center. Oh, that bone just slides out effortlessly. Have a piece of bread. Oh, thank you, I love the M for sure. The nigella seeds. Oh, this is the coolest piece of bread I've ever seen. Oh, man, you can see how all the vegetables have just melted with the lamb, the onions. Oh, it's like we're swimming. Okay, toast it. Oh, yes. Oh, I got a drizzle down my chin. Oh, man, the lamb is so tender. And the basil goes well with the meat. Oh, yeah, that's what's kind of freshening it up. And I knew when Chef left all the tomatoes and the peppers and the shallots and even the garlic, he left them all whole. I knew they were just gonna melt in that sauce as it started to cook and boil within its own juices in that clay pot. And yeah, they've remained whole. But as soon as you bite down on them, everything just disintegrates in your mouth, yeah. Wow, that's so much flavor. The tartness of the tomato, the flavor of the pepper paste. Oh, yeah, taste it on its own, it's almost a sourdough. Oh, man, you can almost just go swimming, swimming in here. That's so good. Oh, the whole drumstick, all the meat is just falling off the bone. Oh, it was wrapped up, the drumstick. That's kind of too much. So I'll get a little bit of that chicken. Even though it's been baked for two hours, you can see that the chicken is so moist as well. And definitely, I'm excited to try that rice as well that's absorbed all of the chicken broth. Mm, mm, wonderful. It's so fragrant, aromatic. The chicken is so soft. And yet again, yeah, it remains juicy and moist. The rice on the inside has, again, absorbed that chicken broth as it was baking. So it's soaked up all of that chicken broth, all that flavor. And the rice is not heavily spiced or anything, very light, just aromatic. Flavor of the pine nuts and almonds. And one of their signature mocktails. Is it rose? You really taste the rose in there, rose syrup. Strong rose, some cardamom in there, pistachios. And mint. Sweet basil, again, mint, and sugar, naturally. Really nice. I love those pistachios just floating around on top and also around the edge, the lip of the cup as well. And another one I had to try is their own family recipe from Hatay. Awesome. And they said this one is boiled with pomegranate molasses, sprinkled with, almost looks like garlic and parsley. And some walnuts, I believe, on top, our ground walnuts. Oh, okay. So if we look on the inside here. Oh yeah. Oh, that's incredible. Oh man, the spices in there. The bogar wheat wrapper is kind of gummy and crumbly. And then you've got that incredible meat mixture on the inside. The walnuts, the tartness of the pomegranate molasses. Mm. Oh, that's incredible. Oh, okay. Oh, is that a syrup? So after our meal, we're gonna have a tableside kunafe. And this is one of the kings of all desserts. With cheese, with vermicelli. I think he's gonna add on some nuts, probably, and then also spoon on the syrup. But right now, he's just, he lit on, looks like some salt, lit on fire. Okay, he cuts a little square. Okay, the syrup goes on. Wow. Okay. Oh, it's melting. Okay, thank you. Then powdered pistachios will go on top. Yes. Oh, nice. Generous helping of pistachios. Okay. So that was so cool. That whole tableside preparation of the kunafe was incredible. Quite a show. And this is one of the greatest desserts on earth. It's hearty. Oh man, you can feel the crispiness of the vermicelli. Vermicelli noodles on top. The melted cheese. Just look at the insides of that. Oh, yes. Okay. It's so aromatic. Floral, nutty, crispy, cheesy. Just absorbed that syrup. The fire and flame. Cheese. That is amazing. The richness. The cheese, the crispy noodles on top of vermicelli. The fragrance of the syrup and the sweetness. And then the, really the fragrance of the pistachios as well is what comes through. Wow, that's, yeah, that's really good. If you love cheese, if you love sweets, there's nothing better you could possibly eat. Thank you very much. Yes, very nice to meet you. Thank you. That was an amazing meal. The owner, the staff, they're so friendly and welcoming. And that's a place you wanna go for a celebration, for some grand dishes. And they also represent the food of Antakya and especially Hatay. So next up on this meat tour, where are we at next? For meat. Yes. This time it's another grill-front kebab place. And what exactly does ocakbaşı? Ocakbaşı? Ocakbaşı is the Turkish term for the grill-front restaurants. So you can sit right by the master, cooking up all the meat right by the counter. Or you can also sit at the tables and with all the smoke coming out of the grill, it's quite appetizing. And you first feed your eyes, then you feed your belly. Oh yeah. And actually, this is a place that I came to on my last trip back in 2017. Came to this restaurant, and I still remember it was one of the best places I ate. It is. The meat doesn't get any better. Oh yes. Oh, this restaurant is legendary. And if I remember correctly, we sat in that corner table last time I was here. But what's, I mean, the most impressive thing about this restaurant is the ocakbaşı grill right in the center with the raging charcoal fire. And they're in charge of just cooking all the meat that everyone eats at this restaurant. We got the best seats in the entire restaurant. Front row, bar counter seats right in front of the grill master. He is the absolute master. Cooks your meat to perfection. From the way he moves, and the way he controls the fire, and the way he controls that meat, just immense, immense experience. Okay, coming under the grill. Our first plate. Oh yes. From the bottom of the grill. Is this our lavash? Exactly. Okay. So liver on one side, regular meat on that side. Should we go in for the liver first? All right. You wanna do it straight? Yes. Straight for that liver. Oh, wow. Almost no game in this. Yeah. Very delicate. That is some of the greatest, that's like one of the greatest single bites of liver you could possibly have. Let's go for two pieces, and some fat for sure. Okay. This one is pure fat from the tail end. And I'm gonna do it with onions. Onions covered in sumac. Okay. All right. And now we can wrap it up. Here we go. Cheers. You're gonna like this. I'll follow with that combination as well. Kind of loaded up with the parsley, the onions, the sumac. That's a lot of sumac in there as well. Unbelievable. Oh, with the onions, the parsley, that citrusy sourness of the sumac all together in your mouth. Incredible. He just passed me this pepper, the under table move. Oh, that one is so sweet, smoky. Oh, it has a little bit of spice at the end. Oh, there it is. Oh, we are moving out now onto one of the king of all kebabs, the adana kebab. All right. All right, here we go. Go for it. Oh, wow. It melts in your mouth. And the flavor keeps on coming. The flavor just lingers in your mouth. That is absolute kebab perfection. Oh man, what a meal. Step outside, my face is all red. That, I mean, props to the chefs. To the chef. I mean, I sat there for an hour and my face almost melted off and you can see how red I am in the face. He sits there all night and just continually, nonstop grilling. He's a true definition of a master griller. And what a restaurant. I mean, this is one of my favorite restaurants in Istanbul and if you love meat, you can't miss it. You've heard me use the word usta many times in this video and also the names of many restaurants. And that's a Turkish word that actually means an expert or a master of the craft. And that really sums it up. People take the art of cooking so seriously and they do it so incredibly well, guaranteed that when you come to Turkey, you'll have some of the best meat you've ever had in your life. And I wanna say a huge thank you to my friend, Ur. He's the one who arranged this entire tour for me. He's from Culinary Backstreets and they offer some of the greatest, some of the best off the beaten path local food tours in Istanbul. Highly recommended. I'll have their link in the description box below. And I wanna say a big thank you to you for watching this video. Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you. And also, if you haven't watched this entire Turkey series, we're going around the country eating some of the best Turkish food that you're not gonna wanna miss. Thanks again for watching. See you on the next video.