These are the best restaurants in Turkey

A ranking compiled by the prestigious gastronomic and travel guide TasteAtlas includes a careful selection of the most iconic places to eat around the world, including several restaurants that can be considered the best restaurants in Turkey or, at least, the best rated by critics and experts.

A total of 6 Turkish restaurants appear on the list of ‘Most Iconic Food Places in the World’ compiled by TasteAtlas, which includes 150 restaurants selected from a total of 23,751 restaurants registered by the website, and which stand out for their long tradition and history, the reliability of their cuisine and dishes, and for having already become true icons of local gastronomy. ‘They are not just places to eat, but institutions’, the website stresses.

Factors such as the number of years the restaurant has been open, user reviews, and the popularity of its dishes have been taken into account in compiling the list. Let’s take a look at which restaurants in Turkey are included in this delicious ranking.

İmam Çağdaş Kebap ve Baklava Salonu

In 28th place in the TasteAtlas ranking we find the first Turkish restaurant mentioned in the list: İmam Çağdaş Kebap ve Baklava Salonu, a place that – as its name suggests – is famous for its kebab but also for its delicious baklava, and which shows why Gaziantep’s cuisine is one of the best in the world.

The restaurant is located in the heart of Gaziantep, one of the most important cities in southeastern Turkey. Among its many dishes are the recommended alinazik kebab, the şöbiyet (a Turkish dessert similar to baklava), and of course the spectacular Gaziantep baklava, a true luxury for the senses.

Uludağ Kebapçısı Cemal & Cemil Usta

A little further on, in the 39th position, another restaurant located in Turkey appears: Uludağ Kebapçısı Cemal & Cemil Usta; in this restaurant located in the heart of the city of Bursa, the house speciality is, once again, kebap; but not just any kebap, but the İskender kebap, which happens to be one of the most popular dishes in Turkish gastronomy.

The iconic İskender kebap – also called Bursa kebabı (Bursa kebab) – is a dish made from grilled, thinly sliced lamb meat served on pide bread with tomato and yoghurt. A real delicacy that everyone should try at least once in their lives.

7 Mehmet

Shortly after, in 43rd place on the list, we come across 7 Mehmet: located on the outskirts of Antalya not far from the famous Konyaaltı beach, this is a place with a long tradition that originally, when it opened in 1937, was a small and modest restaurant dedicated to serving soups, something very typical in Turkey.

Over the years, 7 Mehmet has evolved into what it is today: a modern restaurant specialising in Mediterranean cuisine and Turkish gastronomy. Despite its extensive menu, its main dishes include iç pilav (a kind of spicy Turkish rice), kokoreç (a tasty dish made from lamb tripe), menemen omelette, sarma (stuffed vine leaves), işkembe çorbası (tripe soup), and kabak tatlısı, a traditional dessert made with pumpkin and sugar.

Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta

You have to go down to 74th place in the ranking to find the next Turkish restaurant mentioned by TasteAtlas: Tarihi Sultanahmet Köftecisi Selim Usta, located in the historic district of Fatih (in the heart of Istanbul), and specialising as its name suggests in köfte: a kind of grilled meatballs that are very popular in Turkish cuisine.

The history of this family restaurant dates back to no less than 1920, before the Republic was even founded; a century later, the 5th generation descendant of master Selim is carrying on the tradition and boasts the same flavour in its grilled meat after more than 100 years have passed. Among the highlights of this modest eatery, located almost opposite to Hagia Sophia, are dishes such as inegöl köfte (a simple dish from Bursa with hardly any seasoning) or çiğ köfte, which uses spicy raw meat; also a speciality of the house is the nutritious mercimek çorbası (lentil soup).

The TasteAtlas list also includes two other restaurants, both in Istanbul: Çiya Sofrası in Kadıköy, specialising in Anatolian cuisine, and the historic Hacı Abdullah Lokantası in Beyoğlu, founded in the 19th century and specialising in Ottoman cuisine. Both are ranked 118th and 119th, respectively.

We don’t know whether or not these are the best restaurants in Turkey: after all, it’s all a matter of taste, and if there is one thing Turkey is known for, it’s its rich gastronomy. But it is clear that these restaurants are a good sample of the best of Turkey’s culinary and restaurant tradition, and offer some of the best and tastiest dishes of the country’s cuisine. Enjoy!

🧿 TOP TOURS IN TURKEY