Tasting Notes
İmam Çağdaş has been on Uzun Çarşı since 1887 and is one of the first stops for many visitors to Gaziantep. The family business serves both of the city's specialities: kebabs from the grill and baklava, which is also sold by the kilo to take away. It is often busy, and tables turn over quickly.
Kebabs, including the seasonal ones
The kebab list gives the weight of meat for each dish. Alinazik is grilled meat on smoky aubergine purée with garlic yoghurt and butter; küşleme is plain cubes of lamb; simit kebabı mixes minced meat with fine bulgur, mint and pistachios. The seasonal kebabs follow the Gaziantep calendar: minced meat grilled between whole garlic bulbs, with loquats, with small onions in pomegranate molasses, or with keme, the desert truffle that appears in spring. Lahmacun, including the small fındık lahmacun, comes from the oven.
Baklava to finish
Baklava is served by the portion after the meal: pistachio and walnut baklava, şöbiyet, dolama, bülbül yuvası (nest-shaped baklava) and havuç dilimi, the wedge-shaped slice often eaten here with kaymak. The same trays are sold by the kilo at the counter.
“Start with a lahmacun and Alinazik, leave room for havuç dilimi, and drink ayran with the kebab; in spring, ask whether keme or garlic kebab is on.”
LR Kitchen — field note