Tasting Notes
Namık Baydar Sofrası is at Adnan İnanıcı Caddesi 13/D in Şehitkamil. It opens at 7:30 a.m., closes at 9 p.m. and is closed on Sundays.
Daily stews and baked dishes
The dishes marked as made daily include orman kebabı (lamb stewed with vegetables), etli nohut yahni, karnıyarık, alinazik, yoğurtlu patates, kuru fasulye and stuffed dolma in olive oil. Others on the list are lamb shank, İzmir köfte and kadınbudu köfte, chicken with curry sauce, baked or boiled chicken, musakka and gül mantı.
Olive-oil dishes and desserts
The olive-oil side has stuffed vine leaves and dolma, sold by the kilo, artichokes and fresh green beans. Desserts include şam tatlısı, a semolina cake in syrup sold by the piece or by weight, plus aşure, kazandibi, rice pudding baked in a clay pot and soft pumpkin dessert, several of them made daily. A short wrap list is also on the menu.
“Start with a hot karnıyarık or alinazik, add a seasonal olive-oil dish or the lamb shank, and finish with şam tatlısı.”
LR Kitchen — field note