Akdeniz Hatay Sofrası

Popular with locals, this restaurant specializes in the Arab-influenced cuisine of Hatay (originating near Turkey's border with Syria), which features delicious meze like hummus, baba ghanoush, muhammara (a spread of mashed chile peppers and walnuts), kısır (a spicy version of tabbouleh), and a wide range of uncommon kebabs. The venue's famous "meter kebab" serves several people and requires advance ordering, as does the salt-shell-baked chicken and lamb.

The cavernous, brightly lit dining room does not bode well for intimacy, nor do the promotional posters and looped video on the Hatay region in Turkey’s Syrian borderlands – but who needs sophisticated décor to enjoy the most appetising dishes the metropolis has to offer?. Try zahter, the zingy thyme salad, and spicy walnut and pepper muhammara dip to start. The signature main is salt-baked, fragrant rice-studded chicken brought steaming to your table.

For a broader menu and a more elaborate gustatory spectacle, I took the tram with a Turkish friend and journeyed past the Grand Bazaar to a flower-garlanded restaurant called Hatay Sofrasi, which delivers the aromatic specialties of Turkey’s Hatay province, situated along the Mediterranean and the Syrian border. Waiters in white jackets and fezzes ushered us upstairs, where we took a table among a genteel crowd of bureaucrats and their wives.

Akdeniz Hatay Sofrasi, which carries traditional Hatay flavors to Istanbul, is a restaurant where those who miss Hatay often stop by and dine in. All meals are prepared by using raw products in a private production center in Antakya. The dishes are cooked according to the recipes of Dahiye Sultan, the mother of Mehmet Deveci, the owner of the restaurant.

Akdeniz Hatay Mutfağı, isminden de anlaşılacağı üzere Hatay mutfağının en seçkin yemeklerini İstanbullulara sunan bir mekan. Burada özlediğiniz Hayat yemeklerini ve künefenin orijinal halini keyifle yiyebilirsiniz. Gitmeden önce yerinizi ayırtmayı unutmayın.

The southeast of Turkey is regarded by many as the mecca of Turkish food. Positioned on the silk and spice trading routes at an important geographical crossroads, the region has incorporated culinary traditions from the Levant, Anatolia, and the Middle East.

Hatay lezzetlerini sevenlerin kesinlikle uğraması gereken bu mekan, kebap çeşitlerinden künefeye kadar her lezzeti usulüne uygun şekilde hazırlıyor. Lezzetli künefesiyle beğeni toplayan mekan, süt ikramıyla da künefe keyfine farklı bir boyut katıyor.

Hatay mutfağının hakkını veren bir restoran ile karşı karşıyayız. Kömbe, kireçte kabak, tuzda kuzu, humus gibi yöresel lezzetleri bir köşeye bırakıp; karnınızda yer bırakmaya bakmalısınız. Bu mekanın hakiki Hatay künefesi resmen damaklara şenlik.

Hatay usulü yemeklerin İstanbul’daki en iyi temsilcilerinden Akdeniz Hatay Sofrası’nı unutacak değiliz!. Özellikle konumuz anavatanı Hatay olan künefeyse, hiç!. Mide yakmayan, pek hafif, lezzetiyse efsane künefeler yapıyorlar.