Wouldn't you want to eat at a place where you're greeted with a smile like this?
And where the food is as pleasing as the smile?
The place is Bayindir Kebap Salonu, a restaurant specializing in kebabs. It's located in a busy shopping area in the old part of Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey.
The kebabs are cooked over the coals (above), then served with fresh flat breads that are lightly greased by rubbing them with the kebabs.
Here is adana, minced lamb.
Spicy chicken kebabs (above) are wonderful.
The kebabs are sprinkled with chopped parsley and slivers of red bell pepper and onions.
Big super-fresh mint sprigs go on each plate.
A spicy vinegary salad of tomato, cucumber and lettuce (above) is nice with the kebabs.
The food is made to order. Vegetables are chopped with this huge knife.
Pitchers of water are on each table.
Better with this food is the yogurt drink ayran (above), foamed up in a dispenser outside. The way to drink it is with a spoon from a bowl, like soup. I couldn't resist buying one of these sets before leaving Gaziantep.
For a traveler, finding a decent restaurant can be a challenge, especially when there is no one to ask because you can't speak the language. But this restaurant was bright and open with great vibes, worth investigating. And the food turned out to be as good as intuition said it would be.
Photos by Barbara Hansen
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