How about going to Gaziantep, the lovely city of the Southeast, taking a journey through history, seeing its cultural and natural beauty, and on top of that eating the most delicious food in the world? We're starting the Gaziantep travel guide..
Our plane, in the early morning, was giving us "I'm wonderful" signals about the weather before we even landed in Antep! As soon as we got off the plane at the airport, we caught the bus that was just leaving. We got off in the city centre and started our Antep food tour with a lovely katmer from Zekeriya Usta! I can say it was tremendous! Pistachio, sugar and clotted cream could be this good together. The difference of it being baked in a stone oven was immediately clear. The tea came from the nearest tea house. Before we forget, let's note that it's worth being quick. Just 5 minutes after us the crowd had really grown seriously. The shopkeepers, clearly used to this crowd on Saturday-Sunday mornings, lined up tables and chairs in the street of the katmer shop, working together. Inside, at the till behind those queuing to take photos, we see Zekeriya Usta. Zekeriya Usta, unlike his son Mr Mehmet, is tired, quiet and thoughtful... Mr Mehmet, on the other hand, has won friends with his pleasant chat. You can find the location at the link , but to get to the flavour I'd say you should definitely visit in person. More? Of course there is! Here you go:
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GAZİANTEP
Being on a crossing point of the Silk Road, which we all know from history lessons, the city has a rich cultural heritage. With its historic buildings and also hosting different cultures, it's at the top of the list in Turkey when it comes to flavour. That's how the saying 'Flavour Stop!' spread, so much so that day trips are organised for gourmets.
PLACES TO VISIT IN GAZİANTEP
In the First World War, Gaziantep was one of the places where the war was fought and one of the important centres of our great national struggle. Accordingly, there are a great many places to visit in historical terms and stops for flavour.For our more detailed post, click the Places to Visit in Gaziantep link!
WHEN TO GO TO GAZİANTEP?
Since summers are dry and hot and winters cold and rainy, the ideal seasons are the spring months. Although the season we went in, November, was nice for sightseeing, I think October would be even nicer. May and October are my favourite months for Turkey.HOW TO GET TO GAZİANTEP?
The plans had been made months before. Of course the tickets were bought from Pegasus, the one address in Turkey for frequent travellers. For the 8 o'clock flight we got up at 5 and hit the road. A small tip: as soon as you buy your tickets, plan your Pegasus transfer from home to the airport too; reservations don't open as early as the tickets, but you can keep an eye on them :)After a nice flight we landed in Antep. The landing was a bit hard, but as we came down the passenger stairs, sunny Antep greeted us. While landing the pilot had said it was -5 degrees, and for a moment we were a little scared. First thing, straight to the city centre with HAVAŞ. HAVAŞ services are planned in coordination with the flights, 10 TL per person.
WHERE TO STAY IN GAZİANTEP?
Then we went to Efe Bey Mansion , right next to Gaziantep Castle, to drop off our bags. The mansion was our choice because it's close to the centre and the places to visit. Mr Atilla, who runs the mansion, is very helpful and hospitable…Whatever our recommendation, choose one of the mansions; believe me, they're all lovely...
Efe Bey Mansion
GAZİANTEP AIRPORT AND GETTING AROUND THE CITY
Although Gaziantep is a big industrial city in Turkey, getting around is very easy. The city can be reached by air, road and rail. In Gaziantep, getting around the city is by municipal buses, tram and taxis. The taxis, compared with Istanbul, are very old and poorly maintained vehicles.Buses and minibuses are used to get to the districts. On the bus and tram lines you travel with a smart ticket system called Kart27, similar to the Istanbul Kart. You can get these tickets from sales points in the city. All the places we mention in the places to visit section seem to be within walking distance of each other!
GAZİANTEP CUISINE
You know how wonderful flavours always come to mind when we say Gaziantep; when you really go, you can feel it at every meal. Now let's look at those famous flavours;Katmer - Zekeriya Usta
If you've come to Gaziantep on a morning flight, your first stop should be Katmerci Zekeriya Usta's shop. As far as I observed, katmer is an inseparable part of breakfast culture for the people of Antep. While we Istanbulites see katmer as a dessert feast after a meal, the people of Antep choose milk and katmer for breakfast. And its best representative is without doubt Zekeriya Usta!
By the way, if you can find a table in the crowd, sit down right away, order, and realise what a mistake you made saying you'd eaten katmer in other cities. In this shop, the smell of the katmer dough, the clotted cream put inside, the Antep pistachios and the sugar fills the whole shop. The happiness and feeling of that first warm mouthful is wonderful :)
1 portion of katmer is sold for 17₺. If you're not someone who eats a lot, 1 portion is enough for 2 people in size and flavour.
Beyran - Metanet Restaurant
The most famous address for Beyran in Gaziantep.Metanet Restaurant takes its name from the patient pounding of lamb neck. We went before 7 o'clock and woke up to the day with a piping hot beyran. It's prepared in a few seconds with garlic, lemon, dried silk pepper and meat stock. A feast for the palate; even writing this makes you crave it... We saved it as an address you must come to on an Antep route!
Flavour Stop - İmam Çağdaş
Now it was time to taste Antep's other lovely flavours. For this, the place in the city that has made the biggest name in kebabs is İmam Çağdaş.
İmam Çağdaş is the work of an İmam Usta who said: "The mind and the eye can be fooled, but the palate can't. You can't deceive it!" Today it's the address of the century-old story, from 1887 to the present, of İmam Çağdaş, Gaziantep's oldest food spot, which has become a legend. I can say one of the best kebabs is made at this address. But unfortunately I can't say the same for the baklava. I'll come to baklava below. Apart from that, inside it's very crowded and noisy. Prices seem above average, but there's nothing to say about the flavour. One of the interesting things here is that ayran is served in a copper bowl with a different, wide spoon. You can easily find these bowls and wide spoons at one of the coppersmiths in the city. As far as I remember, the prices were: aubergine kebab 25 TL, onion kebab 25 TL, küşleme 25 TL, lahmacun 5 TL, ayran 4 TL, a portion of mixed baklava 17 TL. We were also quite surprised that there was no içli köfte.
Baklava - Koçak Baklava
I can say it's the best baklava maker in Turkey. They've probably found the golden ratio in baklava and offer us this flavour. They sprinkle Antep pistachios mercilessly, in a way we'd never see in Istanbul. For 3-4 years it has also been first in Antep for out-of-town orders.
As a gift you can choose dry baklava or special square baklava. With life getting more expensive in the last few years, baklava has had its share of that too. Special square baklava is on sale for 82 TL a kilogram, and square baklava for 70 TL.
Şöbiyet - Zeki İnal
Before we went, everyone was naming this place for şöbiyet. Friends, while every dessert we ate in Antep was really perfect, for şöbiyet this place became a living legend.When I talked to Levent İnal, son of Zeki İnal, he said his father learned the dessert-making trade from his own father at the age of 13, and that the family has been making desserts for 4 generations. The secret of its unique flavour is the generously laid Antep pistachios and butter made from the milk of animals fed on fresh grass in spring. I don't think you'll ever eat a şöbiyet like this anywhere else!
Coffee&Tea - Tahmis Coffee
Sometimes in a historic coffee house, sometimes in a restored mansion, sometimes outdoors in one of the large parks; drinking tea and coffee in Gaziantep was more enjoyable.😎Among these places there's one that has come down to us from the pages of history, and has even become lovelier after being restored: the Historic Tahmis Coffee House.📍☕ If your road leads to Gaziantep, I'd say definitely go. Menengiç coffee and zahter tea are our favourites😋
SHOPPING IN GAZİANTEP
In such a gourmet city, shopping options come in a very wide range. In the old bazaars and markets in the centre there are copper objects, hand-embroidered products and woven kilims&carpets.
In our Flavour Stop city you can buy peppers, aubergines, courgettes, pepper flakes, zahter, bulgur, safflower, grapes, halvas and of course the essential Antep Pistachio. The products you buy reach you first-hand and are affordable compared with places like Istanbul.
CYCLING IN GAZİANTEP
Gaziantep has a wonderful bike lane. When a bike lane appeared in front of us while we were only just starting to discover the city, it both made us very happy and filled us with lovely excitement. The bike lane is 24 km long, both ways.
When Şahinbey Municipality built the bike lanes, it gave 3,500 bikes to successful students as report-card gifts. We applaud them once again.
You can do lovely tours and rides by bike! 😎
48 km
146 km
146 km