Kayseri Food and Drink Guide - Anatolia Tour

Even someone with no connection to Kayseri definitely knows Kayseri Mantı, pastırma and sucuk. You can't go to Kayseri and come back without eating these local flavours. In Kayseri, the taste of eating Kayseri mantı, Kayseri pastırma and Kayseri sucuk is something else. Besides these, we had the chance to taste many special dishes like okra soup, yağlama, yağ mantısı, Develi cıvıklısı and nevzine dessert. We have so many food stops in the city that we wanted to write a new post just for this. With suggestions from our followers too, we found very lovely places; let's tell you about them briefly. Here's Kayseri Food and Drink..

Before I forget, we're sure all these local flavours are much better the way mothers make them at home. In fact, from what we heard from our followers in Kayseri, the locals apparently don't eat these outside the home 🙈 Bless them, they invited us sooo many times; if only we could have made it work, but we'll come again. Best to try to sit at a Kayseri family's table, and don't dismiss our suggestions either☺

İskender & Yağlama - Elmacıoğlu ❤

Until we went to Elmacıoğlu, it would never have occurred to me that we'd eat iskender here. It turns out that when you say Kayseri and iskender, Elmacıoğlu comes first. In the city it's both the local people's choice for iskender and one of the first stops for us travellers and tourists.

You can also taste okra soup here, another flavour unique to Kayseri. If you say let's go as 1-2 people and taste all the dishes, you may not finish the portions. Our group was big every time we went, so we had the chance to taste them all. Since all the dishes have butter and tomato paste, they can feel heavy; it's best to order a little of each to share👍🏼

Don't think a super special taste awaits you when it comes to iskender. It's an above-standard iskender, and the prices are very reasonable. As we said above, our favourites were the yağlama and the okra soup. 😬😋

Getting there: You can find Elmacıoğlu in many places in the city. Our suggestion is to go to the restaurant right behind Kayseri Castle. If not there, there's another big restaurant within walking distance of Kayseri Park.

Kemal Koçak Restaurant

There are lots of food options in the city. On our very first visit, the receptionist at the hotel where we stayed had recommended Kemal Koçak to us. So we set off, and we're so glad we went. What a good thing we did. I can still taste it! 😋

The place's attention to detail, quality of service and decoration are very nice. It has a nice steakhouse concept, and combined with the region's local flavours it's a real treat. I highly recommend it. 😬

As for prices: okra soup 14₺, mini cıvıklı 15₺, mantı 20₺, pastırma in paper 19₺ and grilled sucuk 15₺.

Our favourites here were the mini cıvıklı and the grilled sucuk. The dough of its yağlama was very thick; on this, I can say Elmacıoğlu is definitely ahead. They've also prepared a plate where you can find all the local flavours as tasters. The desserts can be called above average.

Kayseri Mantı - Kaşıkla

The first dish that comes to mind when you say Kayseri is of course mantı! For mantı we were a bit patient, and on the second day we headed for Kaşık-la. The only reason we went here was the mantı; it could be called ordinary. There are other local flavours too; I think the nevzine dessert was only here.

Oily dishes with tomato paste aren't for us; we'd like to say we didn't really find what we'd hoped for here. If you'll eat mantı, Elmacıoğlu is also a good choice.

Cıvıklı Pide - Develi

We'd have liked to eat the cıvıklı pide, which comes from Kayseri's Develi district, in its home town, but even the pide at Kemal Koçak was enough for us. The secret of the taste here is the dough being thin, and Kemal Koçak does it more than justice. On our next visit we'd of course like to do a tasting on the spot in Develi, 50 km from the centre! Next time 🔜

Pastırma & Sucuk - Beğendik Et

The reason sucuk and pastırma are so loved in the city goes back a long way, to the 1920s. In this lovely city, if you want to eat, or take as a gift, sucuk and pastırma in their purest and best form, we suggest buying evlik (for the home) sucuk. The taste of evlik sucuk, made without any additives, from mince, spices and drying in the sun, is wonderful too. The people of Kayseri care more about the sucuk they buy for their own home than about gift sucuk. Let's not write more detail and make them angry. 😋

If you'll buy sucuk here, you don't have many brand options. Şahin, Başyazıcılar and İmamoğlu Sucuk come up everywhere. Based on our earlier experience, we chose İmamoğlu Sucuk, which has the least spice. Prices per kilo are İmamoğlu 50₺, and Başyazıcılar and Çoşkun between 52-54₺.

As for pastırma, here too prices go from 70₺ up to 130₺. What changes the price here is which part of the animal the meat used to make the pastırma comes from. For example, the cheapest pastırma is made from meat from the animal's legs, and the most expensive from meat from the animal's back. Our choice is Beğendik Et, and you can also shop from them online.
Enjoy your meal!