i visit turkey allot so i asked a turkish friend to try something local. so that day for lunch we decided to try cağ kebap. this unique type of kebap looks like a horizontal döner kebab. the origin of the cağ kebap is the city erzurum, in eastern anatolia. it is lamb meat grilling over wood fire. when served it is presented on small skewers served with special thin soft bread, a type of unleavened flatbread that looks like a large thin tortilla.
the restaurant is small in the ground floor there are maybe 2 or 3 tables inside, i didn’t go to the second floor so i’m not sure how many table are there. but the best thing to do is to sit outside, you enjoy istanbul’s weather and you manage to observe the buzz life of its city streets. the tables are small and you get to interact with your neighbors, it can be fun and it is different for sure.
the menu is limited; they serve cağ kebap, soup of day and side dishes.
my two friends ordered the classic menu is cağ kebap skewers, flatbread. i ordered the cağ kebap as a sandwich in the wide turkish baguette bread, i asked for double portion of meat. the classic menu was a sort of free refill for skewers, whenever you are done you are served two extra skewers with an extra flatbread until you say enough!!! our waiter felt sorry for me so he gave me extra skewers and flatbread too. the meat is tender and juicy, there is a bit of fat on the sides of the meat bites but you can easily remove it. the cağ kebap gets a 9/10.
our food was accompanied by ezme salad (spicy tomato salad), homemade yogurt in a clay pot 10/10 and a green salad and an onion salad. this yogurt was thick, silky & delicious yogurt, it reminded me of the yogurt my grandmother used to make at home. it is rare to find this original yogurt these days.
tea was offered to us complimentary it came with a sort of kunefe or kadayıf filled with walnuts.
if you can’t make it to erzurum, pay a visit to şehzade for this special meal. all in all with 3 soft drinks, 3 kebap, soup, salads, yogurt, desert and tea we paid 150try. it is worth it for sure. whenever i’m back in istanbul i will definitely consider going to şehzade.