4 Best Restaurants in The Black Sea Coast and Lake Van, Turkey

Open since 1887, Imam Çağdaş is certainly doing something right, as the crowds that pack this restaurant in the bazaar district day and night will tell you. Besides top notch lahmucan (crispy stone baked dough topped with spiced minced meat), there's a small menu of standard kebabs such as ali nazik (minced-meat kebab served on a puree of roasted eggplant, garlic, and yogurt) and the sebzeli kebab, a skewer of grilled vegetables and lamb minced with garlic and parsley. The star however is the terrific syrupy baklava, so widely regarded as the best in the country that orders have regularly been received from Turkish presidents and from as far afield as Fidel Castro.

This little shop inside a spice bazaar is considered by many Turks nationwide to have the best baklava in the country. Run by a fifth-generation baklava maker, this humble store turns out a delicious version of the classic dessert, as well as other phyllo-and-nut-based sweets.

Head here for a break from kebabs and to get a taste of classic Gaziantep home cooking. A local woman who returned to Gaziantep after living in Europe for several years rotates her menu on a regular basis, but the food is consistently good. Dishes to try include kapamala firik pilavı (roasted cracked wheat topped with tender lamb) and çacıklı arap köfte (balls of fried bulgur wheat served on a yogurt and purslane base). For dessert try the local specialty zerde sutlaç (rice pudding with a saffron topping). The restaurant is bit difficult to find— but it's one block east of Fevzi Çakmak Caddesi, which runs north from the Gaziantep Museum.