Wednesday

Read Between the Buns 3: Istanbul’s Burgers

4 Comments April 14, 2010 – 11:08 am | Permalink |  Print This Post |

(Editor’s Note: We’ve been looking this week at some of the new burger places that have recently opened up in Istanbul. After trying out some of these new joints, our thoughts kept drifting back to the classic “Wet Burger” served by Kizilkayalar in Taksim. A true Turkish original, the “Wet Burger” hits so many right notes in one little package that we decided to include it in our burger roundup. Below is our original review of Kizilkayalar.)

The sign may read “Wet Burger” (“Islak Burger” in Turkish), but there’s a lot more to say about Kizilkayalar’s moist mini patties than that. How about “Heavenly Slider,” “Binge Drinker’s Delight,” or “The Best 2 Lira Ever Spent in Taksim Square?”

The Kizilkayalar experience starts from a distance, most vividly late at night. It begins with a whiff of garlic detected well across Taksim Square, then, through the bustling crowd, eyes lock onto the bright lights of the steam box holding the burger bounty. Hungry customers are finally tugged in, like a tanker on the Bosphorus, by the steady foghorn voice of the Kizilkayalar hamburger man bellowing “buyurun, buyurun, buyurun!” (roughly: “come and get it!”).

Make no mistake, the burger is wet, having been doused by an oily, tomato-based sauce before incubating in a glass-lined burger hamam. There, it becomes even wetter, the once fluffy white bun rendered a greasy, finger-licking radioactive shade of orange, both chewy and slick on either side of the garlicky beef patty. Like an order of nachos at the movies, or an elephant ear at the carnival, the wet burger is a sinful pleasure that flies in the face of our otherwise high culinary standards. But at 2 AM on a Friday night, nothing is as good as a Kizilkayalar wet burger – except for another one.

Though Kizilkayalar does have a cramped indoor seating area, we recommend eating it standing up out front. That way, it’s easier to fish a couple of coins from your pocket for the second round.

Address: Siraselviler Caddesi 6, Taksim Square (Open 24-7)
(photo by Jonathan Lewis)

In case you didn’t know, Istanbul Eats now lives over at Culinary Backstreets. Same great culinary walks, same great culinary writing. You’ll be redirected there in a few seconds!

Tweet