Monday

Siirt Şeref Büryan Kebap Salonu: The Lamb Underground

(Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to reflect the fact that the restaurant has changed locations. The food remains as good as ever.)

The Kadinlar Pazari – a very pleasant, pedestrian-only square in Istanbul’s Fatih neighborhood – is the closest the city has to having a “Little Kurdistan.” The surrounding area is populated by migrants from Turkey’s predominantly-Kurdish southeast, and small markets and butcher shops selling honey, cheeses, spices and other goodies from the region surround the square. Visiting the atmospheric area is certainly a good way to get a taste of Turkey’s east without having to leave Istanbul.

The square is also home to numerous restaurants, most of them selling büryan kebap and perde pilav, two dishes that are a specialty of Siirt, a city not far from Turkey’s Syrian and Iraqi borders that’s home to both Kurds and Arabs. Continue…