Determining your route
Each trip generates a certain excitement but embarking on a food tour is another level entirely. Yet, decisions must be made. So, which city is the best launching point for exploring the cuisines of Diyarbakır, Urfa and Mardin?
We think that the Diyarbakır-Şanlıurfa-Mardin or the Şanlıurfa-Mardin-Diyarbakır routes make the most sense, because so many flights to both Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa are available from İstanbul or Ankara. You can visit the Turkish Airlines airfare page to get started. Keep in mind that you can also rent a car with Turkish Airlines advantages!
Authentic and delicious: The food of Diyarbakır
Whether you begin or end your trip in Diyarbakır, the city has a delicious heritage, with its warm climate and nearly ten thousand years of history. Placed at the intersection of the Mesopotamian and Anatolian civilizations, Diyarbakır’s blended cultures are reflected in Diyarbakır’s cuisine.
In Diyarbakır, meat dishes and kebab varieties are dominant on the culinary landscape, with sheep and lamb a frequent ingredient. To further flavor these savory dishes, spices like sumac and coriander are used to give a hint of sourness. But Diyarbakır offers more than just meats: this agricultural region produces various grains and legumes, as well as pomegranates, grapes and walnuts. Dried vegetables are also prominent on the city’s dining tables.
Now we dive a little deeper into the cuisine of this well-established city. Your white cloth on your table, your plate and fork in front of you; It is time to taste and get to know the famous Diyarbakır dishes!
Dining in Diyarbakır
Breakfast is an important meal in Diyarbakır, with liver playing a leading role, especially breakfast kebabs made from lamb’s liver. Other wonderful specialties are meftune (lamb meat and vegetables with garlic and sumac), pıçık (bulgur patties), nardanaş (meatballs and chickpeas with pomegranate), duvaklı pilav (rice layered with minced meat and almonds), patlıcan dizmesi (eggplant and meatballs with tomato sauce), kaburga dolması (mutton ribs stuffed with liver, rice, spices and nuts), elma düzmesi (baked stuffed apples with whipped cream), cartlak kebabı (a type of liver kebab), ayvalı kavurma (roasted quince), mumbar dolması (stuffed sheep sausage) and bostana salatası (a salad of finely chopped parsley, purslane and green pepper in pomegranate molasses).
You’ve booked your Diyarbakır plane ticket and you’re ready to taste Diyarbakır’s cuisine. Since time is limited on this trip, we’ve listed some of the city’s culinary highlights – and where to eat them:
Diyarbakır liver
Umut Ciğercisi
Onur Ocakbaşı
Kebab and lahmacun
Diyarbakır Lahmacun Merkezi
Meşhur Kebapçı Hacı Halid
Fırın-ci Diyarbakır
Nasır Usta
Buket Lahmacun
Mumbar dolması (stuffed sheep sausage) and kaburga dolma (stuffed ribs)
Paçacı Fazıl Usta
Kaburgacı Selim Amca
Fıstıklı burma kadayıf (Twisted kadayif with pistachio)
Sıtkı Usta
Kadayıfçı Saim Usta
Hacı Levent
And while you’re in Diyarbakır, visit…
- Diyarbakır Kültür Evi (Diyarbakır Culture House)
- Diyarbakır Ulu Camii (Diyarbakır Grand Mosque)
- Diyarbakır Surları (Diyarbakır City Walls)
- Sülüklü Han (Sülüklü Inn) – you can sample the famous Diyarbakır menengiç coffee here!
Live to eat: The food of Urfa
We now arrive in Şanlıurfa, the home of one of our country’s richest cuisines. Lahmacun, içli köfte (stuffed meatballs) and çiğ köfte are almost synonymous with Şanlıurfa, which is said to have dishes so spectacular that residents do not merely eat to live – but live to eat!
Urfa’s cuisine and culinary culture showcases meats and legumes, as well as spices like the famous Urfa isot pepper, sumac and za’atar, along with handmade sauces such as pomegranate syrup. Vegetables, particularly eggplant and onions, are prominent in local dishes.
Is your appetite whetted? If so, click here to book a flight to Şanlıurfa. Also, keep reading to learn more dining in Şanlıurfa.
Dining in Urfa
There’s a lot to eat in Urfa and if time is limited, we recommend the strategy of focusing on Urfa’s most famous and unforgettable dishes.
These include the following – and all feature natural and flavorful local ingredients: söğürme (roasted eggplant), Urfa-style kebabs, tirit (a mixture of boiled meat and local flatbread), borani (creamy spinach salad with lamb and vegetable patties), kuru dolma (stuffed dried vegetables), semsek (deep-fried pastry), ağzı açık (small, deep-fried lahmacun), lebeni (cold yogurt soup), kazan kebabı (roasted eggplant kebab), yumurtalı köfte (bulgur patties with egg), aya köftesi (hand-pressed patties of meat and bulgur), patlıcanlı kebap (eggplant and minced meat kebab), domates kebabı (tomato and meat kebab), Urfa külünçesi (a flat, crunchy biscuit that can be sweet or savory), şıllık tatlısı (crepes with syrup and walnuts), katmer (crisp flaky pastry with Urfa cheese and syrup), peynirli kadayıf (sweet pastry with cheese) and hırtlevik (a type of rolled baklava). Kebab varieties and çiğ köfte (raw spicy meat patties; the vegetarian version uses bulgar) are available at most restaurants in Urfa. Below are some of the highlights of Urfa’s cuisine – and where to eat them:
Eggplant Kebab
Dedecan Ocakbaşı
Gülbaba Lokantası
Lahmacun
Çulcuoğlu Restoran
Gümrük Han
Çiğ köfte
Şanlıurfa Gülizar Konuk Evi
Cevahir Konuk Evi
Urfa kebab
Altın Restoran
And while you’re in Urfa, visit…
- Balıklı Göl (Halil ur-Rahman Lake)
- Göbeklitepe
- Eyyüp Peygamber Makamı ve Camisi (Prophet Eyyup Mosque)
- The Şanlıurfa Archeology and Mosaic Museum
A meeting of cultures: Spices and herbs
Now we move on to Mardin! While Mardin’s local dishes carry the regional characteristics of the Southeastern Anatolia region, it has a distinctive quality attributable to the cultural blend of the city, which includes Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions.
Like the other cities of this golden southeastern triangle, meat is a major player in the kitchen, along with offal and bulgur. But Mardin’s cuisine is distinguished by a liberal use of spices, as well as the deployment of fruit in its various meat dishes. Well known spices such as cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, ginger and allspice are used here, as are salep (extracted from the roots of the orchid plant) and mahlep (an aromatic spice made from cherry pits). In addition, local herbs and vegetables are used extensively; these include wild cucumbers, thuja (a type of evergreen), licorice, gözdaşı (wild rue), sweet fennel, fenugreek, lemon balm, hibiscus, green chickpeas and gundelia (a type of vegetable).
Dining in Mardin
Along with its quaint stone houses, churches and mosques, Mardin has a gastronomic richness that seems endless. We list some of the city’s most beloved dishes below:
Soğan kebabı (onion kebab), Mardin kebabı (Mardin-style kebab), kaburga dolması (stuffed ribs), kibbe (stuffed tripe), dobo (stuffed lamb), zıngıl (Turkish donuts with syrup), irok (Mardin-style stuffed meatballs), alluciye (plum stew), firkiye (lamb with fresh almonds), sembusek (a savory stuffed pastry), killice (Mardin-style scones) and harire (a type of flour pudding with grape molasses).
Are you ready to book a ticket to Mardin and discover these unique flavors of Mardin’s cuisine?
Kebap varieties
Kebapçı Yusuf Usta
Kebapçı Rıdo
Çağ Urfa Sofrası
Kabadayı Beşir’in Yeri
İrok, sembusek, kaburga dolması (stuffed ribs)
Bağdadi Restoran
Şahmeran Mahalli Yemekler
Desserts
Bağdadi Restoran (Harire dessert)
And while you’re in Mardin, visit…
- Mardin Castle
- Mardin’s narrow streets and stone houses
- Midyat Clock Tower
- Mardin Museum
Now that we’ve guided you through this wonderful southeastern Anatolian gastronomic route, check out more of the region’s excellent eating at Culinary routes: Dining in Gaziantep, Hatay and Adana.
