İmam Çağdaş - Gaziantep (Turkey)

@imamcagdas1887 is an institution and one of the most popular restaurants in Gaziantep.

Following the staff`’s kind suggestion, I had a Lahmacun to open up my appetite. It arrived shortly thereafter, with a thin and crispy dough below a very well seasoned filling. A great start to a meal that was just about to get better.

From the beginning, I had my eyes set on a very specific dish that İmam Çağdaş specializes in, the Alinazik kebab.

It consisted of a bed of smashed eggplant on the bottom, covered in a yogurt sauce and then topped with three beautiful lamb kebabs, with a gentle drip of a chilli oil over it all.

I found the dish fascinating and very complex. The kebabs were inexplicably tender and melted in the mouth even before any biting effort was made. The eggplant was smoky, while the yogurt brought an elegant sourness to balance out the sweeter notes coming from the vegetable. It was an absolute masterpiece, one of those that Antep never ceases to provide.

As İmam Çağdaş also happens to be a very well established baklava brand, I knew what I had to do and immediately called the waiter once I finished my plate to order a few pieces to go along with some çay.

(Versão em Português nos comentários) Less