Eat Well

Ankara döner, Ankara tava and the capital's table

A döner that isn't the döner you know, lamb baked on orzo, a simit that isn't Istanbul's — the small, stubborn cuisine of a city people say has none.

₺lunchlunchtime — döner is a midday food here and the good shops sell out

Not yet checked by the Smileys team — prices and hours may have moved.

Save for later — join Smileys

Why do it?

Ankara gets called a city without a cuisine, usually by people from cities with a sea. It isn't true, it's just that the food is plain and proud. Ankara döner is the clearest case: lamb, never mince, marinated lightly and cooked slowly over oak charcoal, then shaved off the spit in thin leaves and served on pide with nothing but the meat's own fat — no sauce, no salad, and the old Ulus shops will look at you if you ask. Ankara tava is the Sunday dish: lamb braised on orzo (arpa şehriye) in a big tray until the top crisps. Around them are the steppe things — tandır lamb, the Ankara simit (darker and crisper-crusted than Istanbul's), Beypazarı kurusu with tea, Kızılcahamam's mineral water, çubuk pickles from the town of Çubuk, and the honey and dried fruit that come down from the villages to the markets. It is a shepherd's and a civil servant's table: filling, cheap, unshowy.

The Smileys Take

Do döner first, in Ulus, at lunch, at one of the old counters rather than a chain — the room will be plain, the portion will be honest, and you'll understand the dish. Then find Ankara tava on a menu that says 'yöresel' and order it for the table. Work through the rest over a month at the Sunday markets. Prices here are the lowest of any big Turkish city; a good lunch is a Smileys outing that costs nothing to organise. We deliberately name no shops — Ankara's food arguments are as old as the republic and every member has a different 'the real one'. Ask on the group and go with whoever is loudest.

The capital's table

Ankara döner — lamb, oak-charcoal, sliced in thin leaves, no sauce. Lunch only. Lunch only.
Ankara tava — lamb baked on orzo; a shared dish for a group.
Ankara simidi — darker and crisper-crusted than Istanbul's softer one; buy it from a cart at breakfast.
Beypazarı kurusu and 80-katlı baklava — the tea-time sweets.
Çubuk turşusu — the pickles of Çubuk district, sold in jars at every market.