Food & Beverage

Döner kebab or döner with a more common name dates back to Turkey but it is popular in nearly all the world nowadays. Even though the ingredients, the meat, and spices differ from one to another, they all are the döner and take their origin from our country. In most of the countries, you can hear shawarma, gyros, tacos al pastor, kabab Torki, and many more. But the basis of döner is really simple, beaten meat is being seasoned with suet, local herbs, and spices and then skewering them on a spit, grill vertically. In the original version, the meat of döner was lamb but in most of the restaurants, they use lamb and beef mixture or just beef. In some places, you can find chicken döner too, which is very popular because of its price and some people prefer this not only for the price but only for taste too.

The origin of döner kebap remains unknown but we know that in Sumerian, kabuba means to cook on ember, and in Arabic it means fried meat. So, when you compare kebab with kabuba, it actually makes sense. In its Turkish meaning, it means that grilled or broiled meat on a vertical skewer or stick. There is one version called ”Cağ Kebabı” which is a kebab, laterally cooked instead of vertically and it is very popular in the city of Erzurum. According to some myths, some people think that kebabs come from Nomadic tribesmen when they grilled meat on their swords.

A famous traveler named Evliya Çelebi mentions kebab as a stack of meat in his book and in 1860, Iskender Efendi from Bursa gave the kebab a new aspect which is called Iskender Kebab and started to cook it on a vertical skewer and slicing it in thin forms. He is the one that invented the famous Iskender Kebab.

Best Döner Kebab Choices

Since there are lots of döner kebab versions, we just wanted to make a shortlist for the best versions of it. You can find these in Istanbul easily and you can even find them close to our Sultanahmet Hotel, Sura Hotels

The first one is, of course, döner kebab. The meat differs from place to plşace and it can be just lamb, lamb and beef mix, chicken, or complete beef. In some parts of Turkey, they make döner out of sujuk too. If you want to eat a potion, they probably serve you on a plate with rice or fried potatoes and salad. With the new century, it has become a fast-food dish so you can ask for a wrap or sandwich too. Pide, which is a kind of pita bread is popular too.

Döner Wrap is our other most popular dish and you can find that in nearly every corner of Istanbul. As you can guess from the name, it is döner in a wrap and they use tomatoes, salad, potatoes, and different sauces inside of it. There are lots of types of döner wrap and it depends according to your taste. It is among the most consumed fast foods in Turkey though.

Iskender Kebab gets its name from Iskender Efendi, the inventor of Iskender kebab. It is a döner meat served on pieces of pide, dressed with butter and yogurt on a side of the plate. You can ask for extra tomato sauce and extra butter if you can handle this and they call it Bursa Kebabı too since the Iskender Efendi originated from Bursa. Especially when a tourist visits Istanbul or Bursa, we insist on them to try this unique dish which will make you go crazy even with the smell.  Don’t forget to try this mouth-watering dish before you exit Turkey