Adana Kebabı, and What Comes With It

Hester Callow · 7 August 2026

The city's export. Ordering it here is not quite the same transaction as ordering it anywhere else.

What It Actually Is

Hand-minced lamb with tail fat and red pepper, pressed onto a wide flat skewer and cooked over charcoal. The name is protected and the recipe is specific, which locals will tell you at length and correctly. Details are set out on its Wikipedia entry.

The fat is the point and the reason the imitation version elsewhere is disappointing. Lean mince on a skewer is a different and lesser food.

It Is Not One Dish

What arrives is a table rather than a plate: the kebab, flatbread, grilled peppers and tomato, raw onion with sumac, a great deal of parsley, and more bread.

Eat it by tearing bread, laying on kebab, adding onion and parsley, and folding. Cutlery is available and is not what the meal was designed around.

Where

The kebab houses along the old streets near the bazaar are where to go rather than anywhere with a laminated menu in four languages.

Lunch is the meal here. Many of the best places are busiest at one in the afternoon and closed by early evening, which surprises visitors expecting a dinner culture.

The Other Things on the Menu

Almost every kebab house does a short list of cold mezze first, and the one worth ordering is the walnut and pepper paste, which is regional and which travels badly outside the province.

Order less than you think. The bread and the salad are not a starter, they are part of the main event, and they arrive whether you asked or not.