One of the most beautiful cities of the Silk Road, and the home of many cultures and beliefs, Mardin, the enchanted city in the middle of the steppe, does justice to its reputation with the diversity in its cuisine. From soups to desserts, from kebabs to appetizers, there is a flavour for every palate.
The Star of Meals: Breakfast
Especially if you like baked goods with mahaleb, cinnamon, cloves or cardamom, you are in a place where you’ll have a feast of taste. These spices, which are used in many cities in Mesopotamia, are almost the star of cuisine in Mardin.
Thanks to the beautiful Mardin hotels, you can easily reach many flavours of the region for breakfast. If you want a mixed breakfast, the famous breakfast restaurant Kadri, which has a wide variety of breakfast options and was selected as the best breakfast provider in the 2019-2020 period, offers a suitable environment for families with children, both with its local breakfast opportunity and its relevant employees and playground.
If you want to discover more local delicacies instead of the classic breakfast, Paşavat Fırını or Paşavat Local Mardin Pastry or Assyrian Pastry is ready to fascinate you with their tastes. You can savour the baked goods that you can taste with honey and cream at Atilla Tea Garden, which is famous for its scenery and the beauty of its tea. If you wish to enjoy the view at Atilla Tea Garden, you can also go out with a cup of coffee against the sunset.
Kardesler Odunlu Ekmek Fırını with its bakery products, Seyr-i Merdin and Hanzade Breakfast and Cafe both with their views and breakfast presentations are among the alternative places you can choose.
Stop by Midyat for Lunch
Although lamb meat is mostly preferred in meat dishes in the region, it is possible to find meat from dairy veal, especially in doner kebabs. When you are looking for both juicy and local dishes from drape pilaf to lamb’s shank, there are two places you should go to in Mardin. Çağdaş Et Lokantası or Cihan Et Lokantası in Midyat are places where you can find many flavours from ribs to doner kebab, from tandoori to local flavours iroğa, sembuseğe. In the restaurant where many different appetizers are served, you can collect almost all flavors on a single plate with the Midyat plate. Don’t forget to visit the Midyat Culture House, Midyat Bazaar and Mor Gabriel Monastery while you are in Midyat after your meal.
If you are bored of eating meat or if you have left your meat meal for the evening and have time to visit, Kafro’s Pizzeria, named after the village where it is located, offers you an alternative pizza. Pizzas made with sourdough have more than twenty seasonal variations. The most preferred flavours in the Kafro menu, which includes vegetarian pizzas, are pizzas with seasoned chicken.
The pizzeria, located in the Elbegendi region, is quite famous in the region. It is the stop of many Mardin tours as well as those coming from the center of Mardin and the surrounding provinces. After a pleasant family meal, the museum-like houses and streets of Kafro Village promise you unforgettable memories.
For Dinner: Let’s Go to Mardin
Combining coriander, ginger, allspice, sumac, chili pepper and almonds all at once, Mardin cuisine brings surprise after surprise at every meal. Dinner is like a feast in Mardin, from soup to rice, from appetizers to meat dishes, to dessert.
Cercis Murat Mansion, where the traditional Mardin cuisine is integrated with the historical Mardin architecture, is one of the places where you can have a pleasant time with your family, both with its flavours and its authentic atmosphere. The menu of Cercis Murat Mansion consists of some local flavours; kişk soup, eggplant rice with cinnamon mahlep, alluciye (sour plum stew), incasiye (plum pan with molasses), kitel raha (Assyrian kebbah), hımmisiye (sour chickpea dish), cauldron kebab, ribs stuffed garlic leaves, dobo (lamb leg, almond, garlic, allspice). In addition to the main dishes, you can find the appetizers that are begun to be forgotten such as tebbuli, tebbel, muammara, kiremfum and megbus in the menu. Don’t forget to call and make a reservation before going to the restaurant, which is busy in some periods.
If you want to enjoy Mardin kebab while you’re in Mardin, Kebapçı Yusuf Usta is waiting for you with its unique flavour. Mardin kebab, which disperses like bulgur, is available in four varieties: plain, spicy, pistachio and walnut. In addition to kebabs served with many appetizers, especially Çiğköfte (chee kofta), meat and chicken skewers can also be found in the menu.
End of the Day with Dessert and Bitter Coffee
If you want to end the day with dessert, you can cheer up your palate with tea next to dessert at Sadık Künefe. If you want to drink a coffee of tiredness at the end of the day instead of dessert, you can sip your Dibek coffee in an authentic environment at the Marangozlar Kahvesi, against the vast Mesopotamian view.
Before you set off on your way back, do not forget to make a small package of the delicacies to be taken from Mardin. Here are the things that should be in the package: coffee blended with cardamom, freshly roasted Mardin chickpeas around the Grand Mosque, Mardin-style hardtacks, Mardin buns, Assyrian muffins with almonds and dates, and the famous blue almond candy, aka ghost sugar, famous Mardin soaps, especially the Bıttım soap, which takes its colour from the Lahore tree.
