Blog 15: The best of Adana Kebab 2012

Blog 15: Good bye and the best of Adana Kebab

Dec 6^th, 2012

We’ll it’s time to say good bye to Adana for another year and as I do, I would like to thank all those that have contacted me whilst blogging and also those that have made me welcome whilst in Adana in 2012. I will be back, that’s one guarantee!!

I also wish to thank my fabulous parents-in-law, Salim and Mehtap for their wonderful hospitality. My wife’s mother, Mehtap is an awesome cook of traditional Turkish foods and her father Salim grows all the vegetables so easy and perfect!  So unfortunately I haven’t lost any weight in our time here this year! LEZZETLI (delicious!!!)

If it’s ok with all of you I will continue to blog about Adana (so keep checking in from time to time for new blogs) In doing these blogs I have realised just how much there is to blog about Adana!! What a wonderful place!

I have so many stories and experiences and further interesting places to blog about so stay tuned to this "aussieinadana". I have literally a library of thousands of photos to share and much more to say.

Alternatively drop in on "Adana Adventures" at (link at the top) for an authorative web site from a chap (Jake Olson) who lived here until recently. You really won't find a better site about Adana from a foreign perspective.  

I will also dedicate at least 1 blog to where I live when I arrive back home later this month, about my life in Australia so my Turkish friends can gain an insight into cultural differences.

I’m currently I’m in Istanbul for the last week of my stay in Turkey. It’s cold and wet here in Istanbul! :-/ But we are made to feel welcome by Aylin’s sister and brother-in-law so it’s nice here.

Istanbul today 6th Dec - Cold, wet, but nice still.

But for this blog I want to share my thoughts on “Mas Kebab”, my favourite Adana Kebab restaurant. Future blogs won’t cover Kebabs so intensily so this is a final critic before I return again.

Mas Kebab was the first restrurant I tasted "Adana Kebab" in 2008 and now is always the last Kebab I eat before I leave the city each year. I know I rave on about Adana Kebab’s but it’s my favourite food in Turkey, made best here in Adana so don't bother anywhere else if you see it's name. It's not a true Adana Kebab unless it's made here!! I have become a bit of an critic of what makes a good Kebab now.

Mas Kebab.

Mas Kebab, 322 453 37 65, kurtulus Mah.Mücahitler Cad.Sunaoğlu Apt. No:17 Seyhan / Adana , Kebapçı - No: 17 Seyhan / Adana Kebab

This restaurant I am told by my wife’s family started with a very humble beginning, as  a small street kebab shop but with a great taste. It has grown over the years with reputation and expanded very much from its simple beginnings. (you can see lots of old photos in the shop like this one)

What was once a humble small restaurant is now a classy, clean and over-all well-presented large restaurant offering both large outdoor and indoor seating. The restaurant even is divided into special sections for preparation like salads etc..

When you first arrive at Mas Kebab you are attended to by very well dressed waiters that check up on you often throughout the meal to see if there’s anything else they can serve you.

The seating is comfortable and the tables have a fine black marble sparkly finish that works well with the overall appearance. The ceiling and walls all finished very well to create a very stylish effect.

You will notice straight away by the introduction of Salads to the table that Mass Kebab is a “step-up” from your average Kebab restaurant. You paid for that step-up but, let me tell you, it’s worth every cent as the Kebabs here are to die for!
Don’t get me wrong, Mas Kebab is more expensive that others I have blogged about but it’s still not expensive for what you get and not like a fine French Restaurant price or meal.
(French restaurant meal = expensive, perfectly presented by a master chef, but small and super expensive, usually followed by McDonalds on the way home to fill you up! lol )

All that to say, we’ve paid a lot more in Adana for a Adana Kebab that are much inferior to this Mas Kebab.

The salads are superior and it pays off that they have a separate section dedicated to the preparation of salads. Although served salad is not quite as perfectly presented as those in the picture that’s above the counter in the entry area, they are never-the-less, very presentable.

All the right salads and all the right tastes. fresh, spiced, just right! :-)

They asked us if we wanted our Kebab spiced hot or mild and I chose mild because we were in the company of Aylin’s Father Salim, and “Baba”(father) is famous for his hot chilli’s that he grows on the his apartment balcony. They are seriously hot “aci” (ager). Just because he was with us my phycology told me this Kebab spice would be “aci” as well so I declined.

I was wrong. The Hotter lamb kebab strip was perfect, spiced so you could taste every little section you break off to wrap in your bread with salad.
But the main spice difference between hot and mild that I found was the bread. Let me tell you the mild is mild, tasty but mild. On the other hand the hot spiced bread was not so hot but, omg, totally delicious!! I found myself requesting an exchange of my mild bread for the hotter variety from my wife and then for the bread left by her mother! lol It is much better than the mild bread.

The bread was fresh, perfectly weighted in thickness. If you get a choice, take the hotter Kebab because the spice is oh so much better!!

The whole deal, salads and Kebab was very good. Higher standard for a slightly higher price. Well worth it at Mass Kebab. The dinning was great and finished off with a very refreshing glass of chi tea.

 

A very fine finish to another memorable stay in Adana.

Dinner for four, plus child and drinks, and chi 52 lira.

Service was great but I still love the extra service and personal touch made by the Park Café staff as the best service I’ve had in Adana.

Never the less, until I eat a better Kebab, Mas Kebab scored a 10/10 for me.

So this is the last Adana Blog whilst I’m actually in Turkey but there will be more from me about Adana written from my “Summer” base in Australia. That’s right folks I’m on my way back to an Aussie Summer so I’ll by-pass your wonderful cold winter! Lol

Next blog will be in about 2 weeks.

Back in Adana 2013 /14

Cheers

Andrew

Blog 12: Adana Park

Blog 12: Adana Park and Park Café.

29 November Blog, 2012

Well it’s been a few days since last blog and that’s mostly because I haven’t done too much out of the normal routine. I have walked the streets of Adana again, sampled another Adana Kebab which I will describe shortly and visited a few uniquely Turkish venders.

We went to the wonderful Central Park, Adana again and enjoyed the gardens, a picnic with family and small hobby train ride with hundreds of other locals on a Sunday afternoon. On a Sunday afternoon it’s a very popular place to be in Adana. Last time we went on a train ride there was about 7 on the carriage. This time, our one little train carriage had 18 people crammed into 8 spaces! Lol) There’s about 15 or more carriages and one little small, built obviously very powerful engine to tow them.  That’s over 200 people on this little train!! Omg!

We have also taken a train trip to Mersin to see the ocean and walk through the markets and a country drive to a village by the see to visit more family. I my blog about that later but today I just wanted to blog about a positive experience with The Park Café, Adana.

 THE PARK CAFÉ’ “RESTORAN”

This restaurant is in the heart of Adana business and market district (Explored a lot now in my blogs) It was my next choice to sample Adana Kebab because last year in 2011 I sampled a pizza there and it was pretty good.

The first thing that is a positive about this restaurant is it is totally upstairs off the main street but still very visable to find. The Park Café is roomy and has a view of the park next door (hence the name).

It’s also has a view of the very busy main road but I ask you, what restaurant in Adana doesn’t have a busy road next to it?? Traffic in Adana is very noisy as people mostly use horns rather than indicators to move about.

Tables at this restaurant were plentiful, lots of choice in location to sit, clean and the whole place looked more cared for. This is nice because many affordable restaurants here in Adana, even though the food is generally good, lack pride in the presentation of the space you eat. In Australia we take alot pride in the presentation of the space because that’s what attract the customers. Although we  also charge a much higher price for food maybe as a result of the expensive decore??

The impression is good first off. I chose to sit by the window (or lack of a window it was open air) so I could have a view of the park. But quickly retreated to a more shady table due to the heat of the sun. Even in late November the sun has heat here.

From the outset the service was great. A nice gentleman attended to us (my 2 year old son and I) straight away. When he discovered I spoke English (isn’t hard to realise I’m not a local! Lol) he quickly introduced another gentleman waiter that had a very good understanding of English. He was very good to my son also, suggested a dish my son may like to go with my order of Adana Kebab. He went on to engaged me in a nice conversation to make me feel welcome.

When the food arrived I was very pleased and relieved because of my last experience (last blog) Firstly, the kebab had the pleasing appearance with salads that appeared both tasty and fresh.

The rice yogurt dish was great and they provided a smaller spoon for my son. Little Michael-Emre still hasn’t developed the Turkish obsession for yogurt but he certainly polished off (ate all) the rice which was delicious!

As for the salads; Fresh, they obviously took some pride in the appearance of the salad and the taste did not disappoint me. Well-proportioned for a meal for one, I felt quite fill at after eating. The tomato salad was tasty, moist but not sloppy like the last place I went. The salad was crisp and fresh. You can’t ask for more.

As for the lamb Kebab strip. Very tastily and like I have grown to expect from a  good Adana Kebab, spiced very nice so you can taste each proportion that you break off to wrap in the Turkish bread. And the bread was thin but fresh and tasty. Much better than the thick stuff I encountered elsewhere and perfect for wrapping kebab pieces together with salad.

But the real plus with The Park Café’s Restaurant was the service. They went out of the way to make me welcome, see that I was enjoying the food and also a real plus for me was the way they welcomed my son. They did things to engage him like a tomato bottle trick and talking with him and giving him a lolly pop as we left.

The owner / manager even came over to greet me in English, hoping I enjoyed my meal and thanked me for eating with them. Wow. It really was great service and they gave me a complimentary Turkish coffee at the end. This a nice touch from the waiter.

All three (2 waiters and the manager) wished me well as I left and the waiter assisted my me with the pram down the stairs.

All-round a good experience.

1 x Adana Kebab and salads

1 x Yogurt / Rice dish

1 x Cola

1 x Water

Complimentary Coffee

= 20 lira

 9/10 Congratulations and thank you to The Park Café staff. J

Cheers

Andrew

Blog 11: KEBABS, SWEETS, AND STREET DANCING

Blog 11: KEBABS, SWEETS, AND STREET DANCING

Thursday and Friday 22^nd and 23^rd November

My wife Aylin in Ataturk Park, Adana

Today Aylin and I took to the streets in search of some gifts for back home and also beads! :-/ We ventured into the old Adana town districts and after making a few turns to throw of a man we suspected of following us, we found a few interesting places to eat and look for gifts. Besides some wonderful shoes, some colourful authentic costumes, we also stopped by a great shop they make fabulous hand calved jewel boxes and chests. (one street back from the clock tower – look at previous blog for map)  I wanted to buy but taking wood back to Australia presents problems with customs. We looked, admired and had to move on.

My wife managed to walk us in circles in our attempt to find bead shops (beads, beads, beads!! My wife eats them at night I’m sure! Lol) We worked up quite an appetite so I suggested we eat Kebab. Aylin said there was a famous Kebab restaurant not far from us. She remembered the shop from teenage years. It was establish in 1940.

ASMAALTI (kebab Restaurant)

Famous “apparently” for great Adana Kebabs.

The shop its self was larger than most middle to low range Kebabs shops which are just a few tables big. The tables were simple with plastic table cloths and reasonable clean though my wife had to ask for a new plate as the one they supplied was dirty and there was an injured bird as few feet from us which was a little sad and not nice to look at whilst eating. (not a good start)

I had high expectations as this place has existed for the past 72 years for some reason and according to my wife, made great Kebab. I also have high expectations because all the Kebabs I’ve eaten in Adana were reasonably good. Adana Kebab is my favourite food in Adana.

Well I was to be extremely disappointed as too was Aylin.

The salads were poor and tasteless. They had some resemblance to Adana Kebab salads but that was all. (I love salads so always leave a clean plate after a meal.) This is the first time in Adana I couldn’t eat all the salad because of its taste. It turned me off.

The bread was thicker than usual and less plentiful than other Kebab stores. The actual Adana kebab lamb strip lacked the spice and normal fabulous flavour that makes an Adana Kebab famous. In fact it tasted like beef mince rather than lamb, little taste.

I was so disappointed I just wanted to leave. It turned me off Kebab for the day. Whatever made this restaurant famous many years ago, wasn’t there. Maybe “Asmaalti” need to go back to the old formula and start over because they have obviously lost whatever they may have had.

To restore my faith before I leave I will go back to HACI SALiH Restaurant (earlier blog) for a good Kebab or to Mass Kebab who  make a fantastic Kebab. (Mass Kebab is a bigger and more expensive Kebab restaurant but they are worth the money for the taste, service and salads.

Asmaalti restaurant get a 4/10 for me.

I won’t give directions other than it’s also close to the old clock tower. I won’t return there.

“TAS KADAYIF” is a “MUST TRY” when in Adana.

Next stop the sweet stores you will find along any main street in Adana. They make great “stand and eat” pastry sweets.

For about 30cents Australia you can help yourself to a choice of little pastry treats. You just pick one out, they wrap in paper for your fingers not to get sticky, and you just stand and eat it, pay and move on.  Everyone does it here.

My favourite is this little pastry wrapped around walnuts and soaked in liquid sugar (They are called “TAS KADAYIF”). Sounds fattening and no doubt is but yummmmy!!! There are many types to choose from. Kind of like Baklava but lighter.  I took some photos because they explain better than I do and a link to pictures also below.

https://www.google.com.tr/search?q=tas+kadayif&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=U_6vUKmyF8iXhQf2kIHICg&sqi=2&ved=0CCYQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=665

Turkish fate “KERMES”

Yesterday afternoon we were out also looking for beads and we stopped in to a “Kermes” which is like a “fate” back in Australia. A whole group of ladies cook some delicious foods, use some off street space and sell their home made treats for very low prices in aid of some good cause or charity.

We had some chocolate cake type sweet and a sago custard desert topped with coconut and Chi (tea) of course. All for a few lira.  Very nice.

Ataturk Park

Lastly for this blog today, something new to say about the beautiful Ataturk Park that I didn’t mention before.  The flowers and sun was out late in afternoon when we past so I snapped some nice pictures of my wife - below.

Hip pop and wrap dancing at Ataturk Park

But I wanted to point out that Ataturk Park has a great little area set up for dancing. Hip pop and wrap dancing! Frequently when you walk past you can be treated to some skilful examples of this type of dance. These guys are obviously very fit and really very talented. They are happy enough for you to stand by and watch and I recommend it! It’s amazing to see these guys spin on their heads and hold themselves up one handed. A great feat of strength and agility.

A “MUST SEE” if you like dancing.

And that’s a wrap for these past two days.

Cheers

Andrew

Blog 3: A walk in the Park - Adana Central

Blog 3: A walk in the Park - Adana Central
Today is Saturday the 3^rd of November 2012. 

 Yesterday we just had a day of rest and a little walk so nothing much to report. But today we set off to the Optimum Shopping Centre by Central Park Adana.

I am wearing what I like to call my “Where’s Wally” shirt which is an old work shirt which I wear once on holidays to show my workmates back home how far it’s travelled and rub it in that I’m on holidays far away! J

We took the subway which is pretty new in Adana. We chose a brand new underground station to start our journey and found it devoid of people!? What a contrast! Above us, busy traffic and below quiet as a mouse, not a sole. I wanted to take a picture but the security stopped me.

Like anywhere in these parts, security guards or police are prevalent in most public places. It feels strange when we don’t have any security like this at home. 

Once we got on the train ironically it was pretty full. The train was also modern and clean.

The Optimum Shopping Centre

http://www.optimumoutlet.com/
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=36.992853,35.337589&spn=0.011586,0.016994&t=h&z=16&msid=200302479427406736865.0004a07ad84ffa6a2c530

Aim for the Hilton Hotel, a tall building that stands out because there nothing around it to compete, or aim for the Sabancı Merkez Camii (mosque) which apparently is the largest Mosque in all Turkey with a capacity of over 28,000 people!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabanc%C4%B1_Merkez_Camii

If you aim for these buildings you will find the The Optimum Shopping Centre which is a very new shopping centre on prime real estate overlooking the river with beautiful views of the magnificent Mosque and its equally magnificent gardens (all 52,600 square meters of gardens)

The 175 or so shops in this Shopping  Centre are modern and most of the well known chain stores. And this centre does have “free” clean toilets which is a bonus! (You frequently have to pay to use toilets in Turkey and they can be of mixed quality – If you don’t know how they work it can even be scary! lol )

In the shopping centre there is a large electronics store which I like and there is a mixture of American and Turkish fast-food outlets in the food court on the top floor.

This is a multi-story complex, food supermarkets down stairs, fashion, electronics and gift stores in the middle floors and games, a cinema and food court at the top (plenty for the teens on the top floor). There is even an ice skating ring which is nice to sit close too on hot days.

ATMs and all your needs are at this centre though don’t expect Turkish Bazar or street market prices here. It’s very western, you don’t bargain for goods here but they do have sales.

Like any major shopping centre in Turkey you have to pass through security first to get in (similar to airport security).

We ate at Hosta which was relatively inexpensive and ok. I won’t detail blog about it because it hit the hunger bug but not the delight bug. Nothing to write home about really. Fast food rarely is! I am lucky, I get to eat some home traditional Turkish cooking via my Mother-in-law and she is a great cook!

At the food court they do have a little play area for the little ones but it could have more and it did need a good clean from what I could see.

Otherwise it was all very nice.

CENTRAL PARK ADANA

After the shops we decided to skip the train and walk home via Central Park. This was very nice. When I mentioned the gardens were well maintained at Ataturk Park in my last blog, well they are magnificently maintained at Central Park, Adana. And there is a large playground to die for. No, again there is no soft fall, but it’s an adventureland to any kid and a credit to Adana! Fantastic!

Coming to the park we had to cross a very nice foot bridge, right next to AQUA LAND, a water themepark. We went to this place last time I was here and it was a lot of fun. Many slides and pools, however they don’t all operate at the same time and only during school holidays.

As we were about to walk over this bridge to Central Park 3 kids ran up to me saying something in Turkish, very excited by my camera. My wife translated that they were pleading for me to take their photo and so I did. They were totally adorable kids and I wish they could see the picture because it’s the picture of Turkeys youth, so innocent, and full of hope. I wish I could give these kids the world!

I will let my other pictures do most of the talking for this park this time but I need to say this park has so many aspects and personalities, water features, sculptures and flowers, you could spend a day exploring and my pictures to do not cover much.

There’s a few cafes within the park as-well. We went to one at the opposite end to the mosque (near a little market and McDonalds). This café was perfectly set on the river and nice for a “cay” tea. Tea is 1 lira but for a coke you can pay 4lira so stick to the tea because you don’t get a class or ice with your coke. Something I really expect for the price and on a hot day. It is nice place however to watch the ducks over the water at this café and they have many ducks and other animals wandering around to amuse the kids.

One of the great things in Central Park is the little train ride you can take which tours around the whole park. And it costs just 1 lira for adults and kids free. It’s really is a long ride and great value taking you past all the attractions. Well done Adana for this park!! First class!!

We noticed also many of the local dogs hanging around the park freely. There are literally hundreds of stray dogs in Adana, mostly around the lake, but they wander through the streets too. They are tagged by the government and monitored for movements, habbits I guess. This one below was very thirsty!!

Lastly before I finish I will drop a picture of graffiti we passed on the walk home. I do this because it was the only graffiti I saw in the city so far and at least it has talent. They could certainly teach our teens a thing or two back home where I come from. The teens I am in contact with only seem capable of ugly tags with no meaning. Where’s the talent gone??

That’s me signing off for the day.

Cheers

Andrew