Yunus Usta Balaban Kebap

Balaban is not a brand name — it is the name Eskişehir gives to a dish of its own, and Yunus Usta Balaban Kebap has been cooking it on a deliberately narrow menu since 1979. The house sets out its method step by step. Beef is rested and selected before it ever reaches the grill, then cooked slowly over a low fire. Separately, beef bones are boiled for three hours until the broth has given everything up, and the stock is then left to sit with a spice mix. That broth soaks tırnak pide — a thin dimpled flatbread — which forms the base of the plate; whisked yoghurt and the meat go on top, and butter heated until it sizzles is poured over both. Tomatoes and peppers are charred slowly on the same grill and come to the table with parsley. Three versions are offered: balaban kebap, balaban köfte (with hand-worked meatballs in place of the grilled beef), and a mixed plate. The restaurant occupies one address on Ziyapaşa Caddesi in the Odunpazarı district. Other businesses in the city carry 'balaban' in their names; they are separate operations.