WHERE TO EAT The best Çiğ köfte in the world (according to food experts)

"It's Develi köfte we're after - meatballs of lamb painstakingly ground by hand and grilled to succulent perfection. We try çig köfte, spicy raw lamb wrapped in lettuce. Each meatball is a short essay in texture."

"Ali Usta is a institution, famous for his çiğ köfte, a paste made from bulgur wheat and spices, spread across flatbread and eaten with arugula, lettuce, tomato and lemon juice."

"The thing that I really thought was interesting was this cous cous mixture they eat in a lettuce leaf. It had a lot of intense herb and lemon flavors. You put this adobo spicy sauce on it that’s way hotter than anything I am used to. Although it does look like straight raw ground beef (I was assured it was vegetarian) it had such an interesting flavor I ate a few servings of this."

"The taste was great."

"It’s always nice to eat here and the çiğ köfte (raw meatballs of minced meat, spices and burghul) are all worth mentioning."

"My personal favourite was Çiğ Köfte, raw ground meet mixed with fine bulgur, spices and vegetables, wrapped in fresh lettuce and more fresh vegetables! All was served with just-out-of-the-oven fresh pide (flatbread). Çiğ Köfte was absolutely amazing, with a real spicy after taste just hitting the spot for chilly lovers."

"This old han is the place to come to try çiğ köfte (raw ground lamb mixed with pounded bulgur, onion, clove, cinnamon, salt and hot black pepper)."

"This indispensable stop is address for Çiğ köfte - come to taste the raw meatballs and the hazelnut lahmacun."

Simple but delicious!