Restaurant: Babadan
Location: Zafer Mah. Ataturk Bulvari No: 24/A, Bergama 35725 Türkiye. +90 232 632 98 98
Date: June 19, 2023
Cuisine: Turkish
Rating: Casual lunch
After Cappadocia we headed west to the Coast for more ruins — in this case the ancient city of Pergamon.
Touristy but decent spot our guide brought us to in the city of Pergamon (aka modern Bergama). Many Turkish restaurants fall into the broad meat or fish format. This is a typical meat restauant.
They do have a wood fired oven and bake their own bread. A place at this level in the US would be highly unlikely to have an oven like this.
Fresh baked bread.
Mezzes. Chickpeas.
Yoghurt with spicy chili oil.
Spicy eggplant and tomato.
Cheese Pide.
Baked vegetables with cheese. This is a typical “vegetarian” entree option.
Cous cous. The orange tint is from a bit of paprika.
Spicy Kofte Plate. Beef/lamb kebob with lavash and a bit of cous cous. The meat itself was a blend of beef and lamb and fairly mild spices.
Baklava and Turkish Ice Cream. This is a traditional (and delicious) combo — if ridiculously sweet. Classic Baklava (of two types) with that dense style of goat cheese ice cream the Turks prefer. It has almost zero overun, a very gummy texture, and a high sugar level.
Overall, an enjoyable quick lunch.