Kebapçı Halil Usta Ankara

About Kebapçı Halil Usta Ankara

Kebapçı Halil Usta Ankara is the capital's branch of one of Gaziantep's best-known kebab houses, on Ceyhun Atuf Kansu Caddesi in the Ehlibeyt quarter of Balgat. It brings the Gaziantep restaurant's grill-house style, and above all its küşleme, to Ankara. The restaurant tells the founder's story on its menu site. Halil Usta's story began in Gaziantep in 1944; he was drawn to butchery as a child and started working in a butcher's shop at about the age of eight. In 1972 he opened his own butcher's shop in Gaziantep's Karşıyaka, near the area where the Zeugma Mosaic Museum stands today. Factory workers and local officials began asking him to grill kebabs for them, so he set up a small grill in the shop. One day he served a rare, very tender cut from the back of the lamb and named it küşleme; the restaurant credits him as the inventor of küşleme kebab, now one of Gaziantep's signature dishes. The menu is short and meat-focused. Küşleme is grilled with only oil and salt to keep the flavour of the meat, and there is also a spiced version. Other kebabs include kuşbaşı (cubed lamb), plain and spicy minced lamb, and simit kebabı made with fine bulgur and minced meat; several of these carry Gaziantep's geographical indication. The Halil Usta Special combines simit kebabı, küşleme and kuşbaşı on one plate, and mixed platters are available. The house salad of tomato, lettuce and onion dressed with fresh tomato juice and a blend of 20 spices is served on the house. The Ankara branch also offers baklava, serves tea and coffee after the meal, and has a children's play area. Reservations are taken by phone.