Nokta Tesisleri: a great place to relax and feast

This peaceful place, located on the way to Arnavutköy, is set on 10,000 square meters of land and is also a fun playground for kids. There are even ducklings which your kids can make friends with. Alongside the vast outdoors area, which can accommodate 1,500, the location also has a dining hall. The place, run by Sami Gül, opens at 8 a.m. with breakfast service. On weekdays they serve serpme kahvaltı (a breakfast menu option in which small platters of typical Turkish breakfast items are served on your table) and over the weekend they offer an open buffet breakfast. In the afternoon the meat and grill service starts. “We slaughter the animals, which we raised specially under the control of a veterinarian. We care a lot about hygiene. This is a place that welcomes you warmly like a family setting. You may relax here for hours without being bored and taste our delicious dishes in the open air,” says Gül.

The place’s special dish is kuyu kebabı. This kebab is made with lamb that is cooked suspended in a hot well (first a hole is dug and then a fire is lit inside) for five hours and tastes great. While soft meat served with lavaş (flatbread) makes its way from your mouth to your stomach, you are filled with a sense of gratitude. The meat is a little fatty, so people who avoid fatty meat may not like kuyu kebabı. However, optional tastes such as mixed kebab, Adana kebab, sac kebab (lamb kebab served on an iron plate), grilled meatballs, külbastı (steak) or chicken wings will satisfy you.

By the way, you may also taste trout raised in one of the ponds, but whatever you do, make sure you taste kiremitte alabalık (trout cooked on an earthenware plate). You may choose quail meat if you wish.

Nokta Tesisleri, staffed by 40 employees, is assertive with its limitless iftar (fast-breaking) menu offered during Ramadan. You can fill up on meat from the iftar menu, from which you may choose 500 grams of meat per person. Distant from the hustle and bustle of the city, you can spend some of your spare time sampling these delicious dishes.

Kebab from a well and tea from a samovar

Kuyu kebabı and kiremitte alabalık both taste great. And tea made in a samovar will heighten your delight. And it’s great that Nokta Tesisleri raises its own animals for slaughter. There is a risk that some of the meat served may cool down before it arrives at your table. Therefore, there should also be the option of giving customers grills for them to cook the meat on their own. I advise you to eat kadayıf dolması (a wheat dessert with pistachio or walnuts) and künefe (a hot dessert made with cheese and pastry) after your meal. By the way, the mushroom stuffed with kaşar (mozzarella-like) cheese, which was offered as a warm starter, also had a wonderful taste. I also recommend that you try kınaz, which is made in the style of Erzurum. You may not find this taste -- which is created with buffalo yoghurt, almond, pistachio, blackcurrant and mint -- anywhere else.

The location, which bears a 250-space parking lot, also has prayer rooms for women and men. There is a park and a playground for kids but indeed the entire facility is a playground, as it is surrounded with green meadows.