About a year ago, my friend from Uzbekistan sent me photos from Afghan Sofrasi and told me I had to…read moretry it. Three months ago, I tried it for the first time and fell in love with the food and hospitality. Afghan Sofrasi is owned by a middle aged Uzbek couple from Afghanistan who speak English, Turkish, Uzbek, and possible other languages. The menu includes Uzbek, Afghani, and Turkish items. I've tried the chicken kebab and the mixed plate several times! I wanted to sample the menu so I thought the mixed plate was the best thing to try. It's a great deal at 70 TL (as of pre-Bayram 2023 - prices most likely increased). It included pilov, dumplings, eggplant topped with yogurt, and kofte. All dishes come with a mezze and bread. I've also had two of the desserts, both a sort of rice pudding. They're both very lovely and go so well with çay! I was eating here once a week when I left woken at 5pm, but now that I'm working later nights I haven't been back in a month or so. Be sure to arrive before 6pm or else they will run out of food! They close once they run out of food. Overall, I highly recommend a try. The owners are so kind, the food is very tasty and affordable, the prices are good, and the atmosphere is very relaxed. Why not try some central Asian food while in Ankara?

One of my favorite locations in Ankara. They have opened multiple franchises in recent years but my…read moretop three Uludağ's are this one, the one in Ulus, and the one in Çayyolu. The mall locations are limited in their atmosphere, service quality. These take away from the Uludağ experience. We usually begin by ordering baba ganush (patlıcan salatası), ezme (think salsa with mild heat), tulum peyniri (Turkish feta on steriods), bulgur covered köfte with walnuts (içli köfte) and a seasonal salad (mevsim salata). I have dreamt about how good their patlıcan salata is while looking for middle eastern food in the US. Then we go for the 1 portion Uludağ Kebap. They have extremely high quality beef which also keeps us coming back. They have the option to order this without extra pide (but this is not the best time to diet). They have servers hanging out with melted butter and tomato sauce that come around and ask if you would like some (you say yes to this too). When all this done, we go for a künefe (think shredded pastry with melted mozarella on the inside, cooked with butter and syrup) topped with ice cream. The 45 minutes it takes to heat one of these is one of the happiest waits you'll ever have. The massive trees in the garden and the pool side tables at this location only makes the plethora of taste better. They have parking too.

This is a wonderful restaurant in the pedestrianised street area in the heart of Kizilay, the…read moremodern centre of Ankara. When we first went to Ankara, we discovered this place near our hotel and immediately fell in love with it for the great food, great prices, and great service. It's a fairly straightforward place, not super fancy (or touristy since this is not a very touristy area) but a very nice, clean, comfortable modern restaurant. The food is excellent and they specialize in "tereyagli" dishes, which means, literally, "buttery." These are a class of dish, the most famous of which is Iskender or Bursa Kebap, which often have doner meat with tomato sauce in some combination, sometimes with bread of some sort, and drizzled in the end with hot clarified butter. They also have pide ("Turkish pizza") and some other things. The prices are very reasonable, too. Our first time in Ankara, we ate dinner here every night.