Life in Mersin
How to live like a local in Mersin?
Mersin is one of Turkey’s cities with amazing character and it is not remembered just for heroism, history and business, but it has pure lifestyle which is envied by other regions or big cities such as delicious cuisines and arts & entertainment. Let us look together at “What to do’s..”
Discover The Local Cuisine
Mersin grew rapidly with the migration from the Southeast of Anatolia and people brought their cultural cuisine to the region however, Mersin has always had its unique tastes from practical fast food to desserts.
Tantuni is quality beef diced into very small cubes and pan fried with beef stock added every few seconds as well as red pepper powder and salt, then served in either half a loaf or flat bread like tortillas with a tomato, onion and parsley salad in the bread and pickled peppers and lemon on the side.
Kerebiç is a type of cookie with filled either with pistachio or walnut and served with a cream made of egg whites, only found in Mersin in Turkey and the most famous master chef is Kerebiççi Oğuz. It is not everyone’s cup of tea however definitely worth a try!
Cezerye is a type of dessert made mainly of carrots and after being cut into small pieces, dipped into coconut powder. The dessert is served with hazelnut, pistachio or walnuts inside. If you like sweets, you will love cezerye very much.
Mersin’s diversity makes it a great place to taste the best of regional cuisines such as Hatay, Adana, Gaziantep. They say food is best in Mersin because it is affordable and some of the best chefs have moved to Mersin to live in warm and open minded location so they brought their skills and opened some great restaurants and cafes to welcome visitors from all other regions of Turkey and the World.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion for sure however locals would probably agree to the below list as the best places to visit in Mersin to taste the local cuisine.
Gaziantepli Remzi Usta – Great Lahmacun, kebabs and simply amazing baklava! On TripAdvisor
Yaprak Tantuni, Göksel Tantuni – Well, try both and let us know which one you prefer. Yaprak on TripAdvisor Goksel on TripAdvisor
Ciğerci Apo, Ciğerci Bahattin – It’s a fact that Apo (Aptullah) and Bahattin are actually brothers who split after working together for many years. Ciğer (Lamb Liver on grill) is also local to Mersin and a definite visit! Apo on TripAdvisor Bahattin on TripAdvisor
Kerebiççi Oğuz – There was a time a little cart would be by the Müftü Bridge and the guy would claim he has not got any branches, because he was the best. We’ll let you be the judge here. Oğuz on TripAdvisor
If you visit us in Mersin to view our options, for sure we will visit a few places together.
