The Best Meat Restaurant In Izmir: Cumba

Cumba came into existence as a result of the transformation of an empty and arid piece of land near a gas station into one of the most haute and delightful restaurants in Izmir.

Vehbi Güldoğan and Can Ortabaş partnered with each other to create Cumba in 1996. In fact, the land the restaurant has been built upon was just an empty space located beneath a gas station which was called then Vebaş Café. With the effort put by its owners, Cumba got a wonderful building and a marvelous garden. As a result, it has been the best meat restaurant in Izmir for years.

As a member of Chaîne de Rôtisseurs, the restaurant has been voted “the Best Meat Restaurant in Izmir” by Izmir Gorumet Guide in 2011.

Ever since its opening, the Chef Abdullah Seven has been at the helm of the restaurant. With an overall capacity of 100 people, the ground floor of the two-story building was changed into a bistro early this year. Next to the special room where I’d like to welcome my foreign visitors, there is a bistro kitchen offering quality snacks with reasonable prices in a cozy atmosphere. On the top floor, there is a spacious and high-quality refined restaurant. Especially in winter, the restaurant transforms into a more romantic and delightful atmosphere with the flames dancing in the hearth and the “amore tables” which are designed specifically for couples.

The manager of the restaurant, dear Vehbi is open to criticism and novelties with a broad vision. He always pays attention to recommendations and practice them on the restaurant as soon as possible. As a nice example of this, he was inspired by the delightful bar section at Mandarin Oriental Munich and set up a similar one in the restaurant to offer a bar experience with the view of sunset over Izmir. Following such a vision, he has applied the same to the restaurant menu by offering a delicious salad with baby spinach, vintage balsamic, olive oil, lemon and truffles, the kind of salad you can only find in Europe, and adapting the Indian chop steak at Benares on Berkeley Square into the restaurant’s style.

Cumba renews its menu according to seasons and it’s mostly focused on meat dishes. But for special occasions and business dinners, the restaurant may offer seafood dishes thanks to the ingredients sourced from Özbek. Especially those who are not into meat dishes may try the sea bass filet which is always on the menu.

Cumba has been sticking with the same butcher (Celep Kesici) for years and sources the lamb meat from Balıkesir. These special lambs (Kıvırcık) don’t have a tail and hence their tail-fat is diffused into their meat. Besides, the bovine animals are brought from Erzurum and Kars while they were young and farmed in a ranch in Izmir.

I personally have been visiting the restaurant since it was opened and I’ve been familiar with almost anything on their menu. Today, I’d like to share with a few dishes from the up-to-date menu.

The restaurant makes its own breads and I particularly recommend you to give a try at lavaş. As for the starters, shiitake mushroom is served with halloumi. One of the most popular types of mushroom, although shiitake mushroom is  associated with Asia and China in particular, Cumba does not import its mushrooms, rather they source it from Aydın-Denizli region.

Another starter is kadaifi wrapped halloumi which again has an ingredient from the Cyprus cuisine. However, the biggest contribution to the dish is from kadaifi which is brought from Antakya and has rather thin noodles compared to the other types of kadaifi. In addition, I should mention grilled halloumi which is as delicious as it is a basic taste.

Mini lahmacun is one of the special recipes of the restaurant. The amount of meat used for its topping is really a lot and this creates a perceivable difference in the taste. Originally, the topping of lahmacun is made with lamb meat. But since the palate of the people from Izmir does not agree with lamb meat, the lahmacun topping has been transformed over time and finally it is currently made with only veal. However, its taste is still fine and it may even taste better than Adana kebab.

Is it possible that there may be an elite version of Kokoreç? It is possible at Cumba! Atom kokoreç at Cumba is made with the meat of milk-bred lambs slaughtered in its season (from the end of February until the early May). As it is enhanced with cumin, red pepper flakes, thyme, black pepper and rock salt, its texture is utterly soft. Even those who don’t favor offal dishes may take a liking towards Cumba’s take on kokoreç.

Again a victim of prejudice, beef cheek is renamed as “dana buse” (bovine kiss) by my friend Ahmet Güzelyağdöken. This way, it sounds more sympathetic. With its melt-in-the-mouth texture, it is accompanied by a successful take on keşkek.

Beef chop-steak is one of those classical dishes of the restaurant. On the inside, it is juicy as it should be and it comes in different selections such as with béarnaise, mushroom, wine and garlic sauce. In other countries, the bovines are slaughtered when they grow to weigh about 1 ton; but in Turkey due to the economic issues they are allowed to grow to weigh 400-500 kilograms only. This means that the animal is not allowed to gain fat, get bigger and more delicious. So it is the biggest obstacle to finding better-tasting veal in Turkey.

I personally prefer to consume bovine meat abroad. Because the meat is not over-processed and mostly grilled rare. Plus, as I know the conditions of farming and slaughtering in Europe as well as the hygienic quality of the meat, I eat meat dishes free of suspicion there. When it comes to Turkey, I mostly prefer lamb and kid meat.

Although I appreciate rare-cooked meat, the non-tenderized beef tenderloin is a good choice for those who cannot bear the pinkish color of the rare meat. Because the meat is marinated in a special mixture for ten days and then cooked rare, which results in the removal of the pinkish hue from the meat. Topped with potato puree, the dish is also enriched with crispy pieces of potato and leek.

As for the lamb meat, I think the best season is the lamb season! Because it is the harbinger of spring. To the contrary of the unique taste of the spring lamb meat, the meat of the lambs that are slaughtered by the summer season smells a bit. So the bad reputation of the lamb meat is caused mostly by unseasonal slaughtering. But again the other reasons behind its lambish smell are the arduous transportation of the animals so that they get stressed a lot while they are being transported to the slaughterhouses, and the fact they are not allowed to take a rest to ease their stress during the process. It is obvious that the meat of a stressed animal will be negatively affected in terms of color, smell and taste! Again, while in other countries, the animals are anesthetized before they are slaughtered, in Turkey they are not anesthetized to get slaughtered because they have to be slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic method. This also contributes to the lamb meat quality issue.

When we talk about the lamb dishes at Cumba, lamb chops should be the first to mention with its delightful presentation. As the meat near the bone is as crispy as it should be, the rest is just melt-in-the-mouth.

Accompanied by grilled seasonal vegetables, lamb back-strap is best consumed in autumn in contrast to the spring lamb. Because when the lamb grows bigger and older, its back enlarges too, hence it tastes better when they are slaughtered in autumn.

The other lamb dishes that I’d like to recommend is küşleme, sort of lamb tenderloin steak, lamb skewers marinated with garlic, and lamb rib with bulghur that you can only pre-order at least one day ago.

One of my favorites at Cumba is Saray Kebab (Palace kebab), the recipe of which dates back to the Ottoman palace where it was cooked only for sultans. As it looks to me like a mixture of beef tenderloin and stuffed lamb tripe, the consistency of the dish is thickened with an addition of aged kasseri. It is definitely one of the best dishes of the restaurant.

As for dessert, I have two recommendations for you. The first one is künefe, prepared with Antakya kadaifi with its thin noodles rather than thick Izmir kadaifi. Again, unsalted Antakya cheese is used in künefe. Although, of course, the original recipe is more preferable, Cumba’s take on kadaifi sits well with the palates of the Izmirians too. The second dessert is hüdavendigar, which is made with rice porridge with the consistency of risotto (which means thicker than sütlaç), ice cream and peaches.

It would be Fully Booked If It were Abroad

I recommend you to have a try at Cumba as it will welcome you with its cozy fireplace during winter and with its swanky garden during summer.

As such, the background music of the restaurant is another big plus, ranging from Evanthia Reboutsika, Greek music, old Izmir ethnic music to lounge, child out and deep house songs.

I’m sure the location seems a bit harder to drive to for the most Izmirians. That is exactly why I said if it were abroad, it would be very hard to book a reservation. Since the foreigners do not consider the distance a deal-breaker when they set their minds on eating what they want and which cuisine they want to try, while the Turkish still prefer the nearest restaurant when they want to dine out.

Unfortunately, Turkish people still dine in or lunch in only to go outside for other kinds of activities.

I think, a driving distance of 20-30 minutes should not keep you from such a tasteful and delightful culinary experience. For this reason, while the weather is warmer and it is still spring lamb season, I recommend you to have a visit to Cumba.

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…

www.cumbarestoran.com
İstanbul Cad., No:54, Bornova Merkez/İzmir
+90 232 339 00 00