Avrasia Turkish fast food restaurant with excellent quality of food and service

Yavuz Okulmush came to Bulgaria 7 years ago and he has been in the restaurant business for 27 years. He says that luck has brought him to Bulgaria. “A friend of mine invited me to see the place, knowing that I have the experience in this field. Once I came here, I never went back.”

What he likes most about Bulgaria is tranquility.

What he misses the most from his home country, and specifically from his home town Kars, is the speciality from goose meat (Karsin ozel Kaz yemegi).

His favorite childhood dishes are eriste corbasi – soup with noodles and manti – similar to pelmeni with stuffing, topped with yogurt, butter and garlic.

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The restaurant was opened in 2007. The name of the restaurant comes from the land between Asia and Europe and symbolises the combination of the best from East and West.

The restaurant offers a vast choice of dishes (over 1000, according to Yavuz), the menu changes every week. Dishes that are different from the ones in other Turkish restaurants are, for example, irmik tatlisi dondurmali – semolina dessert filled with ice cream, saray kebabi, chicken sarmas Avrasia (Avrasi tavuk sarmasi) and Topkapi chicken (pilic Topkapi).

The restaurant adheres to original recipes, including meat with fat from special breed of sheep for adana, imported directly from Turkey and also the tomato paste.

Visitors to the restaurant are of various origins – Bulgarians, Turks, Arabs and other foreigners.

Interview and photos: An Fam
Translation from Bulgarian: Boyan Boychev
Illustration: Vessela Dantcheva for Compote Collective
November 30, 2013