Kayseri Mantısı is the most famous dish Kayseri is known for. It's made from minced meat, wrapped in tiny bits of dough and boiled. It's served with a special sauce and yogurt. It's pretty difficult to find a restaurant to eat it as locals always eat this at home and they are prepared much better. However, KaÅıkla has now established a well deserved name in the city also for locals and if you can't get a local to invite you home, is definitely worth trying.
Pastırma is Kayseri's another well-known product. It's dried, salted beef covered with çemen, prepared by a special process. Pastırma is served both as a spicy starter or used in dishes e.g. in pastırmalı kuru fasulye or böreks. Kayseri is the major source of production in Turkey. If cannot afford the restaurants, try buying 100 grams from a large supermarket or from old shops in the old shopping district behind the castle Kale.
İskender is a kebap variant, named after its inventor Turkish variant of "Alexander". Its meat is prepared similar to that of döner, but is served in dish, and with a butter sauce on the top. Although others come quite close, a local restaurant called İskender is the best place to eat this, and is located on the opposite side of Hunat Hatun Camii.
