Turkish hawker stall boasts S$16,000 kebab ‘robot’ and delish desserts like baklava

While it’s not uncommon to find Turkish fare in some hawker centres these days, Gaziantep Delight’s owner, Fatih Karakas, 39, sets himself apart by selling homemade Turkish desserts hardly found outside of restaurants here. 
The Turkish hawker hand makes all his desserts in-store – these include delicate pastries like baklava (flaky filo pastry layered with chopped nuts and soaked in syrup), and harder-to-find offerings like Sutlac (Turkish rice pudding). All this on top of savoury classics like doner kebab – which is sliced with a nifty $16K ‘robot’ that’s apparently the only machine of its kind in Singapore.
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The slightly reserved Fatih tells 8days.sg he was born in Gaziantep, a city in south-central Turkey. The Muslim, who is married to a Singaporean lady and is now a Singapore PR, moved to town six years ago in hopes of setting up his own F&B biz here. Back in Turkey, he worked as a service staff at a restaurant in Novotel Hotel, and later underwent a two-year cooking and baking course in his hometown.
In total, the hawker invested $35K to set up his biz, which he says is the culmination of all his earnings since he came to Singapore. Of this sum, a hefty $16K was spent on a kebab ‘robot’ machine imported from Turkey, which he proudly shows us. 
While most Turkish cooks manually shave off kebab meat with knives, Fatih’s ‘robot’ automatically cuts kebab meat itself — a large metal blade slices it top-down periodically.
“In Singapore there’s only one [of this] machine, it’s almost the same price as [the cost of setting up] my shop,” he laughs. He explains that the meat-slicing machine levels up the quality of a kebab: “The flavour [and texture] depends on how thinly you can cut [the meat]. This machine slices the meat very thinly,” Fatih says. He tells us that he’s been to most of the Turkish eateries in Singapore, and noticed that his stall is the only one with this particular contraption. 
But why splurge $16K on it? “To me, it’s like having one extra staff member, so it has really helped a lot,” he explains. Currently, Fatih runs Gaziantep Delight solo, though he tells us he plans to hire help soon. 
Fatih’s rendition of this sweet pastry popular in the Middle East is filled with pistachio or walnut. 
Fatih’s kunefe is a party of textural contrasts – crusty, string-like strands of baked filo pastry strips encase a chewy, cheesy combo of mozzarella and butter. It’s served with a moat of thick cream. The pastry is both savoury and sweet – with a tinge of saltiness from the cheese, and sweetness from the syrup-soaked filo and cream. Yummy and best shared among two people ’cos this is rich stuff.
Also known as Turkish rice pudding, we’ve only seen sutlac being served in Turkish restaurants in Singapore. The pudding is made with rice cooked in sweetened milk, and often baked till its surface is slightly charred.
Fatih’s version, however, isn’t baked. Nonetheless, it’s creamy, silky, with a wobbly texture (kinda like a softer beancurd), with grainy bits of rice dotted throughout. Sweet, custardy and topped with cinnamon powder, it’s quite tasty, though we’d prefer its surfaced charred and caramelised. 
Kinda like the doner kebab’s cousin, chicken tombik is basically kebab filling on thin grilled pita bread shaped like a thin burger bun. Ours came loaded with chook, onions, lettuce, cabbage and chopped tomatoes.
Fatih tells us he’s the only one in Singapore selling this kebab-salad-fries hybrid. At first glance, this dish looks like a regular bowl of salad – but dig deeper, and you’ll find it’s layered with fries, meat, cheese, and topped with veggies. 
We weren’t sure about this odd combination, but were pleasantly surprised. The potatoes, tender chicken and melted cheese complement each other like loaded fries. And while no one usually puts veggies atop sinful french fries, the medley of cabbage, tomatoes and onions add a refreshing touch to the dish. 
There’s a decent amount of peppery, well-salted meat on each slice, and we enjoy the satisfying cheese pull from the mozzarella. The only downside is the slightly thick bread, which was also a little too tough for our liking. There’s a plain cheese version if you’re not into lamb.
Interestingly, while prices of savoury dishes like the tasty Chicken Tombik at this stall are cheaper than at many Turkish restaurants, the handmade desserts aren’t. But Fatih insists his sweets are “cheaper than most restaurants – if you compare the portion size”. Worth checking out if you’re in the area for hearty, authentic Turkish grub. 
Gaziantep Delight is at #02-13 Holland Drive Market & Food Centre, 44 Holland Dr, S270044. Open Tue – Fri 10.30am – 7.30pm; Sat & Sun 10am – 8pm. Closed on Mon. Tel: 8315 3101.  More info via Facebook and Instagram. 
Photos: Kelvin Chia
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