Favorite Turkish foods

Let me say this first: I'm not a foodie. While I certainly appreciate good food I will not usually go to great lengths to get it, let alone line up at a restaurant for 20 minutes to get seated.

That being said I will admit that I had held higher hopes for the Turkish cuisine: many dishes I have tasted so far were quite plain, dry even, and often lacking in flavor.

That might change as I travel further: My experience so far is only based on food from the Western part of Turkey.

1. Ev yemekleri
   "Home cooked food", usually a small family restaurant with an assortment of different pre-cooked dishes
2. Döner dürüm (from Donas)
   Döner in Turkey comes without garlic-yoghurt sauce and is usually less tasty than in Germany. The meat wrap served at the "Donas" chain though is exceptionally tasty and at about 10 TL very affordable
   
3. Iskender
   A buttery, tasty meat over bread dish served with tomato sauce and yogurt
4. Piyaz
   I don't know much about the traditional recipe, but the Antalya style variant of this bean salad with Tahin (Sesame) that I got to try once was absolutely delicious
5. Kahvaltı
   The traditional breakfast comes with a rich assortment of vegetables, cheese and spreads
6. Köfte
   Basically meatballs; always served with a small green pepper, tomatoes and rice or bread
7. Kumpir
   A baked potato served with cheese and different toppings of choice
   
8. Gözleme
   A pancake-like pastry filled with cheese, spinach
9. Börek
   A dryer version of Gözleme, often filled with spinach, cheese, potatoes or meat

1. Salep
   A thick and milk-like hot drink which is made from Orchid's flour
2. Baclava
   Many know and love this sweet pastry. The pistachio filled variant is clearly the best.
3. Sütlaç
   Milk rice pudding
4. Künefe
   A mild, deep fried cheese served with sweet sauce