Named for the southern Turkish city that gave the world one of its great kebab traditions, Adana Restaurant has been one of the defining voices of Burbank's Armenian-Turkish dining scene for over twenty years.
The Adana kebab — ground lamb mixed with Urfa pepper, garlic, and spices, formed around a flat sword skewer and cooked over charcoal — is the dish that defines the restaurant. It arrives properly charred on the outside, yielding within, placed over a mound of saffron rice with grilled tomatoes and peppers alongside. The smokiness is authentic because the fire is real.
The Iskender kebab — sliced doner lamb over torn pieces of pita, drowned in hot tomato sauce and finished with browned butter — is the dish the Turks invented for people who wanted to eat something simultaneously simple and overwhelmingly satisfying. Adana executes it faithfully.
The manti — those tiny Armenian dumplings filled with spiced beef, served with a lake of garlicky yogurt and a drizzle of sumac-spiced butter — are labor-intensive and worth every calorie. Order the sigara boregi first, those crispy feta-stuffed phyllo cigars that disappear from the table faster than they arrive.
Adana is the rare restaurant that succeeds at both the everyday lunch and the special occasion dinner. The room has warmth, the service is efficient and genuine, and the food delivers on the promise of its traditions.
