Opened by the Yavuz family in 1999, Gokyuzu has been an extremely popular restaurant ever since, welcoming locals as well as people from further out. The family originally hails from a small village in Kahramanmaras, which is an area near Gaziantep in Turkey. The restaurant was born out of the family’s desire to be reminded of home, as well as genuine love for their cultures’ food and cooking techniques.
Gökyüzü is located in the stretch of Green Lanes, which is an area well-known for hosting a number of restaurants serving authentic Turkish cuisine. The family were keen to join these venues, with the intention of delivering a true Turkish dining experience. To them, this means serving ‘freshness, quality ingredients, delicately flavoured dishes, succulent meats expertly chargrilled, home-baked bread, and most of all a very warm welcome’.
In the beginning, it was the parents and uncle that did the cooking, showing the children how to make the traditional and favourite dishes from their grandparents’ kitchens. This included finding the best local suppliers to ensure that all of the ingredients were of the best quality possible. Now, Gökyüzü has expanded to four restaurants, but it keeps its sense of family and care throughout everything. The family make sure that everyone works well in a team, carefully selecting staff and training them to understand how everything must run smoothly.
In true Turkish fashion, this restaurant makes the ideal place to gather with friends and family, so to make the most out of the hot or cold meze dishes. Sharing platters are great for trying lots of new things. Serving all the classics, the restaurant provides a truly authentic feel. Why not try something new and explore Gökyüzü’s breakfast menu? The sharing breakfast for two has a tempting range of ingredients: free range fried eggs, feta, grilled spicy beef sausage, filo pastry with parsley and feta, grilled halloumi, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, simit circular bread, butter, honey and jam.