About Us

Our Story It all began in 1992 when my late uncle opened the first restaurant in Nelson to share the authentic flavors of Türkiye. As business grew, he invited my father, a recent Business and Politics graduate from Ankara University, to help guide and manage what was becoming more than just a restaurant. By 2000, with the loyalty of our community behind us, we opened in Blenheim, proudly making Marlborough our second home. To this day we carry forward his vision: everything prepared in-house, the traditional way. From raw meats sourced from our local butcher, to fresh produce, to breads rested for 30 hours with olive oil from our hometown of Milas, every detail reflects the care, craft, and authenticity that defined his dream. For over 30 years, Akbaba’s has been more than a place to eat. It is a legacy of family, tradition, and real Turkish food, served with the same dedication imagined back in 1992. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What Sets Us Apart Our Doner & Meats Most places use factory-made doner — mass-produced, frozen, packed with additives. That’s not real doner. We do it the traditional way from Türkiye. Lamb and chicken arrive raw from a local butcher, marinated 24 hours in Ottoman-inspired recipes, and prepared fully in-house by qualified Turkish chefs trained at Türkiye’s top culinary schools. Our Breads Real Turkish restaurants bake their own bread. Ours is made with salt, water, premium flour, and olive oil from Milas in Türkiye’s Aegean region — one of the world’s finest. The dough rests 30 hours before becoming our renowned tombik (pita), pide bread, and bases for pizzas and pide. Our Salads Every vegetable comes in raw — never pre-cut, never bagged. Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, herbs, all prepared fresh in our kitchen. Our Homemade Sauces & Dips No bottles, no factory mixes. Chilli, aioli, and yoghurt sauces are made fresh, alongside our Ottoman-inspired hummus, beetroot dip, and cacık (tzatziki) — renowned across Tasman and Marlborough.