Be a Guest at Shangri-La and Tour Turkey’s Famous Baklava Bakery.

Baklava, a sweet, crunchy, paper-thin delight, has been in existence for decades and one of the most renowned owners of the best baklava bakery is the Güllüoglu family. They have been making some of the most delicious baklava bites for 68 years. Currently, their bakery Karaköy Güllüoglu is run by the fifth generation of the family. Nadir Güllüoglu is currently rolling the production line at their bakery, and now you can have a delightful dining experience at the Shangri-La Bosphorus.

The Team

The baking history of Güllüoglu began in Gaza. This is where three generations of the family continued serving these treats to the world. Later, Nadin Güllüoglu’s grandfather decided to leave Gaza and shifted his small bakery to Istanbul. When Nadin had the opportunity to do something different, he decided to continue with the family legacy. Today, the bakery is big in business. Every day, they start the production line at 4:00 a.m. and by the end of the day, bake around two tons of baklava for the guests. 80 chefs, along with the Güllüoglu family, put their heart and soul into perfecting every bite of 40 layers of filo just so that the world doesn’t miss out on this magical, airy sweet.

How Do They Make the Perfect Flaky Bite?

Well, layers of filo pastry, pistachios, and butter are put together to make this marvelous Turkish dessert. The process starts by rolling the filo pastry dough as thin as possible to get those beautiful layers. After that, fresh, green pistachios are spread all over the sheets to add the perfect amount of crunch and color. Once that is done, the raw baklavas are put inside the oven and are raised to perfection. To finish off the sweets, they are cut into the perfect bite-size when they are hot. You know they are baked just right when you hear the “cush” when the knife goes through them.

Be a Part of the Experience

If you wish to have first-hand experience and try baking baklava for yourself in the kitchen of Güllüoglu’s bakery, they have made it possible for the Shangri-La guests. You can now book a two-hour tour of the bakery for yourself on any weekday. The bakery will even provide you with a pick-up and drop-off service from the hotel. Once you are here, you can be a part of their workshop and go through each step of baking the perfect bite for yourself. In the end, you can buy yourself as many boxes as you like and also taste the freshly-baked baklava back at the hotel accompanied by Turkish tea served by the baklava butler of the hotel.