Restaurants

As a guide, we have used the following symbols to give an indication of the price of a full meal for one, excluding alcohol:

$$$$ over £30 ($50) $$ £10–20 ($16–32)

$$$ £20–30 ($32–50) $ below £10 ($16)

Aegean Coast

Ayvalik

Deniz Kestanesi $$$ Karantina Sok. 5–9, tel: 0266-312 3262. The most elegant (and expensive) seafood restaurant in town. And yes sea urchin (deniz kestanesi) – esteemed like Viagra by Turks – features on the menu, along with local specialities like fried papalina (a kind of sprat).

Bergama

Ticaret Odası Sosyal Tesisleri $$$ In the restored Greek school, 150m uphill from the Ulu Cami, tel: 0232-632 9641. The only licensed outfit in central Bergama, with municipally subsidized prices for grills and mezes. Pleasant indoor environment with big windows overlooking the valley. Cash only.

Bozcaada (Tenedos)

Şehir Restaurant $$ Fishing harbour, tel: 0286-697 8017. One of the few waterside restaurants with consistently good cooking for meat or fish, and straightforward billing policies. Open most of the year. Cash only.

Çanakkale

Yalova $$$ Fevzipasa Mh.GÜmruk Sok.7, Merkez, tel: 0286-217 1045. Unusual mezes and the town’s widest range of seafood – though fish prices are also Çanakkale’s highest, and you must establish exactly what’s included in advance. Dardanelles-view tables upstairs, or in the ground-level conservatory of this historic building. Open all year.

Çeşme

İmren $$ İnkilap Cad. 6/A, tel: 0232-712 7620. Çeşme’s oldest surviving restaurant, founded in 1953 by immigrants from Yugoslavia, has atrium seating and a traditional menu with Balkan touches. The signature dish is papaz yahnisi (whole baked carp stuffed with rice). Open all year, daily noon–9pm; cash only.

ESKİ FOÇA

Fokai $$$ 121 Sokak No. 8, behind the castle, tel: 0232-812 2186. The place for quality fish here, with farmed and fresh items clearly separated, good garnishes or mezes, and mostly Turkish clientele. Open all year. Credit cards taken.

Gallipoli Peninsula

Liman $$$ İstiklal Caddesi 67 (south end of waterfront), Eceabat, tel: 0286-814 2755. Fish and meze specialist that’s also the only licensed restaurant here – a great sea-view lunch stop during a peninsula tour.

Gökçeada (İmroz)

Barba Yorgo $–$$ Tepeköy (Agrídia) village centre, tel: 0286-887 3592. Island-born Yorgo returned from İstanbul upon retirement to open this enduringly popular Greek-island-style taverna with keenly priced mains and meze, accompanied by his own wine (and during the summer season, often live music and dancing).

İzmir

Asansör Ceneviz Meyhanesi $$$ Dario Moreno Sokağı, Karataş district, tel: 0232-261 2626. Take the historic lift up from shoreline level and near the exit is this hugely popular restaurant, with fantastic views across the city to go with delicious seafood and the house kebab.

Deniz $$$ Atatürk Cad. 188/B (inside İzmir Palas Hotel), tel: 0232-464 4499, www.denizrestaurant.com.tr. Highly regarded by locals, who return here regularly for speciality seafood dishes like whole fish baked in salt, served in tastefully minimalist surroundings. Good-value set menus; booking advisable. Open all year.

Selçuk

Ejder $ Cengiz Topel Caddesi 9, tel: 0232-892 3296. A prime location in the pedestrian zone opposite a stork-nested aqueduct, plus a well-balanced menu of meat with an east-Anatolian flair, vegetarian platters and fresh mezes, combine to make this place a winner. Cash only.

Ocakbaşı $ Şirince, 5km from Selçuk, tel: 0232-898 3094. Very friendly, simple, family-run place with stews, gözleme, unexpected meze like deniz börülce and a taste of the (local) wine allowed before committing to a whole bottle. Great views over this historic village from the terrace. Cash only.

Yaylaköy

Yılmaz’ınYeri $$ Top of the pass, Yaylaköy, 9km (5 miles) south of Kuşadası on the road to Söke and Priene, tel: 0256-668 1023. The best of a cluster of meaty restaurants here, always crowded with locals enjoying traditional meze in decent portions, an infinity of kebabs, and a very reasonable wine list.

Turquoise Coast

Bodrum

Berk Balık $$ Cumhuriyet Caddesi 167, Kumbahçe tel: 0252-313 6878. It can get noise from nearby bars, but this two-storey restaurant offers a roof terrace, sea views and excellent seafood. Open daily noon–midnight.

La Jolla Bistro $$$ Neyzin Tevfik Cad. 174, opposite Karada Marina, tel: 0252-313 7660. Small, chic bistro whose menu juggles Mediterranean starters, steakhouse standards and sushi, plus Bodrum’s largest selection of wines and coffees. Open all year.

Sünger Pizza $ Neyzen Tevfik Caddesi 216, Bodrum, tel: 0252-316 0854. The oldest restaurant in Bodrum, this very busy hangout does salads, pasta and meze as well as excellent pizzas. Open all day every day.

Dalyan

Çağrı Pide Salonu $ Gülpınar Çarsi Içi, tel: 0252-284 3427. Despite the name a very decent, licensed all-rounder, with grills and a few well-executed mezes, tucked away near the entrance to the local minibus terminal. Cash only.

Datça

Fevzi’nin Yeri $$ Behind centre of Kumluk Beach, tel: 0252-712 9746, www.fevzis.com. Excellent meyhane with a plethora of old-fashioned meze platters rarely seen now, cheerful nautical decor and strictly seafood mains. A cult hangout for both locals and visiting Turks. Cash only.

Köyceğiz

Alila $$ Lakefront near town centre, tel: 0252-262 1150. The kitchen staff of this hotel produce unheard-of mezes like stewed artichokes, yogurt with coriander greens, and caper shoots marinated in sour pomegranate syrup, while main portions are generous. Very popular so book ahead.

Marmaris

Ney $$ 26 Sokağı 24, tel: 0252-412 0217. Installed in an old Greek house with marina views, Ney specialises in home-style platters like mantı (Turkish ravioli). Very much a one-person, owner-chef affair with just a few tables, so booking in season advisable.

Mediterranean Coast

Alanya

Mahperi Restaurant $$ IskeleCad.Carsi Quarter No. 20, tel: 0242-512 5491. Long-standing harbour-front favourite (since 1947) serving an eclectic mix of everything from omelettes to fish casseroles and fillet steak, with a good selection of vegetarian food as well.

Red Tower Brewery İskele Caddesi 80, Alanya, tel: 0242-513 6664. A harbour-front six-storey palace of consumption near the Red Tower – with a microbrewery, lounge bar, plus separate Turkish, seafood and international restaurants.

Antalya

Hasanağa $$ Mescit Sok 15, Kaleiçi, tel: 0242-242 8105. Popular, durable old-town restaurant, with a characterful indoor dining area, plus a delightful walled courtyard studded with citrus trees. A serve-yourself buffet meze table precedes fish or meat mains. Live Turkish music most evenings. Open all year.

Parlak $$ Kazim Özalp Caddesi, Zincirlihan, tel: 0242-241 6553. Roast-chicken specialists, serving in a large patio, with plenty of mezes and dessert as well. Mostly local-patronised. Cash only; open all year.

Vanilla $$$ Hesapçı Sok. 33, tel: 0242-247 6013, www.vanillaantalya.com. Chic, cozy Turkish-English-run bistro purveying mainly continental fare (steaks, fish, carpaccio, risotto), with Italian/Asian dishes thrown in. Stylish attached bar. Booking advised in season.

Çirali

Cemil Pansiyon $$ Shopping ‘strip’, hamlet centre, tel: 0242-825 7063. Home-style cooking with good vegetable-based mezes, and far better value than the tempting row of upscale beachside restaurants. Credit cards taken for groups, by prior arrangement.

Fethiye

Meğri Lokantası $$ Çarşı Caddesi 30, tel: 0252-614 4047. Decent home-style casseroles and puddings, supposedly open 24hr. Cash only. There is a more blatantly touristy annexe further into the old bazaar at Likya Sokak 8–9 ($$$).

Kalkan

Çiftlik $ İslamlar village centre, 8km from Kalkan, tel: 0242-838 6055. Least expensive of a half-dozen trout farm restaurants here; eat your trout withvegetable garnish and flat yufka bread while perched above the fish ponds – and a great view. Cash only.

Gironda $$$ Hasan Altan Caddesi 28, Yalıboyu, tel: 0242-844 1298. A beautiful courtyard bar and rooftop terrace with great Ottoman and international food, a good wine­cellar, all wrapped up in an old Greek building festooned in bougainvillaea.

Korsan Meze $$$ Harbour front, tel: 0242-844 3622. As implied by the name, very creative mezes precede mains, but as with all Kalkan restaurants, clarify any hidden charges in advance. Open May–Oct. Credit cards accepted.

Kuru’nin Yeri $ 3.5km (2 miles) east of Kalkan, en route Kaputaş beach, tel: 0242-844 3848. Best of a trio of roadside restaurants clustered here, doling out inexpensive homestyle dishes like mantı (ravioli), nohutlu et (chickpeas with meat chunks), şakşuka and corn bread. Open all year. Cash only.

Kaya köyu

Cin Bal $ Signposted at easterly approach to village, tel: 0252-618 0066. This is a kendin pişin kendin ye place, where you buy superb lamb by the kilo and then cook it yourself at a tableside brazier. Open all year. Cash only.

Bay Efetto $$ Kayaköy Mah. Kuyubasi Geniler Cad. No. 19, tel: 532 734 9255. Family-run restaurant located in the middle of Kayaköy in idyllic surroundings – there’s a beautiful garden with a stream, pond and ducks. Warm and friendly hosts serve fresh and tasty mezes, raki, grilled meat, fish and chicken. Also offers a variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Kaş

Bahçe $$ Top of Uzun Çarşı, behind Lion Tomb, tel: 0242-836 2370. The best cold or hot meze in town, served in the garden (bahçe); mains are less exciting. The seafood annexe just opposite (tel: 0242-836-2779; $$$) is also excellent, with unusual mezes like marinated sea-bass fillet. Both open May to early November.

Sultan Garden $$–$$$ Hükümet Caddesi, opposite coast guard station, tel: 0242-836 3762. The place for a special night out, featuring less common meze platters like paçanga böreği (turnovers with pastırma, tomato, cheese), plus lamb-based mains. Outdoor terrace open May–Oct.

Ölüdeniz

Kumsal Pide $ Belceğiz esplanade, southeast end, tel: 0252-617 0058. Fabulous pide in large portions and equally big meze platters at startlingly normal prices. Substantial local clientele, so open most of the year. Licensed. Cash only.

Patara

Tlos Restaurant (Bolu’lu Osman Usta) $ Centre of Gelemiş resort area, tel: 0242-843 5135. Big portions of traditional home-style casserole food and fry-ups like liver and onions, done by a chef from Bolu. Very good value. Cash only; unlicensed.

Side

Orfoz $$ Liman Caddesi 58, tel: 0242-753 1362. Shady harbour-front restaurant with wonderful views of the sunset and excellent seafood and steaks – no wonder that this favourite has survived while others around it have come and gone.