The Central and Southern Aegean Coast Restaurants

Dining out along the Aegean coast is a pleasure, especially if you enjoy seafood and fresh produce. There are countless seafood restaurants at all price ranges. A typical meal includes an assortment of hot and cold meze (appetizers), a mixed salad, and the catch of the day, capped off with a Turkish dessert. To make it authentic, accompany your meal with rak? (a spirit similar in taste to oúzo). Some of the more common fish you'll find along the Aegean coast are levrek (sea bass), çipura (sea bream), barbunya (red mullet), and lahos (grouper), as well as tasty smaller fish like sardalya (sardines). Note that most fish restaurants charge per kilogram for whole fish, and the prices often aren't listed; ask before ordering to avoid receiving an unexpectedly large bill at the end of an otherwise pleasant meal. Of course, there are plenty of meat and kebab restaurants around, too, if that’s what you’re craving.

For dessert, try local dondurma (Turkish ice cream, often thickened with orchid root or mastic resin), as well as milk puddings and baklava. It’s often better to avoid hotel restaurants at lunch and dinner—you can frequently find better and less expensive food a short walk away—but luxury and boutique hotels might be an exception as they are often firm favorites on the local restaurant scene. And don’t forget street snacks! In season, you can grab fat local Smyrna figs; a cup of icy, dark berry ?erbet (think of it as Ottoman Gatorade); or a sesame-studded feta-and-tomato sandwich, each for less than a dollar in central ?zmir. Simit, the classic Turkish bagel-like street snack, is called gevrek in the ?zmir region, and often purchased along with a piece of tulum peyniri (goat's milk cheese) and a hard-boiled egg, following an old Sephardic culinary custom.

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  • 1. Aquarium

    $$$

    At this waterfront restaurant, you should begin your meal with a selection of meze, like stuffed zucchini flowers, roasted eggplant with tulum cheese, and octopus salad. Then you can let the owner, Cengiz Bey, help you select the best local fish for the grill. Whatever you choose, don't skip dessert: Gaziantep baklava or irmik helvası (traditional warm semolina halvah) served with ice cream.

    Yalı Mevkii 54, Gümüslük, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-394–3682

    Known For

    • Spectacular meze
    • Aquarium special (shrimp and octopus cooked with garlic, butter, and flame-roasted peppers and eggplant)
    • Delicious desserts

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 2. Garo's

    $$$

    The peripatetic Turkish-Armenian maestro Garo heads the kitchen at this enduringly popular stone cottage–turned–waterfront restaurant in Türkbükü with a comfy Greek-taverna feel, friendly staff, and an outdoor terrace with blue-and-white checkered tablecloths. If you're not in the mood for seafood and meze, there are spicy Turkish meatballs or a Bodrum specialty, çökertme kebabı (beef strips over fried potatoes with yogurt sauce).

    83 Sok. 9, Göltürkbükü, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-377–6171

    Known For

    • Friendly vibe
    • Grilled octopus
    • Veal cheek

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Oct.–Apr., Reservations essential
  • 3. Gümüşcafé Fish Restaurant

    $$$

    This lovely restaurant on the waterfront specializes not only in fresh fish, seafood, and meze but also serves an excellent summer brunch. Tables are only a few feet from the peaceful waters of the bay, with a truly romantic view of the ancient ruins of Rabbit Island, often with a soft breeze. The waitstaff are cheery and attentive, and though the kitchen has been refurbished almost beyond recognition, it retains a 300-year-old hearth from when it served as the bakery for the surrounding villages.

    1120 Sok. 82, Gümüslük, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-394–4234

    Known For

    • Atmospheric spot
    • Levrek (sea bass) wrapped in vine leaves
    • Stuffed zucchini flowers

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Nov.–Apr.
  • 4. Kalamare

    $$

    Down a quiet, pretty alley just a two-minute stroll from the waterfront, the white, candlelit tables at this seafood restaurant quickly fill with hungry locals. Accompany a heaping plate of fried local calamari (probably the most generous in town) with a tasting plate of up to four vegetable meze with toasted bread, and, if you're still hungry, order grilled fish and (more) rakı.

    Sanat Okulu Cad. 9, Bodrum, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-316–7076

    Known For

    • Candlelit atmosphere
    • Calamari every way, including stuffed with shrimp and cheese
    • Köpoğlu (garlicky eggplant meze)
  • 5. Atılay Balık

    $$$

    With fishnets on the ceiling and simple tables under strands of small lights outside, this laid-back fish restaurant on the waterfront in Türkbükü has a nautical vibe. Start your meal with a selection of seafood or vegetable meze, and save room for the house special dessert, helva sarma (phyllo-dough rolls filled with tahini paste, flavored with cinnamon, and served with ice cream and chocolate sauce).

    Liman Cad. 81/B, Göltürkbükü, Mugla, Turkey
    252-377–5095

    Known For

    • Laid back but romantic setting
    • Grilled octopus
    • Levrek lokum (sea bass morsels)
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  • 6. Bağarası

    $$$

    Tables are tucked into a lovely hidden garden in summer and in cooler weather service is in a quaint, Bodrum-style, one-story house. The Mediterranean cuisine includes some local favorites. Alcohol is served.

    Pınarlı Cad. 59, Bitez, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-363–7693

    Known For

    • çıtır mantı (crispy fried Turkish-style ravioli)
    • Lokum pilav (rice prepared with local herbs and spices)
    • Girit köfte (Crete-style meatballs)

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 7. Bitez Dondurma

    $

    Bitez Dondurma's creamy ice-cream concoctions full of fresh fruit have proved so popular that the shop now has branches all over the Bodrum Peninsula, and as far away as Istanbul. The waterfront location in Bodrum's town center is a convenient spot to grab a scoop or two as you stroll along the promenade.

    Neyzen Teyfik Cad. 76, Bodrum, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-313–3629

    Known For

    • Mandalina (mandarin) ice cream
    • Balbadem (honey and almond) ice cream
    • Nar (pomegranate) ice cream

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: No lunch or dinner
  • 8. Bitez Köftecisi

    $$

    A pleasantly old-fashioned place popular with locals, this cozy, casual restaurant a short walk back from the beachfront offers a range of Turkish-style grilled meats, plus a smaller selection of appetizers and meze. Portions are small, but quality high. Alcohol is served.

    Şah Cad. 31, Bitez, Mugla, 48470, Turkey

    Known For

    • Köfte (meatballs)
    • Pirzola (lamb chops)
    • Ciğer (liver)
  • 9. Çardaklı Restaurant

    $$$

    Bedecked with blossoms, this waterfront restaurant has a classic Aegean air and wide selection of meze, including stuffed zucchini flowers and yogurt with hot red peppers, as well as grilled fish and meat. In high season, the outside tables are usually full with Turks and foreign visitors alike.

    İskele Cad. 13, Yalikavak, Mugla, Turkey
    252-385–2444

    Known For

    • Grilled octopus
    • Vine-leaf-wrapped levrek (sea bass)
    • Levrek marin (marinated sea bass)

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 10. Denizhan Et Lokantası

    $$$

    Famed for its kebabs and other meat dishes, Denizhan also serves up very good meze and appetizers, including lahmacun (Turkish-style whisper-thin flatbread topped with spices and minced meat) and vegetable dishes such as mustard greens salad. The restaurant has a prime location on the Bodrum waterfront and an extensive wine list.

    Neyzen Teyfik Cad. 182/C, Bodrum, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-313–2728

    Known For

    • Excellent veggie meze
    • Adana kebab
    • Kuzu pirzola (lamb chops)

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 11. Dükkan

    $$

    This small and colorful eatery serving Greek and Turkish fare is an increasingly rare find in ever more chic Bodrum. Choose from meze like smoked fish or roasted eggplant with tahini sauce, followed by fresh fish, ending perhaps with a cream-topped candied mandarin for dessert. Reservations are recommended.

    Adliye Sok. 5, Bodrum, Mugla, Turkey
    530-341–6620

    Known For

    • Grilled squid
    • Fried calamari
    • Homey vibe

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch
  • 12. Fatma Bacının Yeri

    $

    Simple, hearty dishes are what’s on offer at this casual restaurant in the middle of Turgutreis’s bazaar. Choose from traditional Turkish favorites or get an omelet at any time of the day.

    Plaj 2 Sok. 15, Turgutreis, Mugla, 48960, Turkey
    252-382–5615

    Known For

    • Mantı (Turkish-style ravioli in garlicky yogurt sauce)
    • çiğ börek (deep-fried savory pastry)
    • Gözleme (Turkish-style savory crepes)
  • 13. Gemibaşı

    $$$

    For almost half a century, this popular, no-frills restaurant near the marina has been serving the freshest seafood in town. House specialties include fish soup and octopus with pilaf, and their fried calamari has been voted one of the best versions in Turkey. Reservations recommended.

    Neyzen Teyvfik Cad. 176, Bodrum, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-316–1220

    Known For

    • Popular with locals
    • Balık köfte (fish "meatball")
    • Shrimp on a bed of pureed eggplant

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential
  • 14. Hoca'nın Yeri

    $

    The specialty of the house at this simple eatery on the boardwalk in Türkbükü is large, rather greasy portions of çiğ böreği, a Crimean dish brought to Turkey that consists of flat, fried pastry stuffed with ground beef, onion, and spices. One of the few unpretentious (and relatively inexpensive) places left on the Türkbükü shoreline, this place has a beach-hut vibe, its own little patch of sand, and a family clientele.

    Liman Cad. 77, Göltürkbükü, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-377–5907

    Known For

    • Baked or fried mantı (tiny Turkish "ravioli," stuffed with minced meat)
    • Gözleme (Turkish savory crepes with various fillings)
    • Turkish breakfast

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Oct.–Apr., Credit cards accepted
  • 15. Kavaklı Köfteci

    $$

    Köfte (Turkish-style meatballs) are the mainstay of this popular, no-frills eatery, and you can enjoy them as a sandwich or with a side of piyaz (navy bean salad, with or without onions), homemade bread, and ayran (salted yogurt drink). The only other dish on the menu is çöp şiş, small pieces of skewered grilled lamb. No alcohol served.

    Merkez Çarşı İçi, Yalikavak, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-385–4748

    Known For

    • Good köfte
    • Simple menu
    • Casual vibe
  • 16. Köfteci Bilal'ın Yeri

    $

    Turkish grilled meatballs and home-style cuisine, served at just a few tables in a no-frills setting, have been a hit for more than half a century. Accompany any dish you order with homemade plain yogurt. Alcohol is not served.

    Yeni Çarşı 2. Sok. 11, Bodrum, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-316–3666

    Known For

    • Busy lunch crowd
    • Delicious meatballs
    • Stewed okra

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
  • 17. Körfez

    $$$

    This long-standing, family-run fish house overlooks the harbor and is especially noted for a wide selection of Cretan dishes and seafood appetizers that include delectable shrimp cooked in butter, garlic, and seaweed. A local institution with courteous waitstaff, Körfez also serves some meat dishes.

    Neyzen Tevfik Cad. 2, Bodrum, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-313–8248

    Known For

    • Fried calamari
    • Fish soup
    • Good brunch
  • 18. Limon Cafe

    $$$

    Settle into a lovely, fig-scented garden about 2 km (1 mile) outside town, overlooking citrus trees, the sea, and the ancient city of Myndos and enjoy a meal in these rural surroundings. While the late-risers' breakfast, served until 3 pm daily is a draw, the crowds come for dinner at sunset. Lunch or dinner should begin with the excellent fried calamari; the mantı (Turkish-style ravioli) is homemade.

    Kardak Cad. 7, Gümüslük, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-394–4044

    Known For

    • House-specialty cocktails
    • The sunset views
    • Homemade mantı (Turkish-style ravioli)

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Oct.–Apr., Reservations essential
  • 19. Mavi Park Restaurant

    $$$

    This waterfront spot in pleasant Şevket Sabancı Park, just outside Turgutreis city center, has grand views of the sea along with a nice selection of Turkish and international dishes (though, perhaps surprisingly given the location, no fish). Alcohol is served and reservations advisable in high season.

    Gazi Mustafa Kemal Bul., Turgutreis, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-382–2608

    Known For

    • Kebabs
    • Patlıcan sarması (eggplant rolls)
    • Turkish breakfast
  • 20. Miam

    $$$$

    Wonderfully prepared seafood is served with polish at this pleasant spot, as are the meat and pasta dishes. After midnight, there are often DJs at the garden bar. In wintertime, regulars cluster indoors around a cozy fireplace. Book in advance on weekends and in high season.

    Atatürk Cad. 51, Göltürkbükü, Mugla, 48400, Turkey
    252-377–5612

    Known For

    • Good breakfast
    • Great sea views from the terrace
    • Cozy fireplace in winter

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Reservations essential

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