46 Best Restaurants in Turkey

With fine food and excellent service, stylish Seraser aspires to be the best restaurant in all of Turkey, and its inventive international menu certainly lifts it above other options in Antalya. This is considered a special-occasion restaurant, yet it's wonderfully relaxed and decent value compared to its American counterparts. Part of the opulent Tuvana Hotel, it's set in the leafy courtyard of a historic house, with indoor and outdoor dining areas and live jazz on weekends. The menu reflects international favorites with a Turkish twist, made with quality Turkish ingredients—most of which are organic. Starters include goat cheese and aubergine soufflé, mussels Provençal, and superb house-made pastas. Grouper and char-grilled steak are popular mains, but do save room for dessert: the Turkish coffee-infused crème brûlée is a showstopper. The wine list is impressive, with more than 300 options, though prices are steep.

If you are kebabed out, this old town restaurant has some of the best contemporary cuisine on the coast and serves it in an appropriately stylish setting. The menu changes regularly, though it's basically modern European with lashings of Southeast Asia. There's also a stylish lounge area where you can order coffee during the day or cocktails at night. It's on the pricey side for Turkey, but so is most of Kaleiçi—and this is some of the best food you'll find here.

Excellent coffees, detox juices, herbal teas, croissants or healthy sour-bread breakfasts, vegan dishes, German-style baked cakes, cookies, and desserts are served in this bright yellow corner cafe on the traffic road leading away from the Bodrum Marina. A breakfast Bellini is possible, as it is licensed for alcohol service. The team also creates the Munchbox takeout or delivery boxes of savory or sweet platter nibbles.

Open since 1887, Imam Çağdaş is certainly doing something right, as the crowds that pack this restaurant in the bazaar district day and night will tell you. Besides top notch lahmucan (crispy stone baked dough topped with spiced minced meat), there's a small menu of standard kebabs such as ali nazik (minced-meat kebab served on a puree of roasted eggplant, garlic, and yogurt) and the sebzeli kebab, a skewer of grilled vegetables and lamb minced with garlic and parsley. The star however is the terrific syrupy baklava, so widely regarded as the best in the country that orders have regularly been received from Turkish presidents and from as far afield as Fidel Castro.

Chef-owner Musa Dağdeviren, who hails from the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep, is something of a culinary anthropologist, offering truly unique dishes made using recipes from around Turkey. This restaurant, Çiya Sofrası—the original of the three no-frills branches along the same street—is known for its seasonal meat- and vegetarian-based daily specials that feature unusual flavor combinations. Nearby Çiya Kebap serves top-notch kebabs along with home-style dishes.

Long established in a beautiful old Bodrum house and courtyard, this restaurant serves tapas, paella, beef cheeks, scallops, and a variety of other Spanish and Mediterranean dishes, available for lunch and dinner. Chef-owner Neco regularly visits Spain for inspiration. Desserts include San Sebastian and Creme Catalan. An impressive wine room offers a range of Turkish and international labels. They also run an economical pizza cafe in the alley next door.

A homey, peaceful retreat on the southern edge of the old city serves great coffee, fruit smoothies, homemade American cakes, and home-cooked lunches that include both Turkish and Asian dishes. Part of the St. Paul Cultural Center, it's one of the rare inexpensive eateries in central Antalya with distinctive and high-quality food. There's a library of exchange books on-site, as well as a gift shop with some lovely and unusual offerings (notably traditional jewelry from eastern Turkey) and a garden so quiet it's hard to believe you're so close to Kaleiçi's main drag.

Housed in a magnificent old mansion at the top of Göreme's hotel hill, Seten provides a classy setting in which to enjoy top-notch mezes and delicious mains. Standouts among the mezes include the imam bayıldı (braised stuffed eggplant) and Circassian-style chicken.

Every Turkish village has a fırın: a tasty, unpretentious bakery that churns out a daily bounty of smooth puddings, flaky pastries, fresh bread, and sweets. The amazing thing about this one is that it's survived in the heart of touristy Kaleiçi—and with reasonable prices, and friendly service. Options include spicy spinach börek and incirli cevizli muhallebisi, a delectable milk pudding flavored with local figs and walnuts.

This Ürgüp favorite is very inviting, with attractive table arrangements, richly upholstered armchairs, wrought-iron lamps, and three open-air terraces that have sofalike seats and stone-topped tables. The contemporary, Mediterranean-inspired menu, moreover, is a refreshing change from the heavy, meat-based fare typical of Central Anatolia. The mezes, such as chargrilled eggplant or cubed feta cheese and olives, are where Ziggy really shines. To sample a variety, try the reasonably priced tasting menu, which includes nine cold mezes, a hot starter, a main dish, and dessert.

Housed in one of Kadıköy’s historic Moda apartment buildings, Aida’s dimly lit coziness brings the feeling of an Italian bistro to Istanbul. The Italian chef creates authentic cuisine, and some nights, there is live piano music to accompany dinner.

Popular with locals, this restaurant specializes in the Arab-influenced cuisine of Hatay (originating near Turkey's border with Syria), which features delicious meze like hummus, baba ghanoush, muhammara (a spread of mashed chile peppers and walnuts), kısır (a spicy version of tabbouleh), and a wide range of uncommon kebabs. The venue's famous "meter kebab" serves several people and requires advance ordering, as does the salt-shell-baked chicken and lamb.

This local favorite is the place to come for dessert; in addition to black forest cake and semolina cake, there's ice cream in many different flavors, served in a homemade waffle cone. Sakızlı muhallebi, a local specialty, is Turkish milk pudding flavored with gum mastic, the aromatic resin of the mastic tree. A beloved local brand, İmren has opened a casual Turkish restaurant on the same street (Kemalpaşa Cad. 70), as well as an Alaçatı hotel.

This very popular bakery in hip Alsancak serves up probably the broadest selection you’ll find of boyoz, a round flaky pastry with Sephardic roots that’s these days almost unique to İzmir. Get yours savory or sweet, or perhaps with a hard-boiled egg on the side in traditional style. Go early for the best selection, and you might even get a gevriği, the İzmir version of the Turkish circular simit.

This little shop inside a spice bazaar is considered by many Turks nationwide to have the best baklava in the country. Run by a fifth-generation baklava maker, this humble store turns out a delicious version of the classic dessert, as well as other phyllo-and-nut-based sweets.

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. Sit down for coffee, waffles, and more ice cream.

This charming little restaurant is best known for its mantı—a ravioli-like Turkish pasta traditionally stuffed with ground meat—and specifically Feraye (a name the restaurant has trademarked), a fried variation filled with cheese and spinach, potato and cheese, or chicken. The atmosphere is casual, and diners can either sit at sidewalk tables on a lively pedestrian side street lined with other restaurants and shops or at tables looking onto a quiet garden in the back.

This airy café-bakery, filled with lush green plants and big greenhouse-style windows, has an extensive menu of coffees, sweets, and brunch foods.

From late-night soup to early morning breakfasts, pide to full plates of grilled kebabs and döner kebabs, everything here is served fast and efficiently in a very clean restaurant that's popular with local families and all age groups. No alcohol is served. It's open 24 hours in summer, and late hours into winter.

No trip to Antakya is complete without eating künefe, a rich dessert with thinly soft cheese in between layers of pastry, baked in an oven and topped with sugar syrup. A row of shops selling the local sweet line the road in between the bridge into the old town and the beginning of the Uzun Çarşı. Ferah, in business since 1948, is a deservedly popular favorite.

Squeezed into a former market stall in the heart of the Grand Bazaar, the small kitchen at Fes Café turns out simple sandwiches, salads, excellent fresh lemonade and fruit juices, homemade desserts, and other American-style fare. The fuller menu includes salads, pastas, and meat dishes.

This grill house is an Istanbul institution, with a huge selection of kebabs, as well as appetizers like mini lahmacun (thin flatbread topped with spicy ground meat); although the food may not be too different from other kebab houses, Hamdi's three dining floors still tend to be packed with both tourists and locals. This makes for a lively, even boisterous, atmosphere, and service can be a bit harried; make sure that you get—and pay for—exactly what you order.

The largest and one of the most popular branches of this local chain of chic eateries is directly on the waterfront, with stylish furnishings and two enormous open-air terraces. The international menu ranges from starters like Asian-style crispy chicken fingers and salmon ceviche to main-course salads, pastas, pizzas, steaks, and the signature house burger.

Part of the Gunay's Garden villa complex, this tranquil spot in the far corner of Kaya village blends the best of Turkish and European cuisine, using homegrown ingredients as much as possible. There is a good range of largely organic starters; try the mixed meze plate for a taste of everything. Mains include excellent fish, steak, pizzas, and a lovely oven-cooked lamb. As befits the hotel's family-friendly ethos, there's also a kids' menu.

This popular, cozy hangout, named after famous Turkish photographer Ara Güler, whose black-and-white photographs of Istanbul line the walls, is a nice place for a light meal or cup of coffee. The menu includes several Turkish meat dishes along with more international fare, such as grilled entrecôte (sirloin) steak with fries or tagliatelle with salmon.

This casual yet stylish bar-restaurant in the old town offers a well-prepared and presented menu of traditional Turkish hot and cold meze, combined with international crowd-pleasers like burgers, fried chicken, and pasta. It's a disjointed approach, but the kitchen manages to pull off this large selection with aplomb. The upstairs terrace has great views over the harbor (sometimes closed off-season), and there’s a lounge on the ground floor where you can stop in for a coffee or cocktail.

This homey lokanta is a good-value place to grab a quick bite after visiting the nearby castle. Choose from the daily array of traditional Turkish stewed or sautéed meat and vegetable dishes displayed at the counter, or order a grilled kebab or spit-roasted döner. It’s in the maze of streets below the citadel on the inland side, next to Eski İbrahim Ağa Cami.

This cheery, casual bistro-style restaurant on the ground floor of the Hotel Ilayda is popular with visitors for its broad international menu, ranging from pasta dishes to fajitas to traditional Turkish grills. Prices are reasonable, portions hearty, and alcohol served.