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What was once the house of a prosperous Greek merchant is now a fine restaurant specializing in steak and ultra-tender lamb kleftiko (lamb shank marinated in red wine and slow-cooked in a 400-year-old oven). The wine cellar has more than 10,000 bottles, including a good selection of Turkish wines. The Turkish breakfast, served until 2 pm, is also popular. On hot summer days, you can take refuge in the cool basement; at night, the restaurant lights the abandoned buildings all around, creating an atmosphere that is romantic or spooky, depending on your take. Free transportation is available to and from hotels in the Fethiye–Ölüdeniz area.
Kaya, Mugla, 48300, Turkey
Known For
- Steak
- Braised lamb
- Stuffed meatballs
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. and evenings in winter
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A down-to-earth, traditional Turkish restaurant in often tourist-oriented Kalkan, Ata is (as the name suggests) known for its tender, flavorful kebabs, which come in medium- and large-portion sizes. The menu also includes pide (Turkish flatbread) cooked in a wood oven and the classic array of mezes, salads, and hot starters. The casual seating is on a patio overlooking the main road into town.
Şehitler Cad. No: 21, Kalkan, Antalya, Turkey
Known For
- Mixed grill
- Mixed meze plate
- İskender kebab
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A hospitable spot for a quick bite on your way to or from the beach and ruins, this simple, open-air eatery offers a wide range of gözleme, a type of Turkish crepe, including those with less-common fillings like eggplant and cheese or chicken with walnuts, as well as sweet options for dessert. You can also get egg dishes, meatballs, chicken kebabs, and other standard fare.
Gelemiş Mah. No: 86, Gelemis, Antalya, Turkey
Known For
- Tahini-molasses gözleme
- Homemade mantı (dumplings)
- Turkish breakfast
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This busy harborside fish restaurant is popular with Göcek natives and visitors alike and is considered a town institution. In summer, the seating extends out toward the waterfront, under tropical trees and with romantic views of the water. Main dishes (kebabs, steak, seafood) are typical, but the pride of the menu is its selection of 30 meze (starters). The homemade bread is delicious, and wild mountain mushrooms are served as a side dish in spring and fall.
Göcek, Mugla, 48310, Turkey
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Dec.–Mar.
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Owned by a local butcher, this sophisticated waterfront spot serves up the high-quality, perfectly cooked steaks and chops that you’d expect, along with burgers, kebabs, and lighter options like mezes and salads, though the selection of non-meat mains is slim. There’s a full bar and a great view, especially at sunset.
Cahit Gündüz Cad. No: 11, Fethiye, Mugla, Turkey
Known For
- Pepper steak
- Baked lamb shank
- Chateaubriand
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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Even if you don't stay at the Kocaev–Mehmet Ali Ağa Konağı, consider soaking up the ambience for an evening at its restaurant. The seating is right beside the hotel (effectively the mansion's courtyard), and, as you'd expect in such a stellar location, the food is a gourmet's delight, the service five-star, and the prices enthusiastically high. The menu changes regularly, with a focus on Mediterranean and Ottoman dishes that make good use of the area's wild herbs. The mezes are excellent, and the mixed platter recommended. There is also a fine wine cellar.
Kavak Meydanı, No. 1, Datça, Mugla, 48900, Turkey
Known For
- Lamb chops
- Octopus carpaccio
- Cold almond soup
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A few blocks north of the fray, Flash attracts more locals than tourists and survives on word of mouth. It’s known for soups, steaks, kebabs, and meat stews cooked in a clay pot (kiremit); it also makes nice, oven-fired pide and lahmacun (wafer-thin spiced-meat flatbread). Come ravenously hungry, and you may have room for a dessert of künefe, a rich confection of cheese, strands of dough and sugar syrup sprinkled with pistachio.
Hacet Cad. 32/A, Alanya, Antalya, 07400, Turkey
Known For
- Adana kebab
- Lamb shish kebab
- Meat stew in clay pot
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Tour groups often fill this restaurant at dinner for good reason: the food is both delicious and inexpensive, a combination that also makes it popular with locals at lunch. The restaurant also offers a nice, traditional Turkish breakfast. Expect all the usual Turkish dishes, plus local specialties including soups, stews, and börek pastries.
İstiklal Cad. No. 20, Antakya, Hatay, 31001, Turkey
Known For
- Chard leaves stuffed with meat
- Tepsi kebab (spiced minced lamb cooked in a tray)
- Aşur (wheat and beef stew)
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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Little-consumed most other places in Turkey, hummus is a mainstay of the Antakya diet, and the old town is full of tiny, no-frills shops serving up little else, often as a filling breakfast. Jolly İbrahim, a hummus “usta” (master), who learned his trade in Lebanon, makes everything from scratch—even grinding the sesame seeds for his own tahini. Orders come with pillowy bread and an array of spicy peppers and pickles.
Saray Cad. Sakarya İşhanı No: 13, Antakya, Hatay, Turkey
Known For
- Hummus
- Cevizli biber (pepper paste with walnuts)
- Bakla (broad bean dip)
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner
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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.
Gumruk Sokak, Kaya, Mugla, 48300, Turkey
Known For
- Salmon in saffron sauce
- Baked aubergine
- Steak
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Nov.–Mar.
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In business since 1950, Kervan draws hummus lovers from as far away as Mersin city center to eat its house specialty, served warm with a choice of toppings, including chickpeas and butter, köfte (meatballs), chicken, or cheese–all with spicy peppers and pickles on the side. The only thing on the menu other than hummus at this simple eatery by the çarşı (market) area is the equally delicious fındık lahmacun—miniature flatbreads topped with ground meat cooked in tomatoes and spices.
Abdi İpekçi Cad., 801. Sok., Abacı İşhanı No: 18, Tarsus, Mersin, Turkey
Known For
- Hummus with chickpeas and butter
- Hummus with pastırma (cured beef)
- Fındık lahmacun (tiny flatbreads)
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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.
36. Sok., No: 69, Marmaris, Mugla, 48700, Turkey
Known For
- Döner kebab
- Moussaka
- Kuru fasulye (stewed white beans in tomato sauce)
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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A tranquil, stylish break from options in the sometimes tacky hustle and bustle of Fethiye’s bazaar area, Kukina serves up a distinctive (and delicious) international menu of dishes like falafel tacos, fried chicken burgers, and popcorn shrimp. Standbys like burgers and pizza are available, as are plenty of vegetarian options. The greenhouse-like courtyard and cheery, plant-filled interior are both comfortable places to linger over an afternoon coffee or a glass of wine.
95. Sok., No. 17, Fethiye, Mugla, Turkey
Known For
- Pastas
- Homemade brownies
- Smoothie bowls
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An Ölüdeniz institution, this casual restaurant set just back from the seafront at the eastern edge of town serves up hearty fare at reasonable prices. In addition to its crisp, thin-crust pide (flatbread) with a wide variety of toppings—including vegetarian options such as spinach or mushrooms—Kumsal’s large menu encompasses kebabs, pizza, fish, and international dishes. The service is friendly, and there’s an open-air terrace upstairs, away from the heat of the pide oven.
957. Sok. No: 13, Ölüdeniz, Mugla, Turkey
Known For
- Assorted pide (flatbread)
- Chicken casserole
- Grilled sea bass
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This excellent, straightforward Turkish restaurant is on the western edge of the bazaar and favored by locals for its kebabs, pide (Turkish pizza), and traditional casseroles. It's open all day, morphing from a breakfast joint in the morning to a family restaurant in the afternoon to the perfect place for a late-night snack at 3 am. The same owners also operate the somewhat more upscale Meğri Restaurant in the center of the bazaar.
Çarşı Cad., No. 30, Fethiye, Mugla, 48300, Turkey
Known For
- İskender kebab
- Pide
- Döner kebab
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. in winter
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Forget the printed menu and order from the meze case, where the wide range of tempting starters includes unusual mushrooms from the mountains out back, fresh seaweed dishes, and squid in garlic, oil, and lemon. Özcan's mains are predominantly seafood but there are also excellent kebabs and local lamb dishes. It's set on the wide esplanade that makes up Göcek's main public harbor.
Göcek, Mugla, 48310, Turkey
Known For
- Meze
- Garlic prawns
- Grilled red mullet
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This restaurant on the Netsel marina has a lot more style and dignity than you would guess from the name, and it's a great escape from the mass tourism of Marmaris. The house specialty is tender, oven-cooked, Anatolian lamb; however, the chef also prepares octopus, pasta, pizza, steak, Turkish grills, and divine desserts.
Marmaris, Mugla, 48000, Turkey
Known For
- Oven-cooked lamb
- Grilled calamari
- Steak in mushroom sauce
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Almost opposite the Antalya Museum, but hidden a little down the hill towards the sea, this restaurant may well have the best view in town. The menu focuses on meat, pasta, pizza, and burgers, and though the quality can be hit or miss, regulars praise the steak—plus the portions are, well, big. Owned by an Antalyan former basketball player (aka the Big Man), it's a popular place for locals to come for a special meal.
Konyaaltı Cad., Antalya, Antalya, 07100, Turkey
Known For
- Turkish breakfast
- Two-color ravioli
- Pepper steak
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This casual lokanta in the center of town is a reliable place to get satisfying home-cooked food at reasonable prices. Choose from the array of daily dishes—different varieties of meatballs, casseroles, stews, and vegetables cooked in olive oil—under the glassed-in counter at the entrance, and then grab a seat in the simple dining room or at one of the sidewalk tables.
Atatürk Cad. No: 72, Datça, Mugla, Turkey
Known For
- Stuffed zucchini flowers
- Stewed chard with lamb
- Rice with saffron and currants
