2 Best Restaurants in Cappadocia and Central Turkey, Turkey

This charming spot just off fashionable Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi specializes in nicely prepared Aegean-style mezes and seafood dishes (Ege is the Turkish name for the Aegean Sea), such as Cretan-style cubed cheese with herbs or octopus with thyme. The design—painted wooden chairs, blue-and-white walls with seashore motifs, and maps of the region painted on the ceiling—transports you straight to the Aegean Islands. In summer, it's good to sit out on the vine-covered patio.

Ankara may be landlocked, but Trilye serves such impressive fish and seafood dishes that you wouldn’t know it. Opened more than a dozen years ago by Turkish food writer Süreyya Üzmez, the stylish restaurant has an extensive menu of creative mezes—such as prawn in avocado sauce, or marinated artichoke hearts with sesame seeds—and well-prepared main courses. The hot appetizer of grilled octopus, brought to the table still smoking inside a glass, is a sight to behold—and taste. The rather expensive menu comes with prices of most seafood dishes listed by the kilo, so make sure you know what you’re ordering.