4 Best Restaurants in Yalikavak, The Central and Southern Aegean Coast

Çardaklı Restaurant

$$$
Bedecked with blossoms, this waterfront restaurant has a classic Aegean air and wide selection of meze, including stuffed zucchini flowers and yogurt with hot red peppers, as well as grilled fish and meat. In high season, the outside tables are usually full with Turks and foreign visitors alike.
Turkish Breakfast Lunch Dinner $$$
İskele Cad. 13, Yalikavak, Mugla, Turkey
252-385–2444
Known For
  • grilled octopus
  • vine-leaf-wrapped levrek (sea bass)
  • levrek marin (marinated sea bass)
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential

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.

Minör Restaurant

$$$

Popular with the yachting crowd and holidaymakers from Istanbul, this friendly steak house has live music—jazz, Latin, flamenco, Turkish, and pop—just about every night. The broad menu also includes chicken, fish, and other meat dishes, along with salads and assorted meze. Come for dinner, stay for the dancing.

Lunch Dinner $$$
Çökertme Cad. 17, Yalikavak, Mugla, Turkey
252-385–3863
Known For
  • steak in pepper sauce
  • surf and turf
  • dancing as well as dinner

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Zeytinlina Restaurant

$$

A broad, mostly reasonably priced menu of well-executed dishes—both Turkish and international—is offered in a setting that encourages leisurely lingering over a meal. Tables are scattered throughout a peaceful, beautifully landscaped garden with sea views, and there’s a beach, too, if you want to cool off.