Finding something to satisfy your hunger is never a problem at Bodrum!

Use this Bodrum restaurant guide for some recommendations about the best places to eat in Bodrum. After a long day of bargaining and shopping in Bodrum, take some time to rest and enjoy the range of different cuisine from one of the many restaurants below. Find out more about food and cuisine in Turkey as a whole in our Turkey restaurant guide.

Food & Cuisine in Bodrum

Go into any of the many pavement cafes or the restaurants that serve international fare. Foreign guests are continuously surprised by the huge variety of dishes served here and the pain and effort put into preparing each vegetable dish. It is quite obvious from the Bodrum market that Turkish kitchens demand fresh vegetables and value freshness. The practicing Muslims are forbidden to eat pork. Fish is available; however fish prices have jumped skyward over the last few years.

Local Food

First time visitors of Turkey are always surprised by the great variety of starters served in restaurants. The usual practice is for the waiter to bring to the table a large tray with an assortment of items on portion-sized plates. Guests then select what they like. It is more common however, to go to the selection bar inside the restaurant.

Dolmas is any kind of stuffed food. For example, vine leaves and peppers are filled with rice, slices of fried eggplant and garlic yoghurt, pine seeds, currants, and humus, which is a spicy chickpea paste. The Sigara Börek is a warm starter filled with parsley, cheese, fried zucchini, stuffed zucchini flowers, and a long list of other things.

Main Courses

Thin slices of meat are cut from a large roasting ‘spit' and stuffed into Pide, which is a special kind of bread, and mixed with salad and onions. Thin crepe-like pancakes make up Gözleme. The pancake is baked on a curved metal sheet and usually stuffed with a mixture of parsley and white cheese. The Lahmacun consists of minced meat spread on a thin pastry layer. It is then topped with fresh garden herbs and garnished with red pepper. This dish is somewhere in between a tortilla and a pizza and can be served either mild or hot.

Turkish Desserts

The rich and scrumptious Turkish desserts are perfect for visitors with a sweet tooth. Firin sutlac is a kind of rice pudding that is baked with cream, sugar, rose water, and orange essence. There are a number of other popular sweet delicacies; the most well known among them is the baklava, which includes layers of filo pastry filled with almond or pistachio paste and sweetened with syrup.

Drinks

The anisette-flavoured Raki is Turkey's most popular alcoholic drink. Aryan is a yoghurt-based drink that is salted, diluted with water and served chilled. It comes highly recommended and is ideal for a hot day. Traditional Turkish coffee is prepared in a Cezve, which is a small copper pot. Water is heated together with sugar and coffee powder on a low flame and the kahve is served hot in small mocca cups.

Bodrum Market

The food market days are Thursdays and Fridays. The sheer variety of fruits and vegetables available in the market is mind-boggling. There are three to four varieties of even the humble carrot! There are mountains of lemons, oranges, and tangerines from the orchards that cover almost the whole Bodrum peninsula. The market has wild herbs such as ligonium, mustard, and nettles, all of which are a very important part of the local Aegean cuisine.

Edible fungi are found in abundance after the rains. Being rich in proteins, they are often eaten in place of meat. The çintar mushroom is the most popular local variety. Its shapeless form completely disguises its fine flavour. It is eaten fried or grilled in local olive oil.