Restaurants

 Yosun Restaurant is close to the apartment, seating inside and out.   The staff are extremely efficient, friendly and  courteous even when busy.
 More information on their website Yosun Restaurant         

Closer to the apartment is Tayyare a delightful little restaurant owned by an ex pilot.   We like going here because the food is slightly different to most of the other restaurants.   Again the attentive and friendly service makes the restaurant all the more attractive.  The owner, his wife (the chef), and the waiter will all line up to shake your hand and say their hellos and goodbyes if they are not too busy!

Toprakana is on the Dalaman to Ortaca road, on the left as you travel towards Ortaca.  As with the other restaurants it has inside and outside dining.  The outside dining includes an area in a ‘tree house’.  Lovely food, attentive service, and, as ever, excellent value for money.

Botanik is on the same road, but on the right and a little further along towards Ortaca. Inside and outside dining, attentive service and, we think, probably does the nicest bread!   We were there once when there was a power cut (these do happen in turkey, but tend to be short-lived). At the time the restaurant was packed, but the staff were not in the least fazed by the incident.  Extra candles were quickly delivered to the tables, along with extra, delicious bread, and the food just kept coming!

In the town centrum we have had tasty kebabs from little side street cafes.   Even here, places with just a couple of tables on the path outside, the attentive service was still in evidence.  My partner ordered the kebabs whilst I sat at the table outside.  Knives, forks, cups for our drinks, napkins, and moist wipes were laid out for us.  As we were leaving we were offered cologne, a common practice in Turkish restaurants, to freshen up.  There are also larger restaurants in the town, we’ve not been to them all yet…., but those we have eaten in have all been excellent.  Delicious, plentiful food and amazing value for money!

Dining out in Turkey is a truly wonderful experience. 

Firstly you will never have a meal in a restaurant without being served bread, usually still hot, with butter and some sort of accompaniment.  The accompaniment might be cheese and walnuts, the butter might be plain or it may be herb.  There is no charge for the bread, and in most restaurants when the bread plate is empty or nearly empty more fresh bread will be brought to the table.  

The main problem now is that you’ve eaten so much bread you are not hungry enough for the food you have ordered.  So beware, it is delicious, but there’s plenty more!

Turks never seem to have a meal without salad, so if you don’t order it they will ask if you want any.

In addition to the complimentary bread you will frequently be offered something complimentary at the end of your meal, especially in the larger restaurants.  This might be apple tea, Turkish coffee, or, on occasion, a large platter of peeled and sliced fresh fruit.  It would be considered rude not to eat at least some of it!

In general we tipped around 10% in the restaurants.