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Our beloved friends Banu and Haluk Maga, started welcoming their guests at Kapari Bahçe in 2014, where they serve their fantastic food from the Aegean cuisine. The couple restorated the garden of the oldest mansion of Alaçatı. Once they put their hands on it, Alaçatı has gained a paradise-like garden, hence became one of the best restaurants in town.

Banu started with clearing the debris of the mansion for the garden. Using the old stones of the mansion to built the garden walls and a veranda, she added spirit to the garden with beautiful flowers, antique objects and lightning; and the 50-years-old olive trees in the garden contributed to the beautiful atmosphere.

The menu offers tastes from both shores of Aegean sea such as; zucchini blossoms tempura, Cretan puree, saganaki with shrimps, baked Cretan zucchini, Greek mousakka, hania pancake, panna cotta with mastic, traditional specialities such as zucchini with tomato sauce and yoghurt, lamb liver leaves, amber with eggplant puree, pasta with artichoke, grandma’s meatballs, lamb dressed in yoghurt and tomato sauce (a special dish called; kuzu küşleme). Pastrami on grilled eggplant, seafood linguini and the Balkan desert ‘trilece’ are among our favorites of the menu.

Kapari Bahçe also has a comprehensive cocktail menu that includes classics like Lynchburg lemonade as well as unique recipes like vodka with black mulberry and Satsuma. Reservation is highly recommended as Kapari has been fully booked since the day it opened its doors.

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Traktör is definitely one of our favorites in Alaçatı. Our beloved friends Ipek and Kerem’s amazing house became a gastro bar with a beautiful yard in 2015. And our beloved friend Cenk (or Salça, as we call him) who runs the place, turned the house into a blissful heaven with the help of his talented chef & rest of the team.

Gourmet tastes such as Traktör Burger, parmesan & truffle potato chips, salmon with purslane salad, grilled fish sandwich, chicken wings with tamarind sauce, Traktör salad, prosciutto & cheese platters meet fantastic cocktails such as the infamous Satsuma, Gelincik Mohito or Mango Margarita. They all come together in Traktor, adding a new spectacular & delicious place to Alaçatı scene.

This place would be a good choice any time of the day as they serve a good breakfast as well as starters to enjoy at sunset just before you start strolling at Haci Memis. You can also treat yourself to a dining experience in a ‘gastropub’ atmosphere, and try their tasty cocktails at the bar after the dinner with good music.

 

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If you want to watch the everyday life of Alaçatı, Köşe Kahve, with delicious breakfast, lunch, coffee, dessert & appetizer options is definitely your place, as it is located at one of the most popular corners (Köşe meaning corner in Turkish) where locals and tourists pass by quite often.

Our beloved friend Tomris has transformed the old village cafe on the corner of the main square into a lovely cafe on 2004 , adding her aesthetic taste, joy and warm hospitality into it, while Gülay, sweet and lovely manager of Köşe Kahve turned the cafe into an enchanting place. With her always smiling face, blonde hair, blue vivid eyes, she starts the day always shining at Köşe. She never ceases to come to your table, ask how you feel, offer complimentary food and do her best to cheer you up. Her team also follows her footsteps with their positive energy and cheerful attitude.

With delicious omelettes, menemen (special Turkish egg), twin simit (special Turkish bagel), fresh baked croissants, quinoa parmesan salad, avocado strawberry salad, peach & purslane salad, hamburger, grilled salmon, prosciutto pear parmesan platter, pork sausage, cherry crumble, merengue, you can treat yourself to one of the best dining experiences Alaçatı has to offer. Hence it comes as no surprise that this cute place is one of our favorites in Alaçatı.

 

 

KOLBURANOS (11)

Kolburanos is one of the few places in Alaçatı that still keeps the old Alaçatı spirit, the spirit that was there 15 years ago, when there were only a handful unique cafes & restaurants owned by interesting people with various backgrounds. The owners knew every guest back then, sit & chat with them, and everybody lived happily ever after together!

You pretty much get the same feeling when you enter this cozy, spacious & tasteful old stone building which used to be a carpenter’s workshop. The restaurant has no sign outside the door, but you can easily find Kolburanos just by following the delicious smell. Once you open the door, you enter a wonderland with high ceilings, antique tables, cabinets, lamps, vintage records, an enamel bathtub, a Django bike, an authentic stove & a fireplace…

Years ago the young couple Damla & Emre decided they’d prefer the rural life to city’s hectic chaos. Keeping their passion for cooking in mind, they rented a 200 years old stone building, restored and transformed it into a cozy & delightful space that feels like a spacious living room once you enter. In the kitchen & lounge area, there is a stone wood-fire oven, where Emre & Damla cook their tasty pizzas. They have only one assistant helping them serve tables, so it’s safe to say this is a place made possible with their own efforts.

The menu at Kolburanos is mainly composed of Italian style pizzas, meat and vegetable meals cooked in casserole, potatoes and patties in oven. All the food is prepared with local organic ingredients, pizza dough and tomato sauce is home made daily. Only fresh mozzarella in water is used in all pizzas. Our favorite pizzas are prosciutto & pear, bacon & caramelized onion, and kokoreç (dish of sheep’s gut) pizzas. The pork sausage casserole is to die for, the fresh green salad & pizza with nutella are also wonderful choices.

At Kolburanos you’ll feel like you are eating at a young –but very talented- couple’s house. Their positive energy, charm and joy fills up the space and your hearts, their wonderful food indulge your taste buds.

In winter they are open on weekends for dinner service; during spring and summer they are open daily (except Mondays) and you can enjoy your meal at their lovely garden with fig and mulberry trees.

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Ayşe Nur Mıhçı is a true Alaçatı lover and volunteer. She loves cooking, which she’s very good at, and she shares what she makes with passion. She first started with renovating a small house in 2010, thinking of a place where kitchen would be open throughout the year and people walking on the streets in Alaçatı would go and eat in a cozy guest room. Later on, she received such a big interest from the visitors that she expanded the restaurant adding the wonderful garden behind. In 2020 Asma Yaprağı has moved to Asma Yaprağı Tarla, which is a natural oasis in the middle of trees and orchard, 5 minutes away from Alaçatı town. In this paradise garden you can taste their great Aegean cuisine for lunch and dinners.

Ayşe Nur gives life to her passion she has driven from unique recipes of her ancestors who were passionate about Aegean food and family dinners which take place as a ceremony on long tables. In the kitchen with enamel plates, jugs and glasses, shallow pans, bowls, jams, cranberry sherbets (sweet soft-drink) the oven is turned on early in the mornings and throughout the day a variety of delicious foods are cooked here. Each ingredient is grown locally and only seasonal vegetables and fruits are used. Zucchini sinkonta, çalkama (a kind of pancake with spinach and cheese), appetizers such as stuffed zucchini flowers, rice with artichoke and beans, baked lamb, meatballs with cinnamon, pumpkin-carrot dessert and brownie with beet are pleasurable must-tastes.

Ayşe says: “My dear son Kerem… Dear Ayşe, who’s working with us and myself, Ayşe Nur.. We are all together in Asma Yaprağı. We are a team looking for peace and sharing it. We are the ones who enjoy reflecting the spirit of Alaçatı, offering Aegean foods, listening to music from both sides of the Aegean region, setting Aegean tables and giving value to these tables. We are the ones who are thankful for the food we cook and the tables, around which our loved ones gather together.”

Advance reservations are highly recommended, since the garden fills up every night.

yek

Kemal Demirasal was a surf instructor from whom I took my first lesson 12 years ago. He was an energetic and hilarious young man. Back then none of us thought that he would bring his perfection in surf to a new place; namely the kitchen.

Kemal first started working at the kitchen of his family’s restaurant, later he opened Barbun with his family, offering seafood meals with modern touches. Kemal inevitably became more passionate about cooking delicious tastes. A meal he had at Copenhagen’s famous Noma which had been selected as the world’s best restaurant for many times, changed his life.

Working hard, he made his way into Noma’s kitchen to work there, and captured the secrets of creating extraordinary tastes with various ingredients in this kitchen, the dream of all chef candidates from all over the world. After returning to Turkey, he started offering his own taste discoveries to his followers first in Barbun, later in Alancha, a gourmet chef restaurant he opened in Alaçatı and İstanbul.

Now he presents his talent at Yek Alaçatı which is a refined and new age Aegean restaurant.

With its beautiful decoration, original plates and creative recipes Yek offers not only delicious food but also a philosophy of diet and life; everything from a word said and a sentence on the website or the menu to each outfit, decoration or object you see, the music you listen, anything you smell, presentations on your table and the foods you eat serve to this philosophy. In other words, at Yek you set out for a dreamy journey with all your senses. At Yek, the menu is categorized under 3 concepts: From The Sea, From The Land, From The Street; giving you a hint about the creative approach of Demirasal.

For Kemal, the proudest moment was when the founder of Noma, Claus Meyer came to Alaçatı and heaped praise on this temple of gastronomy created by his student. We definitely recommend you to try his perfect food on the amazing terrace overlooking Alaçatı. It is often said that everything begins with a dream – with applause to this dream that came true…



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Full of green trees and colorful flowers, Noni’s House is a garden of eden in Ovacik.

Noni is famous with its perfect breakfast and brunch service that include homemade sourdough breads, pastries, jams, marmalades, olives, local cheeses, fresh vegetables, eggs scrambled with tomatoes, green pepper and sausage. In the afternoon, they turn into a stylish cafe serving delicious hamburgers, homemade pies, quiches, pasta, pastries, deserts, cheese platters and wine.

Selin, our beloved friend and the hands-on owner of Noni’s House, is sure to make you leave with satisfaction with her smiling face, candid attitude and positive energy. For those who seek for a special place away from the crowds of Alacati, Noni’s House is the perfect place for all day long. From breakfast to lunch in a beautiful garden, accompanied by a nap under a tree or cheese & wine indulge.

Noni’s House is a cute and peaceful place where you can surrender yourself to nature. Here’s what to except at Noni’s: A breakfast that is as good as a king’s table, afternoon naps under the trees on comfy lounges, lunch with homemade pasta and desserts, inhaling the sea and  fresh air in the afternoon while tasting the wines of the area – in short, quite a getaway from the crowds of Alacati to leave you feeling great & refreshed.

Noni’s is open all year round. Having a peaceful brunch or a dinner next to the fireplace in nature is definitely an heavenly experience.

Reservations are highly recommended during summer time and Sundays.

0 532 4184701

 

 

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Inside Plage Isolee, on a quay just by the sea stands Niyazi Balık, the famous fish restaurant of Alaçatı with the best location and according to many, best food in the area.  Niyazi serves delicious appetizers, salads and fish, accompanied by roasted eggplant, salicornia, mashed broad beans, grilled calamari, stewed octopus, grouper fish and bass shish, kazandibi (a traditional milk pudding slightly burnt on the bottom) and semolina dessert. We’d recommend going to Niyazi by sunset, as that’s when you can enjoy the view before it gets too crowded and noisy. Port Niyazi is open throughout the year and it is a ‘must-go place’ while visiting Alaçatı.

In 2019 Niyazi Balık has opened its 2nd restaurant in Alaçatı Beach Resort – Plage Alaçatı 11.

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Roka Bahçe is definitely Alaçatı’s hidden gem. The owner, Gökhan Safkan who devoted himself to Aegean cuisine, traveled all around Aegean region to find the freshest and most refined products for Roka’s kitchen, and eventually decided to focus on Tire – all the herbs, meat and milk that is used in Roka come from Tire. Even the goat milk ice-cream with sahlep (a drink made with milk and orchid roots) they serve comes from Tire and is made by a 75 years old resident. They choose their ingredients very carefully, hence famous tastes of Anatolia; such as Alaçatı’s special broad beans or Amasra’s grape leaves take their places in the kitchen.

Seafood cooked with Aegean herbs as well as meat specialties based on the family’s Bosnian traditions and appetizers inspired by San Sebastian’s famous tapas recipes are also served at the restaurant.

Crispy artichoke, Salicornia with red beet sauce, eggplant paste with sesame oil, mashed broad beans, asparagus with mint, warm eggplant with a special cheese from İzmir, grilled calamari stuffed with Aegean herbs, octopus casserole with cumin, Saganaki cheese with shrimps, special rice with sea food, stewed goosefish with calamari and shrimps are among our favorites in their comprehensive menu.

For meat lovers, we’d recommend Tire meatballs served in casserole, Bosniak meat smoked and dried in paper and stewed young goat meat cooked with region’s special herbs. Whatever you choose, you’ll be satisfied thanks to the cook’s efforts to reflect the real tastes of the herbs and other ingredients while cooking and adding sauces – nothing is overcooked or over marinated; all served fresh hence easy to digest.

The restaurant is located in a lovely courtyard, with tastefully selected objects hanged on stone walls, an old olive tree stands in the middle, a lemon tree in the corner and bougainvillea add colors to the peaceful ambiance.

 

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Another good address for tasting wonderful, homemade Aegean dishes. Be warned though – if you look at today’s menu on the bar, you’ll want to try everything as they all sound delicious and -be warned again- they really are. Eflatun offers tasty side dishes such as mashed broad beans, stuffed vine leaves, eggplants with pepper and tomato, fried leaf beets and stuffed zucchini flowers, as well as delicious spaghetti with seafood, roasted lamb, lamb back strap and meatballs. While Nalan takes care of everything in the kitchen, her team welcomes you with a cheerful hospitality. The modesty of Nalan herself, her team and the place is well appreciated by Alaçatı visitors. Eflatun has been here before Hacı Memis became a popular destination, and the restaurant still welcomes their guests with the same modest attitude the staff managed to keep throughout the years. Only thing that has changed here is the constantly growing and evolving menu with the addition of new & delicious recipes every year. The prices are quite decent as well in comparison with the other restaurants in Alaçatı. You can opt to eat at the outside tables, but the little dreamy yard at the back is our favorite.