A summer guide to feasting in Bodrum

By Emma Love

April 29, 2025

Here are the restaurants to book for a rooted, authentic taste of Turkey’s southwest coast

Mezra Yalıkavak

When chef Serhat Doğramacı was named Michelin Young Chef of the Year 2025, it cemented his status as a culinary talent to watch. The former winner of MasterChef Türkiye has a zero-waste cooking approach, an onsite vegetable garden and a nearby farm – some of the factors that led to this glass-walled restaurant being awarded a green Michelin star. Most ingredients are cooked over hot coals, but he also favours techniques such as pickling. The puddings are also exceptional. The best seats are at the counter, around the open kitchen where you can watch the chefs at work.

A dish at the Ferdi Baba restaurant, Mandarin Oriental Bodrum.

Ferdi Baba, Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum

This homegrown seafood restaurant chain originated in Çesme in 1981, opening its newest outpost on the waterfront at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum last year. During the summer season, executive chef Şenay Uzunget from the Ferdi Baba flagship in Alaçatı oversees the team who whip up mezze favourites such as octopus salad, sea bass carpaccio and mussel pilaki. The lobster, though, is the seafood to order (the tiled mural on the back wall is a giveaway) and it’s plucked straight out of the tank. Save room for crispy pumpkin dessert and, after dinner, migrate to the bar for a raki digestif.

Beynel Bitez

This open-air Beynel Bitez restaurant stands out not just for its pretty garden setting – white-cloth tables are set amid orange and lemon trees strung with festoon lights – but for Le Cordon Bleu trained chef Tamer Özkan’s mezze and kebab menu, which highlights the regions the ingredients are sourced from. The popular atom appetiser, for instance, which arrives in a traditional metal dish, is made with Kars buffalo yoghurt, Kale pepper and Memecik olive oil. Arrive early for pre-dinner drinks at the hip terracotta floor-tiled bar, backed with old-school wooden display cabinets.

Kurul Bitez

At this central Bitez dining spot, Gaziantep-born chef Kemal Karataş showcases the traditional foods from his home city, giving them a modern spin. Dert Alan kebab (oven-roasted lamb shank with shallots), Thursdays-only şiveydiz (soup with lamb, yoghurt and chickpeas) and künefe dessert (crispy shredded pastry stuffed with melted cheese and topped with syrup), are all signatures. Inside, the curving fire pit takes centre stage. Outside, in a garden planted with olive trees, emerald tiled tables with rope chairs are arranged under rattan lanterns and Bombacı Niyazi, spicy vodka and passion-fruit cocktails are mixed at the bar.

Cabins on the sea at Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum.

Blue Beach Club

Kebabs are the star of the all-day menu at Blue Beach Club & Bar, which overlooks the Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum’s main sandy beach. Choose between five finger-licking variations including Urfa (less spicy than the red chilli flake-sprinkled Adana) and lamb shish. All are served with grilled tomatoes, salad and homemade lavash flatbread. For people-watching and sea views, go straight for one of the curving blue-grey sofas at the front of the wooden deck, or head to the bar, where there’s a chilled lounge music soundtrack, for gin-based Satsuma Cooler cocktails.

Olives and anchovies photographed from above.

Otantik Ocakbaşı

A Bodrum mainstay for more than 25 years, this is an authentic, low-key steakhouse. Sit at wooden tables under a canopied roof (there’s also a tree-shaded courtyard at the back) and order the Çökertme Kebab, a Bodrum speciality that consists of matchstick-sized fried potatoes topped with meat, accompanied by yoghurt and a tomato sauce. Other top picks include the mixed grill, served with balon ekmek (balloon bread that deflates as it cools) and kuzu lokum (tender lamb bites). Balance out the meat with a selection of mezze – perhaps fava, kırma zeytin (crushed olives) and kuru cacık (thick yogurt with cucumber).

About the Author

Emma Love

London-based journalist Emma Love is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveller and writes regularly for titles including Centurion, Departures, Country & Townhouse, House & Garden, The Telegraph and more.