Our notes from Cappadocia , where sunrise and sunset are beautiful, are ready.
Although the options in terms of eating and drinking in the region famous for its fairy chimneys are a little overshadowed by its natural beauties, we tasted plenty of home cooking, testi kebab and dishes cooked in tandoor.
Cappadocia is an autumn-winter destination in our opinion. Experiencing the beauties of this geography requires long valley walks. It is best to come when it is the most suitable season for you to realise these walks. The summer months are the least preferable in our opinion.
For accommodation, we stayed in Güzelyurt, Göreme and Ürgüp. However, since Uçhisar was the place where we spent the most time, it would be more correct to prefer this place. You can take a look at the hotels in Uchisar. If we come to Cappadocia again, we would definitely consider exploring the Nigde side, which we have not visited before. If you want to visit more Aksaray and Ihlara Valley, Güzelyurt village would be a good choice.
The most impressive valleys in the region: Güvercinlik, White Valley, Red Valley & Zelve
All of the valleys have different rock formations, all of them have different hiking experiences. However, our favourite in the region is Ihlara Valley. This valley, which is about 1.5 hours away from Ürgüp, has the most beautiful walking route with its lush green texture and Melendiz Stream. You can see the cave churches in the valley, which is 14 km in total, and have a tea/coffee break by the river.
We recommend that you also visit the village of Güzelyurt on your Ihlara Valley route. Monastery Valley, Underground City and churches are worth seeing. If you want to have a meal break here, we recommend Güzelyurt Pide Salonu on the street coming out of the municipality. It was the most delicious stop of our trip.
The Goreme Open Air Museum, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to more than 30 churches, is a must-see in the region. Some of the churches have well-preserved frescoes. The churches of Elmalı, Karanlık and Tokalı should definitely be seen.
In Urgup , you can visit Turasan for wine tasting, visit Asmalı Mansion, visit antique shops. Kocabağ can be preferred in Uçhisar for wine.
Another popular destination in the region is Avanos, famous for its pottery on the banks of Kızılırmak. You can also make your own pottery in the workshops here. The most preferred restaurant in Avanos is Bizim Ev, a place that attracts many tourists with its atmosphere and the recommendations of the guides in the region. Our experience here was not very impressive, so we did not visit it again on our second visit.
Cappadocia is unthinkable without balloons. You may find yourself getting out of bed earlier than you’ve ever woken up and going on a balloon ride, or at least watching them as we did. During our stay we watched the balloons rise at sunrise from the Aşıklar Hill. It was quite a mesmerising experience.
You can check our other guides here.
In this list, you can find prominent flavour stops and places identified with Cappadocia:
Restaurants we have tried
The most impressive valleys in the region: Güvercinlik, White Valley, Red Valley & Zelve
Cappadocia unique natural and historical riches discovery list:
The first taste stop on our route is one of our favourite restaurants in the region: Millocal Restaurant.
🥣Millocal interior design, With itsfascinating view of the Red Valley and most importantly, with its menu that creates an experience for its customers, unquestionably stands out in the region.
🌽🥕🥬This is due to their collaboration with Chef Çiğdem Seferoğlu a few years ago and their work to create a new menu. Under the leadership of Seferoğlu, they analyse the surrounding lands, producers and local traditions and create new recipes that make everyone happy. We also admire Seferoğlu’s own restaurant Hodan in Istanbul.
🍽️ Turkish culinary culture by protecting the Anatolian heritage This restaurant aims to create a list of suitable options, every ingredient in the kitchen is sourced from the region it belongs to is taking care to procure from its domestic producer.
🫒We found the olive oil and zahter brought to the table before the meals quite delicious. Fellah Meatballs and Cretan Paste were delicious plates. Among the main dishes, Pöç and Homemade Couscous were our favourites, especially we found the couscous very successful. The other dishes we tried were Yaprak Lamb Liver as an appetizer and Testi Kebab, one of the famous tastes of the region.
🍭Uçhisar’da önemli bir lezzet durağı haline gelen Millocal, kesinlikle bölgedeki diğer dünya mutfağı servis eden sıkıcı restoranlardan ayrışıyor. Bölgede kesinlikle demenmesi gereken duraklardan biri. Uçhisar bölgenin en yüksek köylerinden biri. Burada kaleye tırmanıp manzaranın keyfini çıkarabilir, Güvercinlik ve Beyaz Vadide yürüyüşler yapabilir, yerel üretici dükkanlarını ziyaret edebilirsiniz.
To be a guest in village houses in this geography and have an authentic dining experience If you want, we think Babayan Evi Restaurant is at the top of these options.
🌳 This restaurant in Ibrahim Pasha Village of Nevsehir is built in a stone house in harmony with its surroundings. It has a magnificent view of the valley with its garden in front. It does not accept customers without reservation. All dishes are cooked in tandoor for a long time according to demand.
🥕 Using products from their own fields The restaurant is literally run by the residents of that village. The flavours they offer are completely from the special dishes of the region.
🍳 Morning breakfasts are also very enjoyable here. It becomes more impressive especially with the view. They produce most of the products they serve for breakfast.
🐑 For dinner, a 7-course menu is offered. When you make your reservation, you choose one of these menus and everything comes from starter to dessert. We chose Lamb Ribs from the tandoori meat menu and Karnıyarık from the regular menu.
🍜 You have three soup options. Our preference was Ezogelin.
🥣 We really liked all the dishes we ate. Everything is really delicious because it is cooked in tandoor. But for this reason, it is necessary to order at least one day before because the main dishes are cooked in 3-4 hours.
🍷Drinks are also available in the restaurant. You can try the wines of the region.
Babayan House offered us a pleasant dining experience in Cappadocia with its warm and friendly atmosphere.
Day 1: Goreme and Surroundings
– Morning: Get ready for an early balloon tour in Goreme or at least catch this unique view from Aşıklar Hill. You can make an unforgettable start to your day by watching the magnificent view of balloons in the sky. After a light breakfast (preferably at your hotel), visit Goreme Open Air Museum (Müzekart is valid).
– Lunch: It is difficult to find a local cuisine in the village of Goreme , but here and there You can have a snack or you can try one of the restaurants in Uchisar like us.
– Afternoon: Visit Uchisar Castle, and then travel to Aşıklar Valley or Güvercinlik Valley to see the fairy chimneys.
– Evening: Watch the sunset from Uchisar Castle and then have dinner at Moniq.
Day 2: Derinkuyu and Avanos
– Morning: Explore Derinkuyu Underground City (Müzekart valid).
– Lunch: Drive to Avanos and take a walk along the banks of the Kızılırmak River.
– Afternoon: Visit the pottery workshops in Avanos and watch pottery being made.
– Evening: For dinner, you can choose Millocal in Uchisar.
Day 3: Urgup and Fairy Chimneys
– Morning: Visit Urgup, explore its centre, villages and Wine Cellars during the day.
– Lunch: Tour the Paşabağ Valley and enjoy the unique view of the Fairy Chimneys. – Afternoon: Explore Mustafapasa village and its history. See the ancient city of Sobesos and Keşlik Monastery. If you want to do wine tasting, these places are usually closed after 18.00, so you can return to the centre.
– Evening: Then you can try one of the restaurants in Uchisar. Nahita may not regret it.
Let’s start with the place we enjoyed the most as a dining experience on this trip. This is one of the two restaurants in Argos in Cappadocia.
Nahita only has evening service, from 18.00.
Since it was dark at this time in winter , we did not find it very impressive in terms of atmosphere.
This restaurant, which prefers the old Hittite name of Nigde as its name, offers a good Anatolian cuisine inspired by what the region has to offer.
The menu includes Nigde’s cheeses, söğürme, black wheat ferfene, Kayseri’s yağlama . Here, you can also have firik cacik, cherry leaf rolls, grilled lettuce salad, We triedNevsehir potato, yağlama, küşleme, pumpkin dessert. Pumpkin dessert, potato and lubrication were our favourite dishes.
The Nahita bun served with the meal is also very tasty. You can go again for these plates.
All of the dishes we ate were delicious except for the sarma, it is almost impossible to get a taste other than cinnamon in the cherry sarma plate. 550₺ for a plate of 4 picece of sarma is another question mark.
We cannot say that it is an affordable restaurant, but there is an imbalance here compared to other dishes.
This restaurant is located in the same hotel . Another day we came for lunch. This place has an impressive view of the valley during daylight hours. Service is also attentive here. Different menus are served at lunch and dinner.
The menu here is not limited to regional dishes, there are many options from pasta to salads.
Prices are similar to Nahita, but we cannot say the same for the flavours. We ordered Artichoke Fondue and Rafık as star ters. Rafiq is an appetiser reminiscent of Cretan pate. Fondue is a not very flavourful pea . It consists of a dish of artichokes served with a sauce, we couldn’t understandwhy it was called fondue.
We tried lamb chops and vegan test kebab as main course. Although the lamb chop was not bad , it was too hard and It was not served medium rare as we requested.
The testi kebab prepared with oyster mushroom was a weak main course where you couldn’t get the flavour of the mushroom from the pepper. The most delicious thing about our dining experience was the onion-herb bread served before the meal.
For another dinner , we preferred Lil’a Restaurant in Museum Hotel in Uchisar.
From the clothes of the staff to the details in the decoration, the design may be interesting for tourists, but we must say that we found it a bit kitsch. We did not have any problems with the service in general, but they could not help us with our cocktail preferences, especially in response to simple requests.
We preferred zucchini rolls and vegetables in ash from the starters. We ordered lamb cage, tandoori ribs and perevü as main course. The zucchini roll with bacon and cheese arrived cold, so he was in a bad mood.
Vegetables in ashes was a delicious dish where the vegetables were cooked just right. Among the main courses , the lamb cage was cooked very well. Perevü, Cappadocia’s special pot cheese filled with tomato sauce ravioli but an ordinary flavour unfortunately.
The most important problem with the tandoori rib platter the keşkek served is extremely flavourless.
This restaurant , located in Taşkonaklar Hotel in Uçhisar, is one of the places we tried for the first time on this trip. The atmosphere is quite pleasant, We were especially happy with the fact that the tables were not close to each other in the interior and the ambience in general.
The service is very attentive.
As soon as you sit down at the table, a small mulled wine treat welcomes you. Here you can try Circassian chicken with basil, stuffed meatballs with ribs, We tried crispy potato with sausage filling, Uchisar ravioli and Nevsehir tava.
We were satisfied with the main courses.
Kibbeh with ribs is different from what we are used to, Therefore, it would be better to try it without dreaming of stuffed meatballs. The potato is delicious but the sausage and yoghurt sauce is insufficient for that potato portion.
It was a restaurant experience that we would like to come back again and we were generally satisfied.
Crispy black pumpkin as a starter, Balıkesir Göbel lamb kokoreç, We preferred sorrel salad and duck pie in crispy baklava phyllo.
As the main course, we tried tenderloin shashlik and testi kebab. We found the dishes delicious, but the ready-made bread used was one of the features of the restaurant that we found weak.
As for the dumplings, I found the duck filling a bit heavy.
We had some mishaps with our cocktail orders, maybe because we visited early in the afternoon service.
