Quick view info - Turkish cuisine / Eating Out
Would someone come to Turkey just to eat out? Yes, they would. Turkish food is famous throughout the world. The painstaking preparation of simple, but fresh ingredients brings out the richness of their flavours in a way that never fails to delight. The range is enormous, from a number of soups to an astonishing variety of meze (hors d'oeuvre), followed by meat and fish dishes. Then pause a while to contemplate the famous Turkish sweets and pastries before finishing with a Turkish coffee. All Turkish food is prepared from fresh ingredients. The country produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and being surrounded on three sides by sea, the range of fish to be found is also considerable. Among alcoholic drinks are the light Turkish beer, excellent wines, and the national drink 'raki' (ananisette), which clouds when water is added giving it the popular name of 'lion's milk'. The drinking of raki is a rite in itself, and it is traditionally accompanied by a variety of 'meze' (hors d'oeuvre). Wherever you go, the world famous Turkish coffee or tea will be offered to you. Bottled drinking water and mineral water are easily found everywhere. Especially in the metropolitan cities like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, you can also find restaurants which feature Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, French, Swiss, German and Italian cuisine.