Food and drink

The Kalkan table

Dinner in Kalkan is a ritual. As the sun goes down the town moves up to the rooftops, eating on terraces above old stone houses with the bay, the harbour and the lights on the far hillside in view. This small town has a remarkable number of restaurants; most are family-run, and tables fill early in summer.

Dinner opens with meze: olive-oil greens, smoky aubergine, haydari yoghurt, samphire and octopus salad. Then the catch of the day comes off the grill: sea bass, bream or grouper. For meat lovers there is lamb shank, testi kebab and Ottoman-style dishes. By day it’s gözleme and village breakfast, and fresh trout in İslamlar above town. Local wines and rakı go with it all.