Altinkum has an excellent reputation for its food, with many restaurants catering for both Turkish and English tastes. The fact that Altinkum is very much a resort for Turkish holidaymakers as well as westerners guarantees that genuine Turkish cuisine is in plentiful, value for money, supply..
Grilled meats and salads, hot and cold mezzes, pides and lahmacuns served piping hot straight out of the clay oven, traditional dondurma (ice cream), lamb and chicken based casseroles such is the tantalising array of Turkish dishes. Eat them with the local wine, or even better with raki, the national aniseed based alcoholic drink similar to French pastis or Greek ouzo – by the end of such a meal you will certainly be in your holiday mood.
And if you find yourself yearning for a traditional roast dinner come Sunday, then some of the restaurants here do one which is better than the offering in many English pubs!!
If you are a fan of doner kebabs after a tipple or two, then the taste of a proper one here in Turkey will make you wonder what you’ve been chomping on all these years. Your true doner will taste infinitely better. Head up to Didim main town and go to one of the local lokantes. We can guarantee you will be coming back year after year just for one of these doners.
If you head out of Altinkum in a hire car, check out some of the roadside restaurants. What they lack in interior design, they more than make up for in taste and quality. Look out for çöp şiş – mini lamb or beef kebabs barbecued fresh over an open charcoal grill and served with grilled onions and tomatoes, and a fresh green salad drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice, and traditional pitta bread. These kebabs are usually eaten with ayran, a yoghurt based drink.
Kuzu tandir is a succulent lamb dish where the lamb I has been cooked for many hours in a Tandoori oven. It comes out so tender it almost cries as it falls off the bone.