What to Eat around Geyikli and Bozcaada: A Local Food Guide

A holiday in the North Aegean is partly spent at the table. Within half an hour of Dalyan village, the villages, harbours and the island of Bozcaada offer flavours made with the same care for centuries. These are the ones we recommend most to our guests.

Ezine cheese

The pride of the region, Ezine cheese is a white cheese made from a blend of sheep's, goat's and cow's milk in proportions that change with the season, and it is matured for at least eight months. Registered as a geographical indication in Türkiye in 2007, it has also been recognised by the European Union. Don't leave without a block from Ezine or a village market — with tomatoes and olives at breakfast it is something else.

Bozcaada's vineyards and çavuş grapes

Bozcaada has been known for its vineyards for thousands of years. One of the island's native grapes, the çavuş, was registered as a geographical indication in 2020 as "Bozcaada Çavuş Grape". At harvest time in late summer the island is at its loveliest: taste wine at the wine houses or walk among the vines.

Tomato jam and the island cookie

Bozcaada's most surprising taste is tomato jam, made from tomatoes ripened in the island sun and sold homemade in small shops. Pair it with the almond and mastic Bozcaada cookie and a mastic-scented Turkish coffee. Poppy sherbet is another of the island's spring treats.

Fresh fish in Babakale and the harbours

The region is known for its fishing. In Babakale, at the westernmost tip of Anatolia and 9 km beyond Akliman, the harbourside restaurants serve the catch of the day, octopus and squid. On Bozcaada, octopus and sardines grilled in vine leaves are local favourites.

Your own table at the guesthouse

Chiyanno's Inn does not serve breakfast; instead, guests share a kitchen and a barbecue. Making your own breakfast in the garden with cheese, olives and tomatoes from the market, and grilling fish from the harbour in the evening, is one of the best-loved pleasures here.