3 Best Restaurants in The Sea of Marmara and the North Aegean, Turkey

There’s no grilled fish on the menu at this cozy, family-run restaurant—indeed, there’s no menu, and most of the time only one entrée is available: lamb cooked with thyme. But chef and owner Emine Elik serves some of Cunda's most delicious and inventive mezes, with options changing daily but always featuring selections for both vegetarians and seafood eaters. Seating is in a small dining room adjacent to the open kitchen or on the sidewalk and patio in warm weather.

Across from the Muradiye Tombs, this soup kitchen built by Sultan Murat II in the 15th century to help feed the poor now houses a restaurant serving Ottoman and Turkish cuisine in wonderfully atmospheric surroundings. Hünkar beğendi (tender lamb on a bed of grilled-eggplant puree) literally means "the Sultan liked it," and it's impossible not to. The place is also known for its meat dishes as well as its Ottoman desserts. The terrace is pleasant, but dine indoors and you'll feel like you're eating in the sultan's quarters. No alcohol is served.