Agora Pansiyon
Situated right next to Lake Bafa in Milas, Muğla, Agora Pansiyon is a family-run guesthouse that has been welcoming visitors to the region for many years. Set in a traditional stone building, this modest guesthouse has come to stand out for its hospitality and its delicious, authentic cuisine. Özgün Serçin, the head of the kitchen, creates unique dishes with genuine consideration. She had already embraced the region’s traditional techniques long before sustainability became a trend: minimizing waste, growing ingredients whenever possible, and using only the freshest seasonal produce.
This Bib Gourmand restaurant envelops you in the warmth of a village house, offering meals that feel like a family dinner. Each dish is deliberately simple; you can taste the pure flavors of the ingredients. On the table, you’ll find smoky eggplants infused with the essence of coal-roasted, sun-ripened tomatoes from the garden, and salads brightened with pine nuts gathered from the family’s trees. Alongside them come specialties such as the family’s own smoked eel or a delicious okra dish made from their recipe. The star of the table is the grilled eel from Lake Bafa, a rare delicacy unique to this region.
Preparing eel, known for its distinctive flavor, is notoriously tricky, which makes it all the more noteworthy. The family emphasizes that it is a freshwater fish, so it must be adequately cleaned and rested before cooking. They believe the secret to the superior fish dishes served in their restaurant lies in this careful preparation. When prepared correctly, the result is highly satisfying for fish lovers and can only be tasted in a few places thanks to its wholly local nature.
At Agora, every dish is prepared with olive oil from the family’s groves. Özgün Serçin highlights that oil extracted from Memecik olives, an endemic variety cultivated in the Muğla region, is in harmony with the meat, fish, and vegetables sourced locally. Guests can sample this olive oil and olives, offered at every table. The region’s terroir integrity is evident in its culinary offerings, from the oil used to prepare dishes to the fish caught in nearby waters, and from the wood used for smoking to the wine and rakı produced from the region’s grapes.
Agora Pansiyon is open every day of the week from 8:00 am to midnight. Whether you come in the morning, stay for dinner, or spend the night at the guesthouse, you will experience a truly local culinary journey. Before you leave, be sure to try the desserts that combine the famous citrus fruits of the Aegean with Ms. Özgün’s creativity!
Mezra Yalıkavak
Mezra Yalıkavak is a leading example of refined cuisine in Bodrum, celebrated for its meticulous approach to processing local ingredients. Led by Chef Serhat Doğramacı, the restaurant offers only a tasting menu that showcases the excellent combination of local ingredients and the finest techniques. Chef Doğramacı is committed to seasonal changes, making minor adjustments to the tasting menu every 15 days as needed. This ensures that guests enjoy a distinctive gastronomic journey that evolves throughout the summer.
The tasting journey begins with a selection of breads crafted from local wheat varieties and different yeasts. Carefully put together by the chef, the dishes tell us a story: a true local gastronomic story built on more than 150 geographically marked products. In this symphony of flavors, Muğla olive oil harmonizes with Bodrum mandarin, poppy seeds pair with Antep pepper paste, and morel mushrooms nest with lamb meat. Through this symbiotic dance of tastes, a Türkiye selection emerges, centered around the Aegean region.
Much of the restaurant’s produce comes from its extensive gardens, then transformed into new flavors in the kitchen. These might show up on your plate as wild lavender, or on a cheese platter as bergamot jam. Chef Doğramacı, who places great importance on preserving local seeds and using ingredients produced from these seeds in his cooking, emphasizes that this is also a vital part of sustainability, just like energy efficiency or zero-waste practices. Cheese is another point of pride for the restaurant. At the end of the meal, a tray filled with local cheeses, many of them geographically marked, and jams made by the kitchen team is brought to your table like a jewel box. Cheese lovers will be particularly excited by this selection, which allows you to taste cheeses from very different regions at the same time. Among them, there is a standout creation: a Turkish coffee–flavored cheese based on the chef’s recipe, a rare and singular taste you won’t find anywhere else.
The chef’s passion for Turkish coffee also finds its way into the dessert course. A coffee-flavored dessert served in a cup has become a summertime favorite among regulars, earning a permanent place on the tasting menu. Yet the true creative force behind Mezra’s sweets is Burcu Doğramacı. Believing that desserts are sometimes overlooked in restaurants, the two chefs have decided to be ambitious about them at Mezra. Burcu Doğramacı, who has also reimagined the classic Turkish delight, showcases her creativity in the tasting menu by coming up with different combinations outside of these two dessert groups. Naturally, every element reflects the restaurant’s dedication to regional and seasonal ingredients. The result is a selection of dishes that harmonize with each other, refreshing sorbets, jams paired with a variety of cheeses, artisanal bread, and desserts that serve as the perfect crowning touch.
Mezra Yalıkavak blends Green Star principles with refined culinary ideas, creating an exceptional gastronomic journey. The restaurant also offers wine pairings designed to highlight local flavors. Opens on June 1 and welcoming guests until September 1, Mezra Yalıkavak offers local delicacies following international gastronomic standards.
Hero image: Mezra Yalıkavak, Interior // © Yusuf Demir/Mezra Yalıkavak
