For those who want to forget all the appetizers they have eaten and find themselves in a completely different flavour feast, Afitap brand is waiting for you with its 3 branches, 1 of which is new and 2 of which are old. While the first restaurant is located in Ankara’s famous Tunus Street and reflects a shabby and warm appetiser environment, the second restaurant was opened opposite Armada Hayat Street as a result of the brand’s success. After the opening of this place, it started to appeal to a wider customer base and started to combine Afitap flavours with customers more easily with ease of access. Vitrin Çayyolu Afitap, the latest and largest restaurant, was opened in 2023 and was opened to the service of customers, especially with full reservations on Friday-Saturday and a wider appetiser menu. We went to our favourite Vitrin Çayyolu branch and tasted the flavours there. Let us remind you in advance that you should make a reservation 1 week in advance to go to this branch. As soon as you enter the place, you are greeted by a unique stand created with empty raki bottles next to the large meze stand and friendly staff. This greeting is the factor that best reflects the spirit of the place because it allows you to master the menu and warm up to the environment even before you enter. Afterwards, you are greeted by a charming seating area with about 300 tables and your personal waiter starts to wait for you to come with you when you want to choose the appetisers. After all this process, you are greeted with an endless selection of cold and hot appetisers, especially famous for their seafood specialities. Don’t leave without trying the Baby Calamari and Milk Flounder, which are our favourites here! In addition, this is a location that appeals to every person because there are thousands of different types of appetisers, but the feeling they leave on your palate is different from each other. After eating your appetisers and having a pleasant time with your friends, you can enjoy the special pumpkin and ice cream dessert as well as the fruit plate. In addition, we recommend you not to skip our favourite White Chocolate Souffle. We believe that it is one of the most beautiful soufflés you can eat. This place, which you realise from the 5th minute that it deserves the title of being the undisputed best meze place in Ankara, is sure to become a place where you will be addicted and come back again and again. Although we draw attention to the flavours that we love and are unique to this place, we hope you will visit Afitap as soon as possible, where you can eat even the appetizers you can find everywhere in different flavours and have countless special appetizers apart from the ones we have mentioned.

​Address: Beytepe, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Blv No:2/17, 06800 Çankaya/Ankara
Telephone: 0555 888 26 67
Hours: 12:00-01:00

Flavour😋: 4.8/5
Price💸: 4.5/5
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THE RIGHT ADDRESS FOR TASTE IN A COZY AND INTIMATE ATMOSPHERE:
​KALBUR

You shouldn’t say you’re from Ankara without trying the “KALBURÜSTÜ” venue, which has a unique, unmatched style in terms of management. You’ll feel the principle of creativity to your bones at Kalbur, a legend created by Mehmet Tekmen, who you’ll become addicted to seafood. Since the ’90s, to find a place in this boutique restaurant, which is not very large, you almost need to make a reservation a week in advance. Apart from being boutique, this restaurant, which also beautifully reflects Atatürkism, greets its customers from the door to their table with various Atatürk paintings. It’s very likely to see many foreigners besides the locals when you come to the restaurant because this legend has long surpassed Ankara… While it might be hard to leave anything on your plate at such a legendary place, we warn you not to leave any food because you might get a sweet and sour reprimand :). The mezes, made from the freshest ingredients, make you feel it as soon as you taste them, which is the main reason the charm of this boutique restaurant remains intact. Although it’s preferred in the evenings, you can try this restaurant, which also attracts crowds during the day, anytime you crave seafood. If you miss this flavor, you’ll regret it, so make a reservation right away to guarantee your spot…

Adres: Gaziosmanpaşa, Halıcı Sk. No : 7/ A, 06700 Çankaya/Ankara
Telefon: 0541 100 11 11

Saatler: 12:00–00:30
​Flavour😋: 4.5/5
Price​💸: 4.7/5

You would think that all the phenomena with restaurants are in Istanbul, but the chefs of Ankara Chef Bros restaurant, 2 brothers Faruk and Mehmet Gezen, have 2 million followers separately. There is no doubt that they are one of the chefs who do their job best in the fish sector and use social media the best, and they are also very sincere. Unlike other fish restaurants, they increase their customer base day by day by putting their differences with their menus and shows. Located in one of the side streets where Argentina and Gop Street intersect, this big restaurant is already ringing the bells for those who have not tried it because it is the season for the special dishes on their menu. With their different dishes (döner and specialities) made with swordfish, they have made a difference even to the other restaurants in Ankara. ​The fact that our chefs love their work is one of the only features that increase the sincerity in the restaurant, and the restaurant also has a celebrity traffic that you will hardly see in Ankara. Our chefs actively use their own social media accounts as well as the restaurant’s business social media accounts. In this way, they also keep up to date. Especially when you look at their Instagram accounts, you will see that one out of every 3 photos contains famous names. Another thing is that these celebrities say that they always come here whenever they come to Ankara…. If you are bored with traditional fishermen and open to innovations, you should teleport here without waiting a second longer because this is exactly the place. Coming here will never make you regret and will exceed your expectations many times over.

Address: Gaziosmanpaşa, Halıcı Sk. No : 7/ A, 06700 Çankaya/Ankara
Telephone: 0541 100 11 11
Hours 12:00-00:30

Flavour😋:4.5/5
Price:💸4.7/5

We decided to leave the best for last… When it comes to fish restaurants, it is undoubtedly the first brand that comes to people’s minds throughout Turkey…. Even before you set foot in the restaurant, you are greeted by all kinds of rewards and integrated with stylish decorations. Be sure that everything you eat in this restaurant is not a separate dish but an art. Mr. Süreyya Üzmez, the owner of the restaurant, does not leave his job for a second despite his busy work schedule and his identity as a programmer, he visits the tables one by one whenever he finds time, which is the only representation of quality. We seem to hear that you are shocked at each dish you taste and ask what else can come; however, we say don’t make your decision without trying everything on the menu. Although the menu is full enough to include dishes that even we have not tried, they all come to you with their different flavours and unique presentations. We dived into a dream world with the presentation, freshness and taste of the Octopus, followed by the Fish Kokorec, which we guarantee that you will not find anywhere else, the unique taste of the Shrimp Risotto Balls, which was not on our minds but was a special treat of Mr. Süreyya, and the Coconut Shrimp, which impressed us the most. We claim that these flavours and presentations are unique neither in Turkey nor in the world in this category. We would like to remind you that even MasterChef chefs’ number 1 seafood restaurant preference has been Trilye, although there are beautiful restaurants in a metropolis like Istanbul. This initiative of Süreyya Üzmez, who is a retired officer in our country, which is one of the homelands of seafood, deserves appreciation to the end.  Although the price scale is higher than other restaurants, it is guaranteed to expand your loved ones and your own taste buds on special occasions by going to this restaurant, which will be worth the price you pay. Although we can’t finish counting the appetizers one by one, you should definitely not leave the restaurant without trying the other good tastes on the menu, apart from our favourite appetizers and starters. Although it is a place where you can go daily on the basis of appetisers, we wish you to accumulate good memories by consuming this place, which is quite expensive in terms of main course, with the people you care about. Although the restaurant is huge in size, the average occupancy of 80% even during Ramadan is not a success that can be granted to everyone, so we would like to congratulate Mr Süreyya again. We would like to end our blog with our dialogue with Mr. Süreyya, who did not break us despite his busy schedule and answered our questions in our interview gracefully….

How does it make you feel to be the owner of a fish restaurant like Trilye, which is at the highest level in Turkey, do you have any future plans for your long-standing restaurant?

Of course, I feel very happy. Creating a world-class fish restaurant in a city like Ankara that is kilometres away from the sea, being the best in Turkey, hosting many heads of state, creating the perception of stopping by Trilye after Anıtkabir when Ankara is mentioned, keeps the level of my happiness at the top. We are talking about a city where even the number of restaurants that have been in operation for more than five years does not exceed the fingers of one hand. We have finally achieved the difficult. We have been active for almost a quarter of a century. We have thoughts of opening branches in places such as Istanbul, Bodrum, London and Dubai. We are looking for time and place for this.

How was your journey from ex-officer to Trilye restaurant venture and success, can you share with us your source of inspiration, the difficulties in the process and the most important influences on your growth?

In addition to military training, I also studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Military Academy for four years. My analytical thinking skills improved. In 1998, I was invited to give a cooking class for 15 days at the US Armed Forces Headquarters, the Pentagon. In 1996, I opened a Turkish cuisine concept restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, for the brother of the current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. My skills had spread beyond the Armed Forces. I founded Turkey’s first professional culinary association together with Yalçın Manav, then Istanbul Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism.

During an afternoon chat with Colonel Hulusi Akar, then Chief of Staff to the Chief of General Staff, I received encouragement from him. Akar said, “Süreyya Major, if I had this talent, I wouldn’t stay in the Armed Forces for a day… Turkey is 70 million, the Armed Forces 700 thousand. Turkey needs you,” he said. So I put on my sandals, retired and returned to the restaurant business, my beloved job and my love.

My biggest source of inspiration was my self-confidence. I was confident in myself, my equipment, my hard work.

My first experience was a restaurant called Seagull on Mahatma Ghandi Street. One week after the opening, 11 September happened. The restaurant was empty… Then came the 2001 crisis. But I continued to do my job the best. I did not give up using the best quality raw materials. I never compromised on quality in any period of my business life due to commercial concerns. I became the brave captain of stormy seas. I realised firsts in Ankara. I never sold frozen fish. I did not prioritise trade by making various kinds of yoghurt appetizers with cheap but high profit margins. I wanted future generations to consume more fish.

I always said that patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. I always said Süreyya, you are in a long marathon, you are not a 100 metres runner. Not having a rival was one of the biggest difficulties. Because you have a hard time setting a price. There is a 3C rule in price; cost, consumer, competition.

We had difficulties for a long time when there was no competitor. Because it is not the same product. It is not the early harvest olive oil sold in the restaurant opposite, but the fishing rod squid, Iskenderun shrimp, Sinop turbot… We offered the best of their kind for years. When the Istanbul brands came, it turned out that we were cheap…

Gezi protests, the downing of the Russian plane, bombs exploding in Ankara, Davutoğlu’s dismissal, 15 July and a bad year in which restaurants stopped operating. Not to mention the economic crises… We are already used to them, of course we had a hard time. But we did not give up, we continue every day with the same excitement, the same enthusiasm and the same love as if we had just started.

In addition to the restaurant sector, you are also a researcher/journalist/programmer, could you tell us a little bit about the story of your entry into this sector, how it is progressing today, and your future plans in this field?

Writing is an innate talent. It is not something acquired later. When I was still in primary school, I used to send articles to Cumhuriyet newspaper from Çanakkale. My composition was very good. Years later, the veteran journalist Yavuz Donat made me an offer and I started writing for Sabah Ankara. Before that, I wrote for Gazete Ankara, founded by Birten Gökyay, one of the bosses of Nurus. The articles attracted interest. Gradually my number of hits and page volume increased. Then I was transferred to Milliyet Newspaper to write for Milliyet Cadde and Ankara supplements. Then we set out to publish books and our own magazine and found ourselves in the media with Trilye Publications.

In the following years, I was offered a programme by TRT. I was making the programme “Fish is eaten in Ankara” with a famous guest every week. When the programme got good ratings, I made the programme “Turkish Chefs of the World”. I interviewed Turkish chefs in every country from Tokyo, the capital of Japan, to New York, USA. It was broadcast on TRT Türk and shown in 183 countries. It was a useful programme.

For 9 years, I have been a guest on Now TV (formerly FOX) every Sunday with Merve Yıldırım in the programme Benden Söylemesi. I have undertaken missions such as making Turkey love fish and establishing a fisheries ministry for sustainable fisheries.

In the new period, I will be a guest on a new concept programme on a famous gourmet channel, which will cover health and taste issues by travelling around Turkey. We all owe it to our people to tell them the truth and what we know.

Thank you for posing these beautiful and crucial questions and I wish you success.

Adres:Kazım Özalp, Kuleli Sokağı No: 32, 06680 Çankaya/Ankara
Telefon:(0312) 447 12 00
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Flavour😋: 5/5
Price💸: 5/5

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