Balıkesir likes to call itself the pantry of Turkey, and it has the receipts to back the claim. The province sits between two seas and at the foot of a mountain famous for honey, and its food culture is one of the richest and most distinctive in the country. From the slow-simmered wedding dish keşkek to the country’s most famous roadside toast, here is what to eat and where the province does its food best.
Keşkek: The Wedding Dish
Keşkek is the dish that defines Balıkesir. Whole wheat and meat, usually lamb or chicken, are simmered together for hours, then pounded until the grains break down into a smooth, savory porridge that is served at weddings, festivals, and family gatherings.
The cooking is communal and slow, often done in vast cauldrons in village squares, and the result is comforting, rich, and unlike anything else in Turkish cooking. In 2011, keşkek was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage, and Balıkesir is its undisputed home.
You will find keşkek on the menus of the city’s more traditional restaurants and at village celebrations if you are lucky. It is served plain, with meat on top, and it needs nothing more than bread and patience.
Susurluk Toast and Ayran
The small town of Susurluk, on the main road from the city toward the coast, is the birthplace of one of Turkey’s most beloved road-food rituals: the tost and ayran break. The tost is a pressed sandwich of sausage, cheese, and tomato, grilled until crisp and served with a distinctive tomato-based sauce.
The ayran, yogurt whipped with ice and salt into a frothy, salty drink, is churned in quantity at the town’s legendary roadside establishments, and the pairing is a national obsession. Turkish travelers regularly detour hours out of their way just to stop here.
Take the ritual seriously: order one tost, one ayran, eat slowly, and watch the stream of travelers doing exactly the same. It is twenty minutes that will stay in your memory long after fancier meals.
Ayvalık Toast: The Town’s Own Sandwich
Ayvalık has its own version of the toast, and it is a different animal entirely. The Ayvalık tostu builds layers of sausage, cheese, tomato, and the town’s beloved spice paste into a tall, messy, unforgettable sandwich, served hot and cut into thick slices.
Every cafe in the old town has its own recipe, and the arguments over who makes the best version are endless and good-natured. The sandwich is best eaten at a streetside table with the harbor in view, and it pairs perfectly with a cold drink.
Order it for lunch after a morning of wandering the old town. It is filling, cheap, and utterly local, and it may well become the meal you talk about most from your whole trip.
Olive Oil and the Edremit Table
The plain of Edremit produces some of the finest olive oil in the world, and the local table is built around it. Breakfast begins with bread dipped in fresh oil, salads are dressed generously, and vegetables are cooked slowly in the region’s golden oil.
The autumn harvest brings the presses to life, and villages smell of crushed olives for weeks. Buy a bottle of fresh oil at a village press if you can, and taste the difference between regions and harvests the way wine drinkers taste vintages.
The province’s olive oil is the thread that runs through all its cooking, and eating well here is mostly a matter of letting it do its work. Simple food, perfect oil, good bread: that is the Edremit way.
Kaz Dağı Honey
The mountain of Kaz Dağı is famous for its honey, and the varieties tell the story of the mountain’s flowers. Pine honey, chestnut honey, and wildflower honey all come from the mountain’s forests, each with its own color, aroma, and depth.
The honey villages of the mountain slopes sell direct from the producer, and tasting the different kinds is a genuine pleasure. Pine honey, dark and mineral, is the local speciality, and it is prized across Turkey for its flavor and its place in traditional remedies.
Buy your honey on the mountain rather than in the coastal shops, and let the beekeepers guide you. A jar of Kaz Dağı honey is the best souvenir the province offers.
Meze and Fish on the Ayvalık Waterfront
Ayvalık and Cunda are the province’s seafood capitals, and their waterfronts turn into open-air restaurants in the evening. The meze tradition here is rich: stuffed mussels, fried calamari, octopus in oil, and a dozen vegetable mezes dressed with local olive oil.
Fish comes straight from the Aegean, grilled or fried simply, and the evening meal stretches for hours, as the meze table is cleared and refilled and the tea follows. The atmosphere, with boats rocking at the quay and the islands darkening on the horizon, is part of the flavor.
Choose your restaurant by the crowd: the fullest tables are the freshest fish. Order meze in rounds, let the waiter advise, and finish with fruit and tea rather than heavy dessert.
Höşmerim: The Province’s Own Dessert
Balıkesir’s signature sweet is höşmerim, a soft, buttery confection made from flour, sugar, butter, and the local fresh cheese. It is cooked slowly until it turns golden and creamy, and it is served warm, often with a dusting of nuts or a drizzle of syrup.
Höşmerim is the dessert of celebrations and home kitchens, and it is surprisingly hard to find outside the province, which makes eating it here feel like a secret. The texture is somewhere between a custard and a caramel, and it is best eaten with a spoon, slowly.
Ask for it at the city’s traditional restaurants or buy it fresh from the market. It is sweet without being heavy, and it is the perfect ending to a keşkek lunch.
The Markets and Pantry
The markets of Balıkesir are a food education in themselves. The city’s bazaar and the coastal markets sell the province’s produce in bulk: olives and olive oil, honey, cheese, dried fruits, and the local pastes and pickles that stock Turkish kitchens.
Buying from the markets is the way to eat like a local for a week. The vendors will let you taste before you buy, and the prices are honest. Seasonal things appear and disappear, from wild greens in spring to the year’s new oil in autumn.
For souvenirs, the market is unbeatable: a bottle of Edremit oil, a jar of pine honey, a package of dried figs. Wrap them well, and you take the province home with you.
The Village Table
Beyond the towns, the villages of Balıkesir keep the old food culture alive. Breakfast in a mountain village means bread, honey, cheese, olives, eggs, and tea, all local and all excellent; lunch follows the season, and dinner is early and simple.
The village table is also the communal table. Weddings and bayrams mean keşkek cauldrons and long tables, and visitors who are invited, and sometimes even those who are not, are pressed to join in.
Seek out a village breakfast at a guesthouse on Kaz Dağı, and let the mountain’s quiet hospitality feed you properly. It is the province’s food at its purest, and it costs almost nothing.
Where to Eat: Practical Notes
Eating well in Balıkesir is mostly a matter of following the locals. In the towns, the busiest lokanta at lunchtime is the one to choose; on the coast, the fullest fish tables; in the villages, whatever the grandmother of the house is cooking.
Portions are generous, prices are fair, and the tea is free with almost everything. If you are driving, plan your stops: the Susurluk toast stop is a ritual, the mountain honey villages deserve a pause, and the waterfronts of Ayvalık and Cunda earn a long, slow evening.
Finally, carry cash for the small places, and bring an appetite. Balıkesir feeds its guests like relatives, which is to say, too much, and very well.
Seafood of the Marmara Side
The province’s northern coast brings a different catch. The Sea of Marmara feeds Erdek, Bandırma, and the Kapıdağ villages, and the fish restaurants there serve everything from fried sardines to the meaty white fish of the season.
The Marmara side has its own atmosphere: simpler, older, and more family-oriented than the Aegean waterfronts. Seafood is served plainly, with lemon, bread, and a good local oil, and the pleasure is in the freshness rather than the presentation.
For the full experience, time a visit to a fishing village in the morning, watch the boats come in, and eat whatever the catch of the day happens to be. The fish will be an hour out of the water, and the memory will last much longer.
Balıkesir’s food changes with the calendar, and the seasons are worth planning around. Autumn is the great season: the olive harvest begins, the honey is at its peak, and the chestnuts of Kaz Dağı appear in the markets.
Winter brings the warming dishes: keşkek in quantity, slow stews, and the province’s soups, eaten with plenty of bread. Spring means wild greens from the hills, fresh cheese, and the first light salads of the year, while summer is the season of seafood, cold meze, and long evenings by the water.
Wherever you travel, ask what is in season and order accordingly. Eating with the calendar is the surest route to the best of the Balıkesir table, and it is the way the province has always eaten.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous food of Balıkesir?
Keşkek, the slow-cooked wheat and meat dish served at celebrations and inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list, is the province’s signature. Equally beloved is the Susurluk toast with ayran, and the local dessert höşmerim.
Where can I try the local specialties?
The city’s traditional restaurants serve keşkek and höşmerim, Susurluk’s roadside establishments do the famous toast and ayran, and the waterfronts of Ayvalık and Cunda are the place for meze and fish. Village guesthouses on Kaz Dağı serve the best mountain breakfasts.
What should I buy as a food souvenir?
Edremit olive oil, Kaz Dağı honey, and the region’s dried fruits and olives all travel well and make excellent gifts. Buy them in the markets or directly from village producers, where the quality is best and the prices are honest.
All Over Information
The All Over Information editorial team researches and writes practical English-language guides to Turkey. Facts are checked against official and local sources before publication, prices are published as dated ranges rather than quotes, and guides are revised when things change. We accept no sponsored posts, paid placements or paid links.
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