Yalikavak Food Market & Photo Gallery

Yalikavak Weekly Market – Food Stalls section:

Each Thursday, Yalikvak hosts their weekly Pazar (market), and it gets my vote as the best market on the Bodrum Peninsula. Yalikavak hosts the quintessential market – It’s not too big, but it’s still expansive.

For our first visit, it was the key destination on our moped outing. We left Bodrum early, and stopped off at Bodrum Golf Course and the three Yalikavak windmills, before descending into Yalikavak town center, and heading straight to the market.

The market starts off gently, with a few stalls scattered along the main route leading to the main hub of the market. Wicker baskets, citrus trees, sewing paraphernalia – random stalls relegated to the outskirts.

This random scattering gives way to a highway of fruit and vegetables, interspersed with stalls displaying a satisfying array of cheeses, yogurts, olives, spices, nuts, dried fruits, and of course turkish delight.

There are also a couple of Gözleme stalls, and these are well worth a visit for a cheap, quick, but satisfying breakfast.

After a couple of circuits of the food stalls, you will have received a myriad of tasting samples. My favourite, was a walnut with goat cheese, stuffed into a dried fig.

This concoction was created and offered by a stall holder with gnarled hands with fingernails full of dirt. Despite my initial trepidation at accepting the morsel, I was glad I did.

These ingredients melded together to create a spiritual union of texture and taste – sweet and sour, crunchy and smooth combined into one little mouthful.

At the far end of the food stalls is a quadrant of textile stalls.

The market clientele are a random mix of locals, holiday makers and expats, with The Locals being the major demographic. Whereas Turgutreis market can be overwhelming, and Bodrum’s interior market can feel confining, Yalikavak market is energetic without being intrusive, and has a beguiling small town vibe. As soon as we left, we couldn’t wait for Thursday to roll around again, to repeat the experience.