In preparation for our trip to Cappadocia, Turkey in July 2023, I scoured online reviews for the best restaurants, and I kept hitting dead ends. Everything seemed touristy, and nothing jumped out as fantastic. In any case, despite loathing the English name, I ended up making a reservation two weeks before our trip at Topdeck Cave Restaurant via Instagram messenger based on many great reviews and the fact that it was located in Göreme (one of Cappadocia’s 3 main areas), a 5 minute walk from our hotel. I showed up not expecting much, but Topdeck Cave Restaurant ended up being family run and fantastic. It was so good that we made a second dinner reservation as soon as we finished our meal!
Topdeck Cave Restaurant. Side note, there is no “top deck.”
Topdeck Cave Restaurant
Topdeck Cave Restaurant is a tiny restaurant located on the ground floor of one of Göreme’s cave “houses.” In fact, the restaurant is even rumored to be located on the ground floor of its owner’s home! In any case, again, the space is small with a few traditional “floor level” tables and a few Western tables. The floor level seating is fantastic for photographs, but we preferred the Western tables for comfort. Despite our preference, the floor level tables seemed much more popular. As you can see from the pictures below, most of the traditional tables have a “REZERVE” sign, showing how popular the restaurant was in July. Book in advance for one of the traditional tables – they did seem lovely for photographs!
Traditional floor seating – this was very popular, particularly with the IG crowd
More traditional seating at Topdeck Cave Restaurant.
Western-style seating. This was better for our backs, especially after a day of exploring and walking around Göreme.
The Menu at Topdeck Cave Restaurant
The menu at Topdeck Cave Restaurant is small and changes seasonally. As you will see below, its largely Turkish, with a few International exceptions (like french fries). As you will also see below, a “service fee” of 10% is added to every bill. This was more than fine with us, as we received good service and a free dessert. I believe menus in other languages, besides Turkish, were also available.
Food menu at Topdeck Cave Restaurant.
Drink menu at Topdeck Cave Restaurant.
Starters and Sides at Topdeck Cave Restaurant
As we dined at Topdeck Cave Restaurant twice, we tried a number of dishes between the two of us. The one dish we ordered both nights was the Turkish Mezze platter, which is a platter with small samplings of various Turkish “mezze”. Think hummus, red pepper dips, a beet dip, a carrot dip, the list goes on. These “mezze” are similar to “tapas” and are meant to be shared amongst the table. One can find “mezze” all over Cappadocia, but these at Topdeck were really fantastic. We shared the 12 mezze platter the first night, but went with the smaller 7 mezze the second night so that we could order mains. We also tried the Turkish pastry stuffed with spinach and Feta cheese and the Shepherd salad, which I love. Finally, on our second dinner evening, Topdeck brought around a small amuse bouche of mushroom and dill soup for every diner to try. Despite it being incredibly hot outdoors, this dish was AMAZING and I ordered a full bowl after the sample. This soup was the best thing I ate in Cappadocia (and honestly possible all of Turkey).
The 7 mezze. The 12 is in the cover photo if you are looking for the difference.
Feta and cheese parsley.
Shepherd Salad.
Mushroom and dill soup.
Main Dishes at Topdeck Cave Restaurant
Dan and I both preferred the starters and sides at Topdeck to mains, the main dishes were good. For one main, I ordered the “chicken wrap”, which was no wrap at all, LOL. Rather, it was a chicken breast folded like a taco shell around vegetables with a lemon, cream and mustard sauce, served with a side of rice. The lemon, cream and mustard sauce was AMAZING and made the dish (IMHO). Dan opted for the Turkish Ravioli, which is unstuffed dumplings topped with local minced beef. We honestly did not love this dish and had better Turkish Ravioli in Istanbul. That being said, this was certainly more than edible, and I think just not to our taste rather than poorly prepared. We also ordered french fries one night and they was pretty tasty. Moral of the story, we found the starters much better than the mains (but we often come to this conclusion, I guess we are starter people).
Chicken wrap. I was thinking a Western wrap, but I was very wrong. It was still tasty, LOL. The sauce was incredible.
Turkish Ravioli. Get this in Turkey, but maybe at another restaurnt.
Classic frites. These were nicely prepared.
Dessert at Topdeck Cave Restaurant
After our second dinner, Topdeck gave us a complimentary dessert of local rice pudding, and I also ordered a banana split, ha. Both were good, and the complimentary dessert was a nice touch.
A homemade dessert on the house & a banana sundae.
Drinks at Topdeck Cave Restaurant
As I have (or will) mention in other posts, not all Turkish restaurants serve alcohol, particularly the more traditional ones. However, Topdeck serves of decent selection of both beer and wine. Over our two nights, we split two local wines from Cappadocia, both of which vineyards we later visited, and a Turkish “Efes” beer (named for Ephesus). The wines were great, and Topdeck offers a pretty robust offering of alcohol for a traditional Turkish restaurant. Topdeck is a great place to try local wine in Cappadocia.
Rose from Kocabag. Very tasty; not sweet at all.
We were big fans of the Turasan Syrah.
Efes beer – available all over Turkey. Beer is more economical than wine.
STEAL OUR DINNER
Topdeck Cave Restaurant: Hafız Abdullah Efendi Sk. No 15, 50180 Göreme/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye. Open Wednesday – Monday 5:00 – 11:15. Closed Tuesday. Reservations HIGHLY suggested, which can be made by calling, stopping in, or via IG message.
ON A BUDGET
While certainly not the cheapest restaurant in Göreme, Topdeck is reasonably priced in the grand scheme, especially for the quality and size of plates. Skip alcohol if you are looking to save money – that is overpriced almost everywhere in Cappadocia.