Turkish Breakfast in Gökcebel

Havva Ana has been serving traditional Turkish breakfast since 2004. Back when they first opened, their dining room was smaller than it is today and there was chickens running around between the tables.

Over the years this popular destination has expanded and now it’s now an efficiently run Turkish Breakfast destination that pulls in the city-slicker punters from Ankara and Istanbul that descend on the area during the summer months.

I’ve been meaning to eat at Havva Ana for years. It’s a little bit difficult to find if you don’t know the upper Gökcebel village area, but they’ve posted a few signs, which will lead you to their door and street parking.

No matter what day of the week you drive past there, there are always a stream of cars parked outside. The restaurant is open from 9:30AM – 3:00PM daily, and it does a roaring trade.

I got seated at the best table in the restaurant, overlooking the open kitchen area where Ana and her helper were busy in the kitchen stoking the open fire, cooking fresh börek and village bread.

Havva Ana Kitchen

Havva Ana Turkish Breakfast

Here’s some photos of my Turkish Breakfast. The piping hot borek was the first thing to be served, and it had come straight from the oven. All three were vegetarian and really full of flavor and deliciously crispy.

The cherry jam was absolutely delicious – I polished the whole dish off. Just be wary if you’re eating it though because some of the cherries still had their stones in.

The village bread was served piping hot straight from the oven, and came wrapped in a tea towel to keep it warm. There’s something really primal about tearing off strips of bread from a loaf like this.

There was a good sized portion of cheese, and a couple of home-made zucchini flower dolma, but other than that it was a pretty standard breakfast which came with a fried egg that was delivered to the table and served straight from the frying pan – a true stove to table service.

Tea was help yourself from the central urn, of course all you can drink! And I ordered a freshly squeezed orange juice that was tangy and cold and a real treat that it had pith in it. I’ve been buying OJ from the shops and the processed OJ never seems to come with pith.

Cost of breakfast and a freshly squeezed juice was 45TL  – so I’m figuring that breakfast was probably 35TL and 10TL for the OJ.

It’s a lovely setting, and there’s a reason it’s popular. It’s tucked up in a quiet rural village and there’s sheep, chickens, and a cow in the neighboring field that support the restaurant with their milk and eggs. The few times that Ana made it into the kitchen to lend a hand, she was shouting instructions in Turkish to the wait staff to make sure customers got what they needed, and were served as soon as they were seated.

My waiter was a young lad that talked to me in Turkish until I told him “Türkçe bilmiyorum” (I don’t speak Turkish) which, is a bit ironic that I tell him that in Turkish! But the he switched to pigeon English – which was enough to get by.

It’s good to see that this local restaurant has embraced the digital age, and is active on social media:

• Facebook Page: @Havvaanakahvalti

• Instagram Page: @havva_ana

If you search on the web for information about this restaurant you’ll find lots of press mentions. Back when the locals hadn’t cottoned onto the commercial value of offering Turkish breakfast to the Turkish city slickers and international tourists, Havva Anas became known as THE place to go for an authentic Village Turkish Breakfast. It’s lost a bit of that orginal charm (bring back the chickens!), but they know what they’re doing, and they serve it with passion.

Nowadays everyone with a patch of grass in their back garden and a brick oven is offering Turkish Breakfast – so now we’re spoilt for choice, and that’s a good thing.

Read about another Gökcebel Turkish Breakfast Destination

Dirmil Köy Kahvaltısı in Gökçebel for Turkish Breakfast

 

If you have a favorite Turkish Breakfast location in the Bodrum peninsula – let me know about it in the comments section below.