Uranos Sarıkaya — Restaurant in Avanos

It's a nice caved restaurant with benches carved out from the stone where you are meant to enjoy a typical Turkish experience, not only with food but also with local dances.

We were invited (at least from our guide who made the booking) to come at about 8pm for a show/dinner start at 8:30. Suddenly it became evident the show would have not started before 9, but in fact commenced only at 9:30 with a disco dancing prelude that eventually created several stacks during the show. The late show starts disappointed me, because being the initial main guests I found myself and my wife eating mezes alone in this beautiful but empty place.

Guests started to arrive at almost 8:45, but the main dish, some ordinary stewed lamb with rice, was served only at 9. Mezes were way too better than that.

Considering I came mostly for the folklorist show, something really disappointing was the constant back and forth of people on the stage. Surely you can't prevent people from going to the loo, but having waiters passing in front with their drink trolley in an attempt to sell/serve beverages was less than optimal. I think they should make an effort not to do so during the show.

The concept is nice, the organisation has to be revisited, food too...

I came here as part of a tour group. The ambiance is incredible — the place looks beautiful with plenty of nice OOTD spots. The walkway to the restaurant is wide, so it doesn’t feel cramped or claustrophobic. The restaurant itself is spacious and well-ventilated.

However, the food was a bit disappointing. I had the chicken, which lacked seasoning and tasted just alright. The beef was much better — flavorful and tender. Unfortunately, the vegetarian option was quite bad; it tasted burnt and was barely edible. The dessert, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise and tasted great.

The service was impressively fast, especially considering how busy the restaurant was. That said, I did notice that the table behind us, where a group had already finished eating when we arrived, wasn’t cleared even after we finished our meal. This attracted a lot of flies, which made the dining experience...

What from a distance looks like a burial mound is in fact a VERY memorable restaurant. The space inside is vast and beautifully carved out of volcanic tuff. The decorations are very apt, and the dining areas resemble five spokes of a wheel (the sixth being the entrance hall), with the hub used as a dance floor in the evening.

I was with a group of 21; our guide ordered for us, what in Spain would be a "menu al día," where each of four courses came with a choice of two or three items. Each was delicious and served by a wait staff that was really hustling, as each "spoke" of this restaurant holds about 60 diners, and all were practically full to capacity. Fortunately they have a well trained and motivated staff that just kept everything coming.

THIS is where to take someone to impress them...