Cappadocia Home Cooking — Restaurant in Ayvalı Köyü

We stumbled across this home cooking experience by chance, and it turned out to be our best experience in Cappadocia, even better than the hot air ballooning. That’s probably because we didn’t have very high expectations, so I hope I don’t create too high an expectation for you.

We went with our teenage kids, who can be very difficult to please (apparently it’s a teenager thing?). From the moment we arrived, Tolga’s (our host) warmth and hospitality was above and beyond anything we have experienced before. We got to meet the whole family, from his mother to his youngest daughter, and everyone gets involved.

There is such a good mix between watching and learning, and rolling sleeves up and getting involved. We even got to make Cappadocia ravioli from scratch. There is a distinct difference between eating food at a restaurant and eating home cooked food. Having the opportunity to learn about the cuisine and the culture provides a very unique perspective to eating the food. Tolga also gave a lot of context as to why things are done a certain way, which is really useful.

After we helped prepare the dinner our group sat together and enjoyed a 4 course meal together. Our group included people from two other continents, which really added to our experience through chatting and sharing experiences.

In the end our kids loved it too and developed a whole new appreciation for the local food and culture. By far an absolute must do if...

From the very beginning, Tolga was very responsive, respectful and kind. We opted in for the transfer and felt the warm hospitality the moment Tolga picked us up. He shared some history of Cappadocia on the drive to his home and gave some great recommendations for us to do on our last day here.

Entering his home, him and the family were so welcoming and served us with tasty treats and tea. We met the rest of the group, chatted and started the best cooking experience.

I cannot recommend this home cooking class enough. I’ve been to a few and this by far was my most favourite! We are so honoured to have been welcomed into their home, learn family recipes and more about the Turkish culture and traditions. On top of that, all their ingredients are home grown which made the dishes so much more tastier!

Thank you again Tolga and family. This is definitely an experience we’ll always remember!

(Make that booking, you...

Wow! One of the best cooking class experiences we've had in all of our travels. While you won't leave this class with a ton of new culinary techniques and training, you will get to make some great Turkish dishes, eat more food than you could manage in 2 meals (or 3!), and get to spend a lot of time with one of the warmest group of people you will ever meet.

The host, Tolga, was amazingly friendly from the moment he picked us up at our hotel. The class is in his family home so you will be cooking in his kitchen with his wife, Tugba, and his mother. Later we got to meet his 2 sons and daughter and absolutely everyone was delightful.

It was inspiring to hear about how they created this business and have devoted themselves to providing visitors with all home-grown ingredients and the warmest welcome to Cappadocia possible. They should be extremely proud of what they built and I highly recommend visiting them....