What is balık ekmek and where can I try it in Kaş?

Balık ekmek is Turkey's grilled fish sandwich: fresh fish, lettuce and onion in crusty bread. In Kaş you can try it at Etna Fish House (Öztürk Street 17, Andifli, next to Upper House Hotel), which serves eight versions, mackerel, sardine, calamari and shrimp among them, for 590 to 690 TL, with a free salad bar, daily 11:00 to midnight.

How much does a fish sandwich cost in Kaş?

On the June 2026 menu at Etna Fish House, fish sandwiches run 590 to 690 TL: mackerel, sardine, meatball and the fish wrap at 590 TL, whiting and mussel at 640 TL, calamari and shrimp at 690 TL. Prices move with the seasons, and the salad bar is free either way.

How is balık ekmek in Kaş different from Istanbul?

The Istanbul original is eaten standing by the water and is nearly always mackerel. In Kaş the same sandwich slows down: you sit at a street table, and family counters like ours grill eight fillings instead of one, from sardine to shrimp.

Do I need to speak Turkish to order balık ekmek?

No. Point at the menu or use the English names and any counter in Kaş will understand you. Every sandwich comes with lettuce and onion; hot sauce is there if you ask, and a squeeze of lemon is the only tradition worth insisting on.

Balık Ekmek: Turkey's Beloved Fish Sandwich in Kaş

Balık ekmek means “fish bread”, and that is the whole recipe: a fillet grilled fresh, tucked into a crusty half loaf with lettuce and onion, eaten with both hands. It is Turkey’s best-loved street food from the sea. In Kaş, the place to try a fish sandwich is a family counter in the back streets: Etna Fish House, Öztürk Street 17 in Andifli, next to Upper House Hotel, where eight versions run 590 to 690 TL and the salad bar costs nothing.

A sandwich born on the Istanbul waterfront

Ask anyone in Turkey about balık ekmek and they will picture the same scene: boats moored by the Galata Bridge, smoke rising off the grills, a queue of commuters waiting for mackerel in bread. The sandwich began as a fisherman’s lunch, cooked on deck from whatever the nets gave, and over the decades it turned into the taste of Istanbul itself.

There is no ceremony to it. You pay, you get a warm loaf pressed around a hot fillet, you eat standing up while the ferries churn past. Half the country carries a memory attached to that exact moment. That memory is what you are ordering when you order one.

What changes when balık ekmek reaches Kaş?

Down on the Mediterranean the sandwich slows down. Nobody eats standing in a crowd here; you take a street table, the harbour is a short walk away, and the loudest sound is the neighbours’ cutlery. The Istanbul original is nearly always mackerel. Our counter starts there and keeps going, seven fillings further.

We are a small family kitchen, so the logic stays simple: the fish comes from the morning market, the bread arrives from the bakery the same day, and your sandwich is built after you order it, not before. On summer mornings, day-trippers heading for the Meis ferry pick one up and eat it on the walk down to the boat. Ten minutes, start to finish.

Balık ekmek packed to go: the ferry-morning order

Eight fish sandwiches in Kaş, with 2026 prices

Here is the full lineup from our June 2026 menu. Prices move with the seasons, so treat this table as a snapshot and check the menu page for today’s numbers.

Sandwich	Worth knowing	Price
Mackerel sandwich (uskumru ekmek)	The classic, closest to the Istanbul original	590 TL
Sardine sandwich	Smaller fish, deeper flavour; a high-summer pick	590 TL
Meatball sandwich (köfte ekmek)	For the one friend who won’t touch fish	590 TL
Fish wrap (balık dürüm)	Mackerel rolled in lavash; easiest to eat while walking	590 TL
Whiting sandwich (mezgit ekmek)	Mild white fish; quietly one of our best sellers	640 TL
Mussel sandwich (midye ekmek)	Fried mussels, rich and crunchy	640 TL
Calamari sandwich (kalamar ekmek)	Crisp fried rings in bread	690 TL
Shrimp sandwich (karides ekmek)	The most generous filling of the eight	690 TL

If you cannot decide, tell us how hungry you are and where you are headed next; we will point you to the right one. The wrap follows one fixed house rule: it is always made with mackerel, never with the day’s rotation. And if the morning’s mackerel does not look right at the market, we simply make no wraps that day.

How do you order one, with no Turkish?

Point at the table above or use the English names; the counter will understand you. Every sandwich comes with lettuce and onion, and there is hot sauce if you ask. A squeeze of lemon is the only tradition worth insisting on.

Sit at one of the street tables and the salad bar is yours at no charge; fill your plate as many times as you like. When you finish, tea and a small sweet arrive without being ordered or billed. We take cards, the Wi-Fi works, and nobody in history has ever booked a table for a sandwich; walk in any day between 11:00 and midnight. Curious what came in that morning? Call +90 531 402 04 04 and ask.

Where to find us

Etna Fish House sits at Öztürk Street 17 in Andifli, next to Upper House Hotel, two streets up from the harbour row. There is no sea view at our tables, just a calm back street where the neighbourhood actually eats, and in July that quiet is worth more than any terrace. If you are planning the rest of your meals in town, our guide to where to eat in Kaş covers dinner properly, and the budget guide shows how far a fish sandwich stretches your lira.

Come hungry. The mackerel will be waiting.