Meeting Point Cafe
Cenap and Eliza are very friendly hosts; Eliza, being a South African Malay cooks delicious curry. Taste the excellent smoothies and fresh juices orange and watermelon or watermelon and ginger are great. The cafe becomes a bar in the evenings - popular with locals and tourists alike - and, in colder months, Cenap sometimes hosts 'fire parties'.
Firin Express
Has freshly baked and wonderful Pide and Lahmacun for a few Lira.
Manzara Restaurant
With one of the best views in town, catching the sunset with a cocktail from the upper deck is a must do in Cappadocia. They also have a lower deck and indoor dining with a fireplace. The kebab plate is a good choice for dinner.
Silk Road Kebabs
near pasha bar has excellent and filling chicken kebab get the 1/2 loaf for 2.50 tl.
Orient Restaurant
A high class, beautifully decorated eating joint that can provide both not-too-expensive top end meals and fare to suit tighter budgets. Proprietor Refayi speaks excellent English and French.
Nazar Borek
A small pastry cafe with outside wooden seating area on a platform above the canal. Proprietors Top Deck Mustafa and Reyfik are fantastic hosts. Their sweet and savoury pastries good value and delicious.
Safran Restaurant
Climb the stone steps to this charming terrace restaurant run by a friendly family from Malatya in Eastern Turkey who have worked in hospitality in Goreme for approximately 20 years. Emine is a superb cook. What makes the food of this restaurant amazing is that this is the only restaurant in the town whatsoever that makes both the eastern and western foods. Ilker, Emine's German-born nephew speaks excellent English and cooks delicious manti, Turkish ravioli, if he can be coaxed into it.
Goreme has a wide selection of typical Kebabs and Pide, as well as some unusual 'pottery' dishes that are prepared and served in a clay pot which you can 'break' open. Often the 'pottery kebabs' are precooked earlier in the day so check around to see which restaurants require a 'pottery kebab' booking - it's likely that they will be the places that make the kebab on the spot they take about an hour to cook. Many of the restaurants and bars change hands on a regular basis, making specific recommendations difficult.
That said, Alaturca, with mains from 15-20 YTL, is considered to be one of the finer dining establishments in central Turkey, but is overpriced for the quality of food and a stiff service that is out of place in an otherwise informal town. Alaturca is on the secondary road that heads towards the open Air Museum.