Turkey is surrounded by four seas which encompass a large variety of fish. Fish are grilled, fried or cooked slowly by bugulama method. Bugulama is fish with lemon and parsley, covered while cooking so that it will be cooked with steam.

Pilaki is fish with various vegetables, including onion, cooked in oven. In the Black Sea region, fish are fried usually with thick corn flour. Fish are also eaten cold as smoked (isleme), dried (çiroz), canned, salted or pickles (lakerda) types.

In specialized restaurants, it is possible to find fancy fish varieties like balik dolma - stuffed fish. In Istanbul's Eminönü and other shore districts, barbecued fish served as sandwich with tomatoes, greenery and onion is a popular fast food. In the inner parts of Turkey, freshwater fish are cooked, again with many types, usually under generic name alabalik, literally a trout.