Kürşat Zeytin Evi

A roadside stop just outside Ayvalık, on the Balıkesir road — but not the usual kind. The sales point of Kürşat Zeytin Evi is also a restaurant, a coffee place and a small olive oil museum.

The food is chosen at the counter: olives, spreads, tomatoes and cucumber to begin with, then the olive-oil dishes — green beans, okra, türlü, aubergine — along with meat stews and chickpeas. All of it cooked in the open kitchen behind.

In the dining room: wooden tables, rush chairs, a wall of books and great glass demijohns; off to one side the market till, so you can pick up oil and carry on.

The museum room holds restored old olive presses — the sort of thing to wander round with your coffee in hand.

A lovely place to break a journey.