Like most fish with white flesh, turbot has a very mild flavor. Turbot is a bottom-feeding flatfish with a medium to firm texture, similar to flounder, halibut, and Dover sole.

Commonly caught in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, turbot resembles and tastes very much like flounder. Because turbot is a flatfish, its fillets are often quite wide and thin and are best prepared using wet methods such as poaching or steaming or dry ways such as pan searing or broiling. It is possible to prepare turbot whole, gutted with the head still attached, deboned, or filleted. When purchasing fillets, it is prudent to ensure that all pin bones have been removed.