Kalkan Restaurants

Now, as my first review I should introduce myself. I am from the UK, and I go to Kalkan quite alot. This is the 3rd time I have been, and it is going very well.

Now, I should get down to the actual review. Merkez is a small cafe down in the town where you can sit and relax, or enjoy a meal. It is only small, so there is no chairs to sit inside. But who needs to sit inside when you can enjoy the sun of Kalkan with a glass of lemonade?

It offers a selection of well over 30 dishes for you to try, so there is many chances to dine there. Some food is quite expensive and posh, while you may want to choose a cheeper dish which is just as nice. The service is brilliant, as when I entered the waiter greeted me with a handshake and a nice "Welcome to Merkez! May I get you a seat?". The seats were very comfortable to sit on, and it had a good view of the mountains in the distance.

As I was not to hungry, I ordered something simple, the Spaghetti Bolignese with a drink of Watermelon Juice. When I got the drink I took a sip with my straw and fell into a cloud from heaven. It was absoloutely delicious and had noticebly just been freshly squeezed. It was so good in fact, I gulped it all down in one sip.

When I got my food, I happily said "Thank you" which is taken well in Turkey and alot of other countries. The cutelry was layed out nicely with a napkin underneath. They also provided salt and pepper on the table. I reached for what I though was the salt, but found that it was pepper when my older brother said "Thats pepper, mate.". I started to eat and found the food lovely, yet simple. It was some well cooked spaghetti, with a not-to-thick tomato sauce on top, mixed with a good selection of vegetables. It came with some melted cheese on top, which I am actualy not a huge fan of, but I tasted it and thought it was actualy quite nice.

The place itself was very well positioned in the town. It is near the middle, where alot of shops are, so after eating you can take a quick look in some of the shops. When we had finished our food, the bill came. The waiter happily gave it to us with a additional plate of turkish delights. I thought this was a great idea to give the treat to anybody who had been kind and spent their time to admire the restaurant. The turkish delights were delicious, and I couldn't help but scoop some of the sugar for the turkish delights up with my fingers!

Favorite Dish: My favourite was the spaghetti as it a brilliant, healthy sauce which made the spaghetti top notch. The sauce was nice and creamy, and the spaghetti was very well presented, and tasted exquisite.

As many other members have commented, this is an ideally positioned terrace restaurant in Kalkan, from which you can see the bay and harbour (trees permitting). The ambiance is all there, the subdued but adequate lighting, the sultans corner etc - no music as there was serious audio competition from adjacent terrace restaurants. The staff are very welcoming and friendly with all customers, particularly the ladies!
What was disappointing, especially having read many good reviews on this site, was the food. It was decidedly average. Nothing wrong with it that you could complain about but nothing to praise. Having eaten in many other Kalkan restaurants, we both felt that it was the poorest meal of our visit and the most expensive. The Sultans Pitcher is a speciality dish on their menu, priced accordingly, but tasted totally bland. Incidentally, watch out for pieces of the broken pitcher that may fall into the food, but that goes with the territory!

Favorite Dish: None

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The Ivy is a fabulous restaurant. I have been there many times over the 2 years they have been opened. The atmosphere, food, hospitality, are wonderful and you really feel as though you are treating yourself whenever you visit. As well as a regular restaurant they also have great entertainment nights one of the owner plays saz. It is well worth getting yourself on their mailing list to find out what is on. There is a fabulous Sultan\'s corner where you can have a pre dinner drink, it is so romantic and spell binding.

Favorite Dish: Ottoman page fab!

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Close to Tlos is this trout farm and restaurant. Not only is the fish fresh and delicious the setting with waterways and fountains is cool and refreshing in the summer heat. There is even a bar with trout swimming in it!

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Doesn't look much from outside but very nice inside. Really friendly with a nice atmosphere.
Free pool table and a swimming pool out back.
ALL DAY English breakfast for those missing home.
Been open for about 10 years now.
Apartments upstairs for rent.

We can't understand all of the good reviews for Doy Doy, we found it very expensive and the service was terrible. Their whole purpose is to get you back again so yes, they are friendly and attentive if you dont tell them that it is your last night and this is where our mistake was. We saved Doy Doy until the last night but once they found out it was our last night, the service was slow and the waiters were even rude to us. The final straw for us came when we ordered our dessert and it took 50 minutes for it to arrive but after 45 minutes our patience ran out and we asked for our bill. This was met with hostility from the head waiter who initially just walked away from us trying to ignore our request. When we insisted they provided the bill just as the desserts arrived but then the head waiter took the food back into the kitchen and we could hear him throw the tray against the wall. Absolutely terrible service, won't be setting foot anywhere near this place again.

This small fish restaurant is easy to miss. We found it by chance and liked it so much we visited 3 times during our holiday. It is situated on the Kalamar road, on the right hand side about 400m along from the main road, opposite the Moonlight Terrace & Pension. The manager Evrim is really friendly and the quality of food is excellent - and unbelievably cheap (e.g. 12TL for sea bream). We found the restaurants near the harbour so expensive that we could not afford them other than once or twice, so we preferred to eat 'up hill' where everything is so much cheaper. But this restaurant was cheap even by 'up hill' standards. The menu was not huge and the food was simply presented but very well cooked. If you want a good value, good quality fish meal then this is the place for you.

Favorite Dish: Between me & my friend we tried the sea bream, the sea bass, the fish & chips (small but only 9TL - can you believe it !), the shrimp casserole and the garlic king prawns (the most expensive dish on the menu at 20TL). All were excellent.

We booked the restaurant 5 days in advance for our wedding anniversary dinner. We specifically requested a table by the side with a view of the sea. We were number 2 on the booking list. We arrived and the restaurant was nearly empty and we were shown to an inner table. We explained the mistake and we were responded to rudely and without an explanation as to why our reservation had been usurped by people who had not even arrived by that time. The waiters refused to discuss. We left upset and disappointed. I suggest you do not make the same mistake.

Favorite Dish: Unable to comment!