Kalkan with the kiddies!

[Bob & Jayne]

Please keep posting Babs, like Lizzie says, we are loving it too and is definitely not boring.  Glad you said Fener is still great, we just love going there to watch the boats and chill out for brunch/breakfast/dinner before or after a day on the beach.  We love Kas too, but Kalkan even more, although the little boat that takes you over to the beach from Kas Harbour (can't remember the name) is a wonderful day out, we will be repeating that this year for sure.  Look forward to hearing about your boat trip too. Have a fab day. 

[Haybo]

Yes, keep the posts coming...your experiences and thoughts are great.  Confession time now, and hoping the forum doesn't turn on me, but we ate at Mussaka last year and we weren't bowled over. 
With what everyone else posts and rave reviews from people face to face, we were expecting great things.  We too were rushed. That said, matthew loved the surf and turf, so they may get another chance this year!

[antler]

Agree on the Surf 'n Turf as it's one of Oli's favorites. In it's new location this year, it will be one of the first we pass when heading into Town (if we choose to pass, that is!).

:-)

[Babs]

Oh ok then! 
Lovely meal at Fish Terrace last night.......my daughter was bouncing with excitement, her favourite meal is prawn cocktail, with the prawns coming in a delicious curry sauce and paella......she's had it every time she's been there!
Great day on Moby Dick, quite entertaining as Deniz was sitting on the bench chatting when we turned up.....turns out he was expecting us tomorrow! Not sure how there was a date mix up as he'd confirmed by email but this is Turkey!  ,a quick supermarket dash for him and a few phone calls after which the lovely Kamal appeared and we were off! Telly cloudy this morning but as we headed out to sea it got more and more promising and by midday it was service as normal! You couldn't wish for two more entertaining and delightful crew as Deniz and Kamal.....in a lovely laid back way. Deniz is so friendly and Kamal is a fascinating man with so many stories. Spotted a few turtles and a lovely day was had by all. Fair to say we had plenty of space, we had booked the boat just for the six of us and we went on the large boat that takes over twenty people!
Lots going on at the building site, haven't read KTLN report yet, but there is some sort of concreting going on now, I assume to fill the construction that has been built which will be the retaining wall.......salt and pepper still looking precarious though!
We sat and watched the beach being flattened this morning while having breakfast at the Fener......Kalkan is getting ready for those of you who will follow us!
Have just spotted a happy hour notice outside Black and Gold so going to try that for a pre dinner drink tonight and then off to Belgins Kitchen......always a favourite with good simple food......which after the amount we ate on the boat is just as well......we got a telling off for not eating everything, apparently turkish people eat so much more than us! 

[pw]

Black & Gold is one of the best bars in town IMO and THE best cocktails. I got a vip card in April which gives you an extra 15% off the happy hour price! Well worth the TL 20 up front cost

pw

[kalkan4eva]

Oh no, Babs, don't stop.... I'd be devastated 
Less than two weeks for us, I need to follow in your footsteps. I cant wait to hear what you think of Black and Gold as we are big fans of Burak and hope he can make a go of this.
So glad you had a nice day at sea

[Lizilu20]

Thanks Babs, need my fix and you're doing such a good job. 
I love the sound of that prawn cocktail. We've never dined at the fish terrace as our girls are not too keen on fish and presume the clue is in the title and that's all you can have there? May have to try it though as it has such good reviews.

I got my wires crossed. We tried for Moby dick but they haven't replied to any of Jayne's emails yet ( thank you Jayne for doing the leg work).

Glad you had a lovely day out and fener is sounding promising - might be a bit hot in August though without any shade. Have I got this right that there are no parasols up?

Carry on having a lovely time and please keep reporting back. Your forum needs you. 

[Charlie]

Fener has parasols and large awning just no kosk area anymore Still plenty of shade.

[Bob & Jayne]

Another great post Babs, your certainly keeping busy doing some lovely things, glad you had a fab day on Mobydick, as Lizzie says they haven't responded to my emails, but maybe the address is wrong, not sure (I have sent you a pm about it).  Hope that you enjoyed Black and Gold, we certainly did at Easter, although it had only just opened, it is fab, and I can imagine is great sat there watching the sun go down.  We didn't get the discount card as they hadn't started them at the time, so hopefully they still will be selling them when we arrive, but to be honest the prices were really good value anyway.

Happy to hear parasols at Fener too, is the icecream kiosk still there?

J

[Babs]

Still ice cream at the Fener, so don't panic Jayne  Lizilu, my son in law doesn't like fish either but he had lamb at the Fish Terrace and said it was delicious.
Mmmmm.....Black and Gold......maybe we just picked a bad evening. They were very jolly and smiley and sorted us out somewhere to sit in the lower part as they had live music last night and most seats/tables were reserved. Our drinks took ages to arrive and were really of a not very good quality. We'd gone because we'd seen a sign earlier advertising happy hour and when the bill arrived there was no discount. By this time we were late for our dinner booking so just paid and went......maybe we just hit them on a particularly,hectic evening?
Good, simple meal as ever at Belgins Kitchen and a lovely glass of red at Cafe de Mar to finish our evening.
Another day at Patara today. Tonight is "date night"! We are all doing our own thing as couples. We've managed to get booked at Small House and as we've never managed,to get a table there before are really looking forward to it.

[kalkan4eva]

Oh what a shame about Black and Gold...! We love Moonlight Bar for the atmosphere and people watching but I'd never order a cocktail in there - we go to other places for cocktails and I was hoping B&G would pick up the Jimmy's custom (and fab cocktails...). It looked busy on their FB last night but also the chairs seemed to be aranged in rows....not sure I'd like that. We'll still go, because I've promised Burak we will. Maybe on a quieter night though...
I think I skipped over an earlier post - you've already bag shopped....

[Bob & Jayne]

Date night, now that does sound good Babs  , sorry Black and Gold wasn't the highlight for you, but maybe just an off night for them! Bag shopping ooh yes K4E, stupidly I have Simply Chic on Facebook, and now have my eye on the new Mulberry Piccadilly! Not telling OH yet lol!!!

J

[Haybo]

Jayne. I think we will have to have a trip to simply chic without the boys!

[Babs]

So, date night..........all three couples had booked separate restaurants and left the house at different times, and all ended up, without any prior discussion at Botanik for pre dinner drinks!  no prizes for guessing everyone's favourite bar!
The little ones tried Gusto, where Coast was, said it was fine but not a favourite. Middles went to Gironda and enjoyed their meal and bizarrely my daughter met an old friend from school and her family. Us old dears went to Small House. Delicious simple food, 13 types of Meze followed by amazing sea bass for me and lamb casserole for OH, two glasses of wine all for 119 tl.....I'm a cheap date! We had arranged to rendezvous with the little ones at cafe del mar as we only have two keys and who should rock up but the middles!
This morning it was like waking up in a house of horrors.......gale force winds, furniture on the roof terraces blowing around, doors and windows being blown open and shut! 
The middles set off for a drive to Tlos and Yakapark and the rest of us had breakfast at Cafe Leon and went for a walk along the harbour wall......it was so windy we had to send well back at the lighthouse! Watched a family of turtles battling the waves, they seemed to be enjoying it.....with their heads sticking out of the water more than usual.
OH and I decided to brave the beach, after a drink at Merkez and a bit of shopping. We tucked ourselves in at the furthest corner and by mid afternoon the weather was lovely and really hot! All in all quite an odd day! Aubergine tonight.......haven't been there for years so thought we'd give it a go again.

[kalkan4eva]

Loving your reports, Babs. The wind sounded dreadful today but thankfully it blew itself out and it "turned out nice again" in the words of George Formby
Are there any cushions on the beach beds..? I fear it was a one season wonder that started in July and ended with the fire. Does it feel more like a loved beach now, or still left to its own devices?
Good luck at Aubergine - let us know how you get on. Used to be our favourite but a couple of bad experiences and we've not been back for years.

[Haybo]

Watching Aubergine on the webcam! Did their canopy blow down! Hope you enjoyed it. 

[Bob & Jayne]

Another great post Babs which has brightened up my day already! Just reading about the turtles makes me smile, they are such beautiful creatures.  Hopefully the winds have disappeared today and you will be basking in the lovely sunshine again.  Your date night sounded fun! We went to Small House the year before last, and the food was delicious. I hope that you enjoyed Aubergine, we are planning on lunch there this year to sample the burger menu that someone posted last week saying was fab!

Haybo - definitely a sneaky trip to the Bag Shop I think!! 

J

[Lizilu20]

Gosh, it did sound blustery, glad you're all in one piece!

Date night sounded fab - love that you all kept bumping into each other and small house sounds really nice. We've never been as it was always fully booked when it went viral and became a victim of it's own success on tripadvisor and EK  (was it last year or the year before?) Hopefully it's calmed down now so maybe we will be able to get a table this year.

Hope you enjoyed Aubergine, looking forward to your comments. 

[Babs]

Aubergine was good.....not a lot of atmosphere I felt but good food. The canopy seemed fine but didn't take a lot of notice as was too busy being amused as we'd been given the sparkly blingy bench to sit on at the biggest able for six that I've ever seen!  sadly K4E not a sign of a sign of a sunbed cushion on the beach. The Bech was flattened out by a digger a couple of days ago but then everything was packed away yesterday because of the wind. The shades and beds are out again today but still a little haphazard.......mind you no one has asked for any money down there!
Breakfast at Fener agin today......could there be a nicer view for breakfast? Assuming you don't turn round and ctch sight of the building works. I understand it's all supposed to be finished by next week but I wouldn't hold my breath.....they have been taking down the wooden structure that was supporting the new wall today so maybe there is an end in sight? Bit scary watching the workers just hanging off the framework two storeys up with no hard hats or anything!
Another nice sunny day at Palm Beach today and our last night meal at The Fish Terrace to come. We don't have to leave here till late pm tomorrow so hoping that the promised thunder storms don't turn up so we can spend a last day on the beach!

[kalkan4eva]

Oh no...you are going home tomorrow..? I cant believe how quick that week has passed.
Good to hear you enjoyed Aubergine - might give it another outing this year. There are so many places to go and so little time to fit them all in
Thanks for posting...the beach cushion has gone back in the case