Recommended Restaurants

[littlelin]

Alantj - my hubbby would totally agree with you about the fish casserole at Extinct. He was so impressed, we had to go back the following night for another.

[Babs]

hello, I keep reading about Extinct can someone explain where it is please

[Alfaman]

Forgot to mention Salt and Pepper as one of the new ones trying harder - excellent sea bass at good prices for the location (but I do miss the old Cafe Set for informal Efes and lunch).  Has Ilyada moved along the harbour - seem to remember it on the other side of Aubergine.

[Alfaman]

Extinct is up the side street by Tesko supermarket on the other side of the island to the Kalamar Road

[boboy]

Looking forward to my Sept visit and trying some of these new restaurants I''ve been following, also had a good report from a friend on that Salt & Pepper was good. I will be watching the world go by with Efes at Utopia I hope the same friendly faces are still there ?

[ade]

Hi Bluefudge, if you are getting a cab to Mahal ask them to drop you at the Beach Club as that is where the restaurant is and it does save you the endless steps........as others have said the setting is unbeatable with the tables set on the beach platforms and the sea underlit. All very romantic. I am not sure what evening you are going but, having stayed at Mahal quite a few times, some weekday evenings are very quiet....a couple of times there was just us and maybe one other couple........Sunday eve is very buzzy as the new ''intake'' of EE guests arrive Sat eve and all seem to stay in to eat on their first night..........then they all vanish for the delights of the food in downtown Kalkan. Oh and maybe take your wellies.......when the sea gets choppy you do find yourself ankle deep in seawater.......but what the hell!!!
The food is good tho as mentioned not the largest of portions....deep fried courgettes with garlic dip to start does for me.........Have a great time and maybe see you there.

[KalkanPosh]

Just back from another week in the sunshine! Had a lovely meal again at Trio as a special treat (Sultan''s lamb yummy, and my friends loved the steak with fig sauce and grouper with samphire casserole ) Remains my favourite lovely spot by the harbour and there are even more chairs now for chilling out on if you want a cocktail before dinner. Also went back to Cati again (plus fab takeaway pide or lamb chops when you''re just too lazy to move from the pool!) and the simple Ada fish restaurant the other side of Kaputas was still lovely (even if the puppy isn''t quite as cute now he''s older!).

We branched out following some recommendations here and I went to the Olive Garden for the first time and had a lovely evening up on the terrace with friends. I loved the olive bread and we liked the house specialities, for example the lamb sausage and moussaka. We also enjoyed the complimentary house ''profiteroles'' and chocolate sauce that appeared with our coffees...no need to order desserts!

Following discussion on this thread we went out to try the Mahal fbeach club for lunch and enjoyed a lovely meal with a fantastic view out to sea and back towards the harbour. We went by scooter but will try the water taxi from the harbour next time!

[kalkan4eva]

oh, Kalkan Posh...how lovely is Mahal? I rave about it to everyone. It''s not the cheapest beach club but it just nicks it over Palm as my favourite. Look forward to getting Bluefudge''s report after his visit for dinner.

We love Trio and Olive Garden too...although Sofra, IBO and Rendevous are our favourites of the mid-price range of restaurants. Hope to try The Ivy when we''re next out - June 09 if not before...and if I''m counting that''s ONLY 10 months away...ahh well...it''ll soon be Christmas

[IssyG]

Have just been browsing through these posts about recommended restaurants and notice that Daphnes hasn''t been mentioned at all.  is there a reason for this? - is it still there? are other members familiar with Daphnes?

Will definitely be trying Extinct and The Ivy and returning to Maya where we had a fantastic meal last year although the wait was quite long - but well worth it.

[kalkan4eva]

Hi IssyG,

We''ve eaten at Daphne''s and it was lovely...but strangely enough we haven''t been back...don''t know why really. Other than we had to move tables because the people next to us were heavy smokers, there was nothing the restaurant did, or didn''t do to make a us go back.

[onelove]

I would highly recommend a little restaurant about 15 mins out of town on the Kas road, it looks very run down and to be fair it would not win any prizes for the decor, even so this all adds to the experience of eating there, the restaurateurs cousin is a fisherman, and deliverer''s fresh fish direct to the restaurant, we could even see him fishing from our table.....he said he was fishing, but I think he was on he''s way in from fishing  !  and the sea view''s are to die for, better than any restaurant in Kalkan by a country mile.  I have to say I have eaten good fish all over the world, but this place really takes some beating, we asked for garlic bread, and he did not have a glue what we were on about, but we explained and he went to the kitchen got some butter and a garlic clove and mixed it together on our table....does it get any better than that ? The staff are lovely - mind you when I say staff its only him and a cook. The time me my wife, mum and sister eat there the only other people eating there were Turks.......says it all really ! ! ! 

[bluefudge11]

Mahal - wow! great food, romantic, pricey and served by Mr Tumnus of Narnia fame (honestly a dead ringer!) -  pricey but worth the extra for a one off. Food was excellent and plentiful. would recommend the steak.

Gironda- Another great place, we were treated to a Jazz night whilst there, Excellent food but again slightly pricey (comparatively) - 200 YTL for 4 including wine & drinks - would advise booking especially Jazz night. (we didn''t book, arrived early and had hobsons chose of table)

Kebab House on Harbour - Excellent wraps at around 7 YTL each , free inflateable bread to start great budget place with great view.

Alternatif - Wife''s Birthday celebration went off with a bang - literally - great food and finished off with complementary birthday cake, fireworks, candles and great staff. I agree with other posts, great steaks and Pavlova!

Trio -all was great except my sizzler chicken, which didn''t!. i complained (twice) and item was rightly removed from the bill - not the best but wifey says steak was superb!

Arena- great view but food a Little bland.

Rendezvous - Great views, Had the salted sea bass , very dramatic but would advise going for the grilled bass instead as they made a bit of a pigs ear getting the fish out. (ended up a little self assemble kit- Fish by IKEA)  -

Kalkan Fast Food Cafe - Value wraps very nice but the chicken shish was disappointing

Breeze - very good grub! Can is working there now and he is a great bloke! We also went there for breakfast one day - Full English

I have noticed an increase in "hassle" from the greeters this year to try and get you into their establishments - it got rather annoying by the end of two weeks. (still nowhere near as bad as say Kusadasi )

[Lorretta]

Daphnes used to be my absolute favourite but haven''t been for a while as the menu never seems to change. Also, not sure if I like the "entertainment" they have introduced, seems a bit down market. Best meal we had in June was probably at Coast, but have to agree that the Kebap House was good too, fantastic value for money.

[rachelk]

We are going back to Kalkan in a weeks time, for our second time.  Reading through all the posts and remembering the names of restaurants and the excellent meals that we had is making my mouth water!  There are so many to choose from and I am trying to get a list together so that we don''t miss out on some of the great recommendations that have been made.  I notice that quite a few people are asking where different restaurants are, etc - has anyone thought about putting a map together of Kalkan with the restaurants plotted on it (or does one already exist)?  I am sure that there must be a way of doing this??

[Pauline]

Hi  EKHelper
I too love daphnes but have not been recently - just curious what the ''entertainment'' is.
Pauline

[Lorretta]

Hi Pauline,
it appears to be sharif (sp) dressing up in assorted costumes i.e a pirate etc.

[Pauline]

oh dear!!!!  Shame as it is one of my favourites.  But will be going back. Pauline

[Karen]

Restaurants we tried while in Kalkan.

Our overall favorite has to be Olive Gardens food was fantastic, views were lovely and the service was the best we had in the whole 2 weeks in Kalkan (we returned 3 times)!! adviseable to book your table in advance.

Alternatif - Lovely steak, music good had a whole evening with Lional Richie, service very good.

Arena - Food average, service ok, very pushy man outfront!! wouldn''t bother again.

Aubergine - Brilliant view, food very good, terrible service, Expensive.

Doy Doy - Hubbys best ever steak meal here, service not up to much though, and very Expensive!

Kosk - Oh dear what can I say my daughter ordered meat balls and that was all that she got (4 meat balls) my son ordered mexican chicken and that was all he got no rice no chips and the chicken was so spicy it burnt his mouth and throat. Beautifully dressed restaurant but not up to much else and very pricey, we left there very hungry!!!

Kaya - Lovely people service good, food average.

Extinct - Fantastic man that runs this place, just a shame that it was always empty when we passed, the food was good. The bill was very reasonable.

[sally]

We too had a very disappointing meal at the Kosk last year. Shame - as it used to be lovely.

[fidimax]

just goes to show how some times good some times not so good.
we had a meal at kosk last oct and thought it was very good,service and food great.
Also have to agree about extinct,great food and "tom jones" is a really nice guy,my wife had sea bass,and
"tom" de- boned it at the table and he knows what he is doing.
yes,it is always pretty empty,I think people miss it because of its location,but its a great little place and
could do with a bit of support.

                                       Neil.