Better late than Never

[macrefield mom]

I meant to post my experience of dining when we came back last week, but though late, will not change my opinions!
We ate at Gironda on our first night as I love the experience of the pre-dinner drinks in the little garden first.  Meals and service as usual were lovely.  The sizzling Fajitis were particularly good. 

Kalkamaki was next and my particular favourite.  I just think you cannot fault the food and presentation here, also the house wines are very good and handy that you can buy by the half carafe, so for us who like both white and red, it is perfect.

Trio next.  Not been for a few years so thought the harbour setting would be nice for my 2 pals.  We had 2 bad starts unfortunately.  Confusion over ordering a half bottle of white to start as we were told first of all that we could have half of the bottle, then when the bottle arrived we were poured 2 glasses then told, ok that is your half bottle.  Well I know my wine and measures and don't think 2 medium glasses equates to half a bottle, so we asked again, yes that is definitely your half bottle!  In the end we just accepted it as by this time 3 staff were hovering around us and it was getting embarrassing.  Then, we were asked if we needed any help with the dishes on the menu (got the impression they were wanting our order quickly)  One of my friends said yes please, I am vegetarian, a which the waiter made a hissing sound and waved his arm away in a rude, dismissive manner as if to say 'well in that case no I can't' and walked away!  Needless to say she was mad but took it well and we stayed to enjoy our food which was good fortunately, and melted the frosty atmosphere a bit.  There are too many good restaurants though in Kalkan for me to need to return here, which I won't.

Agora was next and this was lovely. Such humble and professional service, plus the food was also delicious.  You get no hard sell, no upselling at all in fact, the family are lovely people and cook very well indeed. Definitely one on my list.

We then had a boat trip and our Patara experience which I posted separately under holiday reports, so only one more night, our last night.  We ended up booking Mussaka which always gets rave reviews from it's customers and when I tried it last time I went out I was a bit disappointed.  The food was good but again I just didn't feel that the whole experience was anything special and it was our most expensive of the trip.

On the day we were travelling home we decided to have a late lunch so wandered down to The Korsan Café overlooking the harbour. I have known the Korsan team for over 20 years and it is always nice to see the same faces working there each year, though we don't frequent their restaurants every time we visit.  We got a lovely welcome, had a fantastic view and we all thought it was one of the nicest meals and ambience we had had over the week.  The shared the mixed Meze for starter amongst 3 of us and it was the nicest I have had and beautifully presented.  Next Pide and grilled veg for 2 of us and garlic prawns for me.  Delicous, washed down with a bottle of chilled white.  It isn't cheap as lunch goes, around the same price you would pay for dinner in a lot of restaurants, but as a setting it is delightful and will hold a lasting memory for us all long into the chilly days ahead.

With the current exchange rate, we found that you can eat almost anywhere at the moment and with starters, white wine then red wine, mains ....were paying maximum 180TL for 3 including a good tip. The average was more like 150TL.


So for any of you heading out soon, ENJOY!
So, if you are heading out soon, ENJOY!

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=11700.0

[kalkan4eva]

thanks for posting your thoughts marcrefield mom

Have to say we haven't been back to Trio for about 4 years after bad service - the food was lovely but as you have pointed out, we can afford to be picky as there are so many good places to choose from and Trio won't suffer from our loss of business as it is a firm favourite with a lot of people on here.
We haven't been back to Kalamaki for a good few years either, although we really like the food and the setting it's just I always feel as though I'm having dinner with the people on the next table - the tables are so close together. It's fine if you are next to lovely people as we have been on lots of occasions but we've been unfortunate to be right next to heavy smokers who lit up between courses despite the fact we were eating, and holding their cigarettes away from their own faces in our direction . I find that kind of behaviour incredibly rude - sorry smokers!! It has definitely put us off going there, sadly. and it isn't anything the owners have done or not done.

Agora has had mixed reviews on here but we love it too. Mussakka has also had some mixed reviews but we thought they were back on top form this year - so sorry you didn't have the same experience but it wouldn't do if we all liked the same place would it...? We also adore the courtyard at Gironda for drinks but haven't been back to the restaurant since Coast moved out but its on our list for next year.....as are a lot of places we didn't get to this year