Hazev – Delicious Turkish food in London.

Posted on May 3, 2018 by livingtheturkishdream

It was our 2nd wedding anniversary last week, so we went to a Turkish restaurant to celebrate.

The name of the restaurant is Hazev, a cross between the words ‘haz’ meaning ‘enjoyment’, and ‘ev’ meaning ‘home’. It’s near Canary Wharf, between South Quay and Heron Quay DLR stations, right on the waterside with outdoor and indoor seating, I bet it’s lovely to sit outside in summer!

We have eaten here once before, and was really impressed. The waiters recognised us from before and showed us to a table, right next to the window. Berkay had met me at the station after work, armed with a bunch of flowers, bless him, so they were an added table decoration!

Almost as soon as we sat down we were given complimentary bread, olives and a garlic yogurt dip which were very yummy.

Then came the hard part of choosing what to order! I’d been looking at the menu whilst at work, trying to decide what to chose, there are SO many options I just couldn’t narrow it down! 3 courses or 2, starter or dessert, chicken or red meat… so many delicious dishes on offer (and a very pretty menu with a whirling dervish on!).

We settled on sharing two starters, karides tava (fried king prawns with garlic dip), and borek (pastry triangles filled with spinach and feta cheese) with salad. Both were delicious but a little overpriced for what they were, I think. The prawns were around £6 and the borek £7.

For the main course, I had Iskender, which I’d never had before, not even in Turkey! This looked different to photos I’d seen of a traditional Iskender kebab though, they always look a bit of a sloppy mess! It consisted of a mixed grill of meats covered in tomato sauce and yogurt, on fried bread cubes and served with red cabbage.

Berkay had the ‘havez special’ – oven cooked lamb chunks, served on grilled aubergine puree, mixed with cheese, with red cabbage, peppers and tomato salad. I tried a bit of his and it was nice, especially the smokey aubergine puree, my favourite! I think my dish had more meat than his, and I couldn’t finish it so we swapped bowls and he finished mine as well!

When our plates were cleared, we didn’t even need time to think about what to order for dessert….Berkay’s favourite, Kunefe! Kunefe is a popular, authentic Turkish dessert. It’s made from kadayıf (dried shredded dough which looks like shredded wheat) and cheese. It is covered in syrup and eaten straight out of the oven when hot, so the cheese is stringy and gooey but the pastry is crispy. It’s served with crushed pistachios and is delicious, even though it sounds like a weird mixture! Of course we had a glass of Turkish tea to accompany it.

Hazev serves delicious food, although it is a little more fancy and perhaps less traditional. Considering the quality of the food the prices are reasonable, although there was a story a few years ago about it selling an extra special, most expensive kebab in the world, at £900! (You can read about that and watch a video here https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/restaurants/pricey-pitta-1000-kebab-goes-on-sale-in-london-a3215546.html )

Hazev isn’t just a restaurant – it’s like 3 separate parts, divided by floor length curtains. The restaurant is in the middle section, with a bar through to the left, and a cafe/deli on the right, which also has a little shop section selling some of our favourite Turkish treats, including sucuk, yummy!

It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in London.

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Our Turkish wedding Part 3.

Posted on May 22, 2016 by livingtheturkishdream

Our wedding was always going to be a little ‘different’ as we tried to incorporate both cultures. The theme for the whole day was red and white, to signify both the English flag and the Turkish flag. We were conscious that for the Turkish guests this was going to be a slightly more boring wedding than they were used to as traditional village weddings are massive with hundreds, or thousands, of guests and have things such as loud drummers, gun shots and loud Turkish music all night long. One of the most traditional things we done was the pinning on of the money. We didn’t actually plan to do this until a couple of days before the wedding, after we went to collect my flowers and they asked if we needed ribbon for the money to be pinned to, only then I realised I actually really wanted to do it and have photos of something more traditional for our photo album.

So, after we had group photos taken on the beach we asked people to gather around and make a line to pin the money on us. I always thought this was a bit cheeky, but I guess it’s really no different to having guests bring wedding presents, and since we currently live in separate countries, the typical ‘British’ wedding presents like toasters, kettles etc would be pretty pointless. Its tradition that the guests line up in front of the bride and groom, collect a pin and one by one pin lira notes or gold coins onto a sash that is tied around the bride and grooms necks. It’s also usual for the bride to receive gold bracelets or coins from the groom’s family, but I didn’t receive any. With a bit of help from Berkay’s uncle and cousin, our guests greeted us one by one and pinned the money on us, it was really windy at this point and the money was close to blowing away, but it was really fun and I’m so glad we decided to include this part in our day as Berkay’s family loved it. His uncle was posting photos on Facebook all day and when it came to this part he proudly shared photos under the heading ‘Now time for the Turkish part’ which made me smile.

As part of the table favours, I had ordered personalised cards with our photos on with the words ‘let love sparkle’ and a little sparkler for each guest to light. Obviously I couldn’t travel with the sparklers as fireworks aren’t allowed in the suitcase, so I had to hunt around to find some suitable in Fethiye – we eventually found them in Oludeniz Azda and bought 100 of them! I’d seen lots of photos of other weddings using sparklers as the ‘send off’ idea for the end of the night when the bride and groom leave the venue, but we decided just to use them right in the middle of the evening, just after sunset. 3 men from my family (Dad, brother and step-dad) and 3 from Berkay’s family (his 2 brothers and uncle) lit the sparklers and held them up either side of us and it proved to be a lot more easier said than done as they had trouble lighting all 6 sparklers at the same time in the wind! Along with the sparklers I also made other table favours – a little box filled with Turkish delight and a heart shaped Cadbury chocolate which I’d spent the previous day melting, making and filling, and a small bag containing a pebble which we had picked off Calis beach, written our names and date on, and a small Turkish eye pin. I loved the pebble idea the most and I have my own one sat at home in my bedroom, a little piece of Calis Beach in my house to remind me of that day.

After the sparklers, I was reluctantly pulled to the dancefloor and persuaded to have a first dance. I’ve never danced before and can’t dance at all, we really should have practiced first! I do love these photos though.

By this point we were really hungry, and so were the guests, so when the restaurant declared the buffet open we were very excited! Here another part of Turkish tradition popped up, a part I’d never heard of before. Apparently it’s normal that the staff serving the food won’t do so unless the groom tips them. The chef who was responsible for opening the buffet counter refused to lift the food covers until Berkay had tipped him, after the first 50tl note he opened the lid a tiny bit then closed it again, and after a further 10tl he opened it fully – much to the amusement of Berkay and my dad! The food was all made by Guven’s restaurant and it was delicious, an open buffet of chicken and meatballs, rice, salad, mushrooms, potatoes, yogurt, bread and a few other Turkish meze dishes. We also had free sprite, cola and fanta on the tables and it all just cost roughly 40tl per person, which is amazing. They done such a good job.

After our belly’s and glasses were full my dad made a speech, followed by Berkay. My dad also read out a poem one of my friends had written and given to him which was really sweet:
For Danni and Berkay on this special day,
I wrote this poem, just to say,
We wish you both the very best,
In love and trust and happiness.
You’re meant to be, it’s fair to say,
You suit one another in every way.
You’re married now, man and wife,
and so begins your married life.
Be kind, be patient, honest too,
We really hope the best for you.
The time has come, so it would seem,
To start living your Turkish dream.

One of the cutest moments of the whole evening was my little sister and Berkay’s little cousin dancing. They’re both 5 years old, although Berkay’s cousin is 7 months older than Abbie. I told Abbie to go and dance with her and the two held hands and danced around, despite not being able to communicate a single word with each other. Abbie also made friends with Berkay’s family and friends, many of them picked her up for a cuddle and a dance which was so cute, Abbie was loving all the attention. It just shows that the language barrier and culture difference means nothing to children, so lovely to see. Abbie still talks about Berkay’s little cousin now.

Later in the evening, after complaining that it was far too quiet for his liking, one of Berkay’s friends took control of the music and started blasting out Turkish songs. All the Turkish people suddenly got up on the dance floor, and were giving my family members some Turkish dancing lessons. I refused to take part until very late in the night, where I was persuaded by Berkay, I’d never even done Turkish dancing before. I think my nan and grandad win the award for best effort in the Turkish dancing, their shoulders were rocking and their fingers clicking all over the place!

By 12.30am we were all danced out and everyone was heading ‘home’. By this point I could not wait to get my wedding dress off as I’d had it on since 11am that morning with only one ‘pee-break’. The corset was done so tight I had blisters from the bones of the dress and I was definitely ready to take it off and breathe out!

I have to say a huge thanks to Carole and Guven of Guven’s restaurant, it was the first wedding they’d ever held but they made it so special. I know they went to a lot of effort in the days leading up to it, especially Carole and her helpers making all the decorations and designing the drapes, chairs, tables etc. They put it so much effort to make it such a lovely day and I totally recommend them to anyone, it looked beautiful, the food was lovely and they are just such a lovely couple in general. Also very thankful to all of my family and friends for coming and making the day so perfect.

The only sad part was knowing we only had 3 more days of married life together before I headed back to the UK, but we definitely made the most of every moment and have lots of lovely memories and photos to treasure.

Click here to read part 1 of our wedding, and click here for part 2.

A few Turkish treats!

Posted on July 20, 2015 by livingtheturkishdream

Do you ever get that feeling when you’re in a supermarket abroad and you see a British brand you know and get excited and drawn to buy it, even if its something that never usually makes it in to your shopping basket at home? No? Maybe that’s just me…

When I saw a shop selling Turkish food on a different route home from work last Friday, I went in to have a look and ended up buying a few things. I got cheetos, even though they weren’t actually Turkish ones (the shop sold a lot of foods from all sorts of places), one of my favourite chocolate bars, ezogelin soup and a packet of extra salted sunflower seeds (which I’m actually munching on right now!). That same day I also took a trip to Waitrose to buy some Baklava, I figured since it was Şeker Bayramı it would be rude not to do my part and join in with the celebrations, 50p a piece too, bargain.

That wasn’t the only Turkish-treat-shopping spree I’ve been on recently. Earlier on this week I went on a walk around Canary Wharf during my lunch break to find a Turkish restaurant/cafe/deli that someone had recommended to me. Walking past it and seeing all the diners outside eating some of my favourite Turkish dishes and smelling all the delicious food made me want to order some for myself, but I resisted and instead just went to the deli where they had a few shelves full of goodies along with a counter full of fresh snacks and mezes. They had different teas, jams, sauces, drinks, Raki (yes!), wine, biscuits, cakes (POP KEK!), chocolate and a chiller full of ayran, cheese, yogurt, sucuk and sausages. All of it looked yummy, apart from the cans of ‘Sosis’ – Boncuk sausages! I don’t quite think I could bring myself to eat canned meat with my dog’s name on, but it really did make me smile.

I had a lot of fun browsing, but only ended up buying a very pretty jar of tomato salça, and an equally well presented bar of olive oil soap – I admit it I’m a sucker and only bought them because they looked so good with the Turkish eyes on, in the 3 years I lived there I never once bought a bar of olive soap.

I definitely want to go back to the deli restaurant soon for a proper meal, or maybe just to sample some of the pastries, mezes and baklava they had. It’s dangerous having this place so close to my office, I can almost hear it calling my name when I’m sat with my boring old sandwiches at lunchtime.

If anyone is in the area and wants to visit – it’s called Hazev and is directly across the wobbly bridge at Heron Quays at Canary Wharf. All the staff were speaking Turkish, and I had a chuckle when I understood what they were saying. ‘Ne Kadar?….. Bu?’ Obviously people don’t often buy the goods on the shelves as they had no idea how much to charge me for either item, oops. I think they have a new regular customer now, though!

After seeing tinned Boncuk sausages on the shelves, I had to message Berkay’s brother for a photo update on our dog, just to check… She’s as happy, cute and playful as ever! My little sausage. ❤

Dinner at Mancero Kitchen in Fethiye

Posted on February 17, 2015 by livingtheturkishdream

It was VERY rare that we ever ate out in restaurants when I lived in Turkey, apart from our regular 3tl doner on market day! We hardly ever went out, sat down and had an evening meal together, in fact I can think of only three or four occasions, one of which was paid for by Berkay’s boss, and another was on half price night on the last night of the season!

On Berkay’s birthday we decided to break away from the norm and go out somewhere we’d never been to, but heard a lot about – Mancero Kitchen. Normally we wouldn’t have gone somewhere so expensive but as it was my last night in Turkey for a long time, and Berkay’s birthday, we thought we’d splash the cash a bit!

The location is brilliant – it’s in Fethiye along the promenade which is lovely to walk along no matter what time of day. In the day its nice to see the blue sea against the backdrop of the mountains and stroll along taking little breaks to sit on the benches and admire the view. In the evening with everything all lit up it looks even more beautiful, the palm trees had different coloured lights, you could look over to Fethiye and see it all lit up, and it all looked especially magical just after sunrise, with the multicoloured sky as the backdrop.

We had already booked, so we just walked in and got seated straight away, it was a chilly December night so it wasn’t particularly busy but I can imagine that it gets very busy in summer so I definitely recommend booking in advance.

The inside is what I describe as a ‘proper restaurant’, if you’ve been to other restaurants in Calis or Fethiye most of them don’t feel fancy at all, they have plastic tables and chairs covered with tablecloths and most seating is outside, certainly the inside areas don’t really feel decorated at all, but Mancero is. Huge glass windows allowing you to look out to sea, lovely rustic wooden tables and chairs, little booth areas, wine displays, even a little seating area with budgies in cages chirping to say hello! It definitely feels like a classy restaurant, but boy do you pay for the pleasure.

Before we’d booked I had asked a friend if it was expensive, “not really, around 130tl for 2 with a starter and wine”… 130tl, not expensive for a two course meal?! We’d only ever spent 50tl on a meal out for two in Calis, a diet coke and a chicken dish each and that’s our lot! Looking through the menu was painful, I swear I could see Berkay flinching at the prices as he went down the list. All the steaks on the menu were 40-60tl each, almost as much as we’d normally spend on an entire meal for two, but as I said, it was a special occasion, and our last meal together for a long time, so we settled on a couple of steaks and waited to see if it was worth it.

While we were waiting they brought out a bread basket and an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip, which was really delicious, we even asked for extra!

After a short while (it was very quick service) our dinner arrived, and as seems to be the norm in a lot of restaurants nowadays, it wasn’t served on a plate but a wooden board. I can’t even remember which steak I had but know it was 50tl, Berkay had the fillet steak which was 55tl (280-300 grams according to the menu). Both were served with a small amount of potatoes and some fried vegetables (pepper, onion and courgette). The steaks were a decent size and definitely soft, not fatty, well-cooked and delicious. However, I’m not entirely sure the meal was worth the money, overall. You can see from the photos that it wasn’t a great amount of food for the money, and while it was lovely, I can think of many, many other restaurants where we could have got more for our money and still had a very tasty meal. Still, we enjoyed it and Berkay had a lovely birthday dinner.

After eating, we went and sat outside with some Turkish tea, it was freezing but thankfully they had a fire lit in a metal bin for people to sit around and keep warm, I love that part of winter, makes a difference to summer where all the restaurants have to have fans blasting out!

Overall, I was fairly impressed, Mancero Kitchen is a nice place to eat if you’re on holiday or have the money to spare, but for local people, or people on a budget I wouldn’t recommend it. It seems very popular with expats, or tourists, and I can only presume that is because they compare the prices to the UK, rather than to similar restaurants in the area. The food is nice, but just not special enough for the price it is, in my opinion. That being said, I’d like to go back there again on another occasion and try something different, it’s a nice place to spend a special occasion, a once a year kind of thing!

Have you been to Mancero? Let me know what you thought, or if you’re planning to go and try it for yourselves.

A change in weather?

Posted on September 29, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

As soon as the calendar page turned to 1st September, it was like the weather just changed overnight.

The last week of August was the hottest of the year here, reaching 42oc in the shade during the day, and around 28 oc during the night. I was going to bed with an ice pack or hugging frozen bottles of water to cool down (I’m serious, the joys of having no air-conditioning). Then the 1st of September came and the weather changed quite dramatically, with temperatures dropping around 10 oc suddenly! Of course there were still very hot days, and daytime temperatures still averaged around 33 oc and 24oc at night, but those of us living here could definitely feel the change.

As the 2nd half of September came rolling in, so did the clouds, and the thunder! I was walking home along the beach one day and greeted with the following view – it was so dark. There was an almighty crack of thunder and people walking past me jumped about a foot in the air, it was very loud! I only felt 2 spots of rain, but boy did those 2 drops feel good!

Since then it’s been cloudy a lot, threatening to rain, but nothing really happened until Friday evening when the first real thunderstorm since the beginning of June arrived! I was sat in my house around 2 am on Saturday morning and saw flashes of lightening out of the corner of my eye. I went and sat on the balcony to investigate and the sky was lit up every few seconds from all directions, it was very pretty. I tried to capture it on camera, but failed! Oddly, there was very little thunder, but a lot of lightening and wind… After sitting on the balcony for 20 minutes I felt rain. A few spots, then a lot of spots, then it started pounding down on my head, I can’t tell you how good it felt! No rain for 4 months makes you go a little crazy, I felt like staying outside and dancing in it!

On Saturday, we had planned to go for a BBQ with two English guests staying in the hotel Berkay works in. It came to 3 pm and the skies were grey and cloudy and it was very cool. We decided to drive to Kayakoy and go to a restaurant there instead, Cin Bal. If you live in Fethiye, you’ve probably heard of it, it’s very popular. They sell meat by the kilogram, and have whole sheep and cows hanging up like a butchers shop! They cook the meat for you on their BBQ or bring one to your table to you can BBQ it yourself, it’s a cute idea! When we were on our way it started to rain, the windows on the car were steaming up so we opened them a little and it felt cold. It was the first time I’d felt cold, fresh air for months, it was amazing! When we got to the restaurant around 3.45pm it really started raining, we sat outside under a shelter but could see, and hear the rain coming down, our poor friends could be forgiven for thinking they were back in England! We had a lovely meal and a chat, and over 2 hours later, the rain was still pouring down. We got back in the car and headed to Fethiye and I was freezing. The drive was beautiful, somehow Fethiye manages to look just as charming, or even more so, in the rain. We drove down the hillside and the view over the whole of Fethiye was breathtaking, the clouds were low over the mountains and it made a lovely photo, unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to take one, I wish I had! It was so cloudy, so dark and all the car and shops lights lit up reminded me of Christmas!

We got home and I went for a shower. Part of the joy of living in Turkey is interesting shower experiences! I think every single house has solar panels on the roof which heat the water, great in summer when there are clear blue skies and bright sunshine, but in winter, when it’s cloudy all day, these solar panels are useless and we have no hot water. Some people have an electric shower (we do, but it is not safe to use due to dodgy wiring) or boilers, but a lot of people don’t. In order to have a hot shower, I had to first heat up some water in the saucepan and take this into the shower and wash with a jug! I actually don’t mind this at all, it makes it so much more satisfying in a weird way, especially when washing your hair! It makes me feel all cosy and homey aftewards, I think that’s because when I lived here for two previous winters, we had no electric shower again and this was a normal, everyday thing. In England you might have a hot bath to warm up and relax on a cold day, here, for me, it’s a hot water in a saucepan and jug thing! After the ‘shower’ I was freezing, I even put my warm, fluffy, dalmatian pajama bottoms on. This is my, ‘yay it’s cold enough to wear my fluffy pajamas’ face (:

It’s not all bad, today was sunny with only a few clouds and temperatures were around 25oc. Good enough to sunbathe, and although the pools are cooler now, the sea is still quite warm and pleasant to swim in. The cloudy skies and cooler temperatures make daily life and chores so much more pleasant, it’s lovely being able to walk out of the front door without breaking into a sweat! Berkay even asked me to iron his long sleeved shirts for work! That’s one bad thing about the weather, when I packed my case to come here, I seem to have neglected the fact I’d be here for some of the cooler weather and forgot to bring any warm clothes!! Short sleeved tops and denim shorts or dresses are all I seem to have in my wardrobe… Ooops.

Autumn and winter also mean beautiful sunsets, remember me saying on previous sunset posts (click HERE for one) that in winter the sun goes down next to the island in the middle of the sea, rather than behind the mountains on the right hand side? Well it’s nearly there! I took this beautiful photo this evening, with the sun setting just behind the island. Just gorgeous.

❤

Fethiye’s best chicken döner kebab?..

Posted on September 3, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

We don’t often eat out in restaurants here in Calis/Fethiye, it’s nice every once in a while to splash out and go out for dinner but it’s expensive when you’re on a tight budget. We do however, go to small Turkish cafe’s regularly – usually once a week.

You can’t beat the small cafe’s in Fethiye for their Turkish food, whether it be beans and rice, green beans, pide, köfte, chicken saute or our good old favourite – chicken döner. It’s all so cheap, in fact I think a lot of it is cheaper than actually buying the ingredients and cooking it yourself at home.

Our favourite place to go for a good chicken döner kebab is Dönercim. It’s located in Fethiye on the corner of the main town centre road behind Mercan Pastanesi and Cem Optik.

A Turkish döner kebab is nothing like the ones you’ve come across in the UK. They’re not greasy, mixed meats all slung together into a brown pile served in a pitta bread with chili sauce and greasy chips… When we were in a kebab shop in Essex, Berkay asked the owners (they were Turkish too) what the meat was in their version of a ‘doner kebab’ and was shocked at their answer – it was a mixture of everything and made up of several meats including pork, something Turkish people do not normally eat.

The döner kebabs here are different. There’s no such thing as ‘doner meat’ – it’s either seasoned chicken, beef or lamb. The name relates to the way the meat is cooked slowly on a vertical rotisserie. As the outside layers of meat get cooked, they are carved off and served. There are various ways the meat is served – e.g, over rice with salad, in a wrap (dürüm) or in a half-bread like a sandwich (yarım ekmek).

We usually get the half-bread, the perfectly cooked chicken is shaved off and put inside along with onion, tomato and lettuce. It’s always served with a side of pickled hot chili peppers too – I love them, although they took a bit of getting used to, once I managed to control the mouth burning sensation I grew to love them. (;

It’s not a very ‘Turkish’ thing to do, but we always order a side of chips, pour some salt and vinegar on them and stick them inside the half-bread too – trust me, it’s perfect!

We love this cafe so much, the staff know us. They see us walking down the road towards it, Berkay gestures to let them know we’re coming in, they know our order (including drinks) off by heart and have it ready and waiting by the time we’ve sat down at the table. That’s how you know you visit a place a little too often, isn’t it? The first few times we went they had to ask if we wanted ketchup and mayonnaise in the half bread (ewww no), what drink we wanted and always gave us weird looks when we asked for the vinegar (apparently vinegar on chips isn’t a normal thing to do here), but now they don’t even have to ask and the bottle of vinegar is always bought out to the table without thinking twice. They are so friendly and I really recommend the place. Our bill usually comes to around 12.5 lira. 3.5tl for one half-bread with ayran, 5tl for one half-bread with a cola light, and 4tl for the side portion of chips. Bargain.

This cafe doesn’t just sell döner kebabs of course, it has other Turkish meals – various kebabs, chicken saute, fish, liver, meatballs etc and it also caters for those wanting something more ‘British’ although I’ve never tried any of these meals, so I can’t comment. The prices are clearly displayed outside so there’s no ‘double price’ system for local people v tourists, something that is an issue in a lot of places.

If you’re in Fethiye give it a try – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, and for the prices you really can’t go wrong. There’s a good chance you’ll bump into us there too! 😉

Disclaimer – I’m not being paid to advertise, the owners have no idea I’m writing this post.

The best pancakes in Fethiye!

Posted on June 24, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

One of my favourite things about living here in Fethiye is market day!

The markets are held on Tuesday in Fethiye town centre and Sunday in Calis, and one of the best things about them is the food on offer at the little trailer cafe’s that are located inside the market areas.

There are all sorts of food on offer, but by far the most popular with tourists are the pancakes or ‘gözleme’. Our favourite place to get these pancakes is at the cafe in the photo below – it used to be distinguishable from the others as it had a stuffed toy black and white lamb outside, but this has since gone missing. As far as I’m aware the vans don’t have specific names – not that I’ve ever noticed anyway, but if anyone is visiting the area and wants to check out this particular one look out for this sign, and this man, as he is always working there! (I should add here, he is not paying me to advertise this, he’s an old school friend of Berkay’s but I genuinely think this is THE best place for pancakes in Fethiye!)

They’re not pancakes as we know them – more of a really thin pastry filled with whatever you decide. There are savory ones, like mincemeat & onion, potato & cheese, etc, or sweet ones with fruit fillings like apple, banana & nutella or the good old favourite lemon & sugar. The prices are really cheap and you get a generous size portion, it’s guaranteed to leave you feeling full & very satisfied.

Mincemeat, onion & potato gözleme

Banana & ice-cream gözleme
There’s always a big jar of pickled red cabbage and pickled chili peppers on the table to accompany the pancake should you chose to have a savory one. I’d never had a savory pancake until I came here, it might sound strange but it really is a perfect combination.

Just walking past the little trailers inside the market you could be forgiven for thinking they’re not anything special, they are basic with plastic garden chairs and cushions for seating, but it all adds to the atmosphere. Everything is kept very clean, and there’s an open window on the trailer so you can see everything being prepared and cooked by the women – it’s actually really interesting to watch this process, especially how they cook it on the big metal plates.

This place in particular is a family run business and they are really friendly people who won’t hassle you. They must be doing something right as they are always busy, when we walked past with the intention of having some lunch a few weeks ago there were no seats whatsoever so we had to go and do our weekly market shop and go back later on when it was slightly quieter. I posted a photo on my Facebook page last week and lots of people also said they always go to them for their pancakes too so they are very popular.

If a pancake isn’t your thing, they have other food on offer, another favourite of mine is ‘bazlama’ a thick spongy bread sliced in half and cooked with a filling inside, normally white cheese. It’s almost like a toasty and is very filling, one between two people is more than enough. I love it with cheese, tomato and chili flakes, yum.

They also have really delicious freshly squeezed fruit juice, orange and pomegranate being their specialities, yum! Of course if you want a more authentic experience there’s always the Turkish favourite ayran (a yogurt based drink) which is also made freshly here.

If you’re in the Fethiye/Calis area on market days definitely check out this place – the food is amazing, cheap and delicious. Tomorrow is Tuesday – Fethiye market day, so I know where we’ll be eating our lunch! ❤