Eat Like Ushi

As the cool and rain continued, Enistenin was recommended by the staff at Hotel Sonne and was conveniently located a tiny walk across the road. The off season left it quiet but there were still a few groups of Turkish families enjoying their meals. The sight of kebabs in the glass and the grill behind it showed clearly what the specialty was. Additionally a pide oven in the courtyard belied another hidden talent.

We wouldn't have ordered pide if we'd known they'd give us a complimentary garlic, cheese and dill bread/pizza hot and fresh from their oven. It was lovely and soft with mild garlic flavour. When the cheese & egg pide arrived (20TL for 1 serve) it almost seemed to be excessive in the amount of bread but the quality continued and the milder flavour of egg made it possible to finish.

I asked the difference between the lamb kebabs favoured by sultan, the special with lamb, the eniste special and the ensite kebap. The answers I recall were essentially that the sultan was served on mash, the special served on tomatoes and onion and garlic, the eniste special on vegetables, and I suppose the kebap is plain.

I opted for the eniste special and the base was aubergines and onions. The meat on top was large butterflied sections of meat with herbs and vegetables within the mince. It was beautifully tender and savoury and made for an excellent sandwich on the even more bread (although this was cold) served.

The pouring rain meant that Kas wasn't going to be enjoyed for the weather or the scuba diving I had hoped. The food enthusiasm also dried up funnily enough and so the view of rotisserie chicken made for a simple lunch.

It was very nicely flavoured, pretty tender, and served with rice and salad. Cheap and easy.

I didn't get a chance to have gelato at all during the trip. Turkey isn't really a place known for it (as far as I know) and on the night I wanted to go to Gelato Bianco in Oludeniz, I discovered they close at 7pm.

The young guy manning this station in Kas square didn't stand out from the other places offering the same thing, but I came across it this one and thought it was worth a try.

He mashed banana, strawberry and pineapple before pouring ladles of white liquid and nutella. Then proceeded to furiously chop and scrape for a good few minutes. The end product was pretty cylinders of brown icecream with little bits of fruit mixed in. It was topped with chocolate sauce and some wafers for texture.

It reminds me of Coldrock in Melbourne although with fruit rather than lollies. I still prefer pistachio gelato, but this will do fine.

The Turquoise Coast cooks meat better than seafood. It is probably a reflection on the Turkish way of cooking rather than the local ingredients themselves, but seafood tends to be more simple in its preparation here. Perhaps thats why my best memories of Turkish food are meat-based (and not only the 4am doner kebabs).

It was exciting to find a recommended fish restaurant (and also its sister mezze restaurant which I would liked to have had time to try too).

The setting at Bahce Balik is lovely and pleasant in the warm outdoors under lights, vegetation and English-cover music. There is a plethora of hungry street cats that do like to climb up the tablecloth or onto your lap to scavenge some bites. They are cute and harmless overall.

The cabinets of mezzes and fresh seafood catch allows you to choose what you like. The mezzes had a nice selection of many salads and small fish preparations that could be meals on their own. A pomegranate salad and local seaweed in garlic (15TL each) were chosen and served with some olives in excellent olive oil and oregano with fresh bread. A Turkish sweet white wine (16TL) was ordered also. A bottle of water was also opened upon arrival (5TL) which we didn't order - I think it they are going to automatically serve it, then it shouldn't be charged for. But it is 5TL only after all.

- Bahce Balik fish soup 15TL - an excellent soup, strong and fishy. The lemon drew out and contrasted the flavours well;
- Bahce Balik grilled octopus 50TL - I was surprised to find this was pre-cooked in the mezze cabinet. I'm unsure why - maybe for timesaving reasons. It was quite tender and charred. I do have to admit it was expensive for the dish and serving size;
- Grilled grouper 117TL (for 735g) - the staff recommended the best fish locally was the grouper and so it was an easy choice to make. It had been split in half and grilled separately to form two large portions. It was well charred, good seasoning and textured helped along by the lemon to balance out the char. Oddly it was served with one wedge of potato, peppery greens, and raw Spanish onion and a raw radish slice. A bit odd of an accompaniment.

It was the most expensive meal we had along the Turquoise Coast and I'd be keen to go back to try more mezze and the hot appetisers in particular.