Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum

Calis Beach Forum => Calis Bar and Restaurant Questions and Discussions => Topic started by: Stortman on August 11, 2015, 20:33:14 PM

Title: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Stortman on August 11, 2015, 20:33:14 PM
We've visited this place 3 times now during the last 2 months - couple of times for lunch and tonight for dinner. Thoroughly recommend it. They serve good food, reasonably priced. It's a family run business with the father cooking and daughter doing the front of house stuff.  They all speak English and are very welcoming. The garden at the back is nice at lunchtime although perhaps a few too many insects around in the evening. It's located between The Pines and Baba Firin along from the Sunday Market and we'd recommend it for either Turkish or international menu. 
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 11, 2015, 20:38:51 PM
We were told that the owner is the Brother of the owner of the Bakery.    Also told that they do a good British Breakfast. 
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: badger on August 11, 2015, 20:58:55 PM
The secret is out then   ;) We ate there in May and agree nice family,good food.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: mickinblack on August 11, 2015, 21:26:45 PM
They are twins,hussiyan (secret garden) used to have Calais beach restaurant /bar, his daughter is helping until uni starts again.his other brother  is part owner with Aqua park. His father owned  all the. land around Sunday market area. Very nice family. Mick.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Stortman on August 12, 2015, 14:58:53 PM
Sorry to have let the secret out of the bag Badger  :D but I think it's great to help restaurants that pay such close attention to their customers and serve quality food get a leg up in the market and hopefully get their trade levels up and CBF has enough power in the market to do just that!
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Saga Louts on August 12, 2015, 17:45:13 PM
Interesting thread. We second that secret garden is excellent. :D
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: badger on August 12, 2015, 20:52:13 PM
Sorry to have let the secret out of the bag Badger  :D but I think it's great to help restaurants that pay such close attention to their customers and serve quality food get a leg up in the market and hopefully get their trade levels up and CBF has enough power in the market to do just that!
  Agree entirely and we will be returning in September  8)
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: clair on August 13, 2015, 15:39:49 PM
where about's is the secret garden please.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 13, 2015, 15:46:53 PM
Clair read the Stortmans first post...it has directions.

............It's located between The Pines and Baba Firin along from the Sunday Market and we'd recommend it for either Turkish or international menu. ...................
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: yabanci on August 13, 2015, 15:47:33 PM
It's located between The Pines and Baba Firin along from the Sunday Market.
In Calis.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: clair on August 13, 2015, 16:31:56 PM
I only skimmed the the first message so missed the directions apologies, I'm sure we will find it even though I have not heard of the other two places either.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 13, 2015, 16:52:05 PM
Baba Firin, is the big newish Bakery on the Market Road, opposite to the D.I.Y. Shop.  If you have not heard of this bakery, i would recommend it.   Lovely bread and cakes and you can also eat there as they have a cafe. 
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: martha mcginn on September 14, 2015, 09:36:54 AM
We must have visited on a bad day. We were disappointed in our food. The lamb shanks we're tasteless swimming in a watery sauce & my friend didn't fare much better with his lamb stir fry. The staff were excellent however and we couldn't fault the friendliness. Unfortunately we won't be going back.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: echogirl1 on September 14, 2015, 09:58:00 AM
I was so pleased to read this post.  We visited this place in June, and we found it very ordinary, the family seemed too interested in their own problems to bother about the customers, food average, wont be going back.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: kayakebab on September 14, 2015, 11:58:31 AM
We went when it first opened.
Some friends were on the next table and had just sent theirs back to be reheated.
We waited and waited to be acknowledged. A Turkish group came in and their order was taken before ours.
Would have walked out at that point but they had a special half price opening deal.
It was average food, no one spoke to us so have never been back.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: yabanci on September 14, 2015, 16:31:22 PM
According to the reviewers on TA this is currently the best restaurant in Calis.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: marina on September 14, 2015, 16:38:51 PM
While I've never tried this restaurant so can't really comment, I certainly don't believe everything I read on Trip Advisor, there are a lot of comments that should be taken with a large pinch of salt!    ;)
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 14, 2015, 17:13:11 PM
T.A. lump Fethiye together with Calis and often Oludeniz, Hsaronu and Ovacik.  It is confusing.
At the moment  Secret Garden is No.3 on the list.  Mozaik Bache is No.2.  With an Ice Cream place No.1.
This is the list.
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g298031-Fethiye_Mugla_Province_Turkish_Aegean_Coast.html
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: sadler on September 14, 2015, 17:23:49 PM
This was one of our favourites, in fact I wrote a review on it in June. However, we had our last meal of that stay there and pushed out the boat with a steak dish (can't remember what the dish was probably a casserole). If I had soled my shoes with the "steak" and worn them every day since, they would still be in excellent condition. It was impossible to chew through! Shame, as they were excelling at the value for money meals and the breakfasts (English) were enormous and very good. We haven't bothered to try it this visit.  :(
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: usedbustickets on September 14, 2015, 18:06:52 PM
We went last week for dinner, and found the 'secret garden' setting at the back of the restaurant very welcoming, as was the service.  However, how anyone can think the food is the best in Calis is beyond me, in fact far from it.  All four of us had different dishes and they all shared one thing in common, nicely cooked but very very bland...all four dishes did not have any taste to them at all... if the chef had even used salt and pepper I'd be very surprised!!  I had the Stroganoff, and I asked for some 'more' paprika to give it some taste, but was told they did not have any - how can you not have paprika when you have Strog on the menu??  But he did have a near empty jar of dried out chilli flakes if that would help..apparently the only spice he had!!

We won't be going back in a hurry
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: mercury on September 14, 2015, 18:09:54 PM
Thank goodness.. Barrie and I thought it was just us.. When we went the service was really slow. Barrie had a very small and badly cooked steak. mine was an overcooked lasagne. ..We went a couple of weeks later and were tempted by the all day breakfast before we set off to the airport. . again not good. There was only us in and we waited ages for the coffee and then half an hour for the breakfast.. which wasn't hot..  I have friends there who think it is great so no accounting for taste again.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: Steve A on September 15, 2015, 10:27:28 AM
We've been for drinks but found it very grubby,my mum ate there and advised us not to as she thought it was dirty including the plates etc
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: JohnF on September 15, 2015, 10:55:55 AM
I certainly don't believe everything I read on Trip Advisor

And quite rightly so!

JF

Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: sadler on September 15, 2015, 11:05:03 AM
What a shame. Another one which seemed to start very well, just to sit back on their laurels and don't realise that once set, the standard has to be maintained. Trip Advisor, I have commented twice on it, to the best of my knowledge, and one of those was for a dire experience which I was so annoyed about, had to sound off somewhere and the other at the request of a restaurant we frequent frequently, at their request. It is so blatantly contrived I cannotremember the last time I looked on it and would certainly not be swayed by postings on it. My time is so much more precious.   :)
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: yabanci on September 15, 2015, 16:45:39 PM
I certainly don't believe everything I read on Trip Advisor, there are a lot of comments that should be taken with a large pinch of salt!     ;)

So it would seem as there is a now a new number one restaurant in Calis according to TA, a bakery, Babafirins.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: JohnF on September 15, 2015, 17:07:32 PM
Curious, it's number three when I look.  Number one is Gelato Bianco in Hisaronu, MB second and Baba Firin third.

Or are you meaning in Calis from the list?

JF
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: yabanci on September 15, 2015, 17:33:03 PM

Or are you meaning in Calis from the list?


Yes.The TA list posted is for restaurants in the Fethiye area.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: usedbustickets on September 17, 2015, 08:49:47 AM
But Baba Firins is at best a coffee bar.  So how it leads the restaurant section is beyond me, other than I suspect it is a fiddle.
Title: Re: Secret Garden Calis
Post by: JohnF on September 17, 2015, 09:14:05 AM
So how it leads the restaurant section is beyond me, other than I suspect it is a fiddle.

The methodology employed by Tripadvisor for reviews is beyond most folks. 

As regards to fiddles - if I opened a greasy spoon tomorrow I guarantee I could have it at number one in most towns (harder in large cities) within three weeks, a month tops.  It may cost a couple of hundred quid, but as a marketing exercise it would be a cracking return.  It's not difficult, when you know how.

JF