Sadunya - disappointing.

[Jacqui Harvey]

Never thought I would be writing this...
We could not wait to get back to the Sadunya which we absolutely loved last year.
Had meze as a started which was lovely then where recommended to have the lamb cooked in a clay pot, which costs 50YTL for two people. It was explained we must wait 40 minutes, but it would be worth it.    We waited about 55 minutes when it arrived the pot was quite small, it was opened and the lamb poured out, it was all we got, no side dish apart from bread. It looked lovely, but the lamb was hard and grisly, and there was more vegetables than lamb.    
We decided it must have been a one off, as everyone can have a bad experience with a meal.   We have always enjoyed this restaurant, recommended it to everyone.  It has always been on my list on CBF.
I  think the thing that really annoyed us was not the bad lamb dish but the fact that there were three tables of Turkish people eating when we arrived.  The owner and the waiters where standing  talking to each table and really did not speak to us at all, apart from taking our order.   We noted that when each of the tables had finished their meals and asked for the bill they received a complimentary plate of peaches and cherries.   We asked for our bill and that is what we got.  We actually felt very unwelcome.
What a difference from last year when we had lovely food a warm welcome and complimentary fruit  or tea after the meal.
Incidentally bill for meze, two rounds of drinks ( small beer and wine) and main course was  83YTL and not worth it.  We were so disappointed and did not go back.
Thank goodness we found the Mozaik Bahce one lunchtime in Fethiye.  Lovely food at reasonable prices great hosts that made us feel very welcome.   We even went back and had an evening meal, a couple of days later as we were so impressed.    Now at the top of our list for traditional Turkish Food.[^]

[littlereddevil]

We have found this a few times over the years. We go to a place we really like and find something has changed. Sometimes new owners or like you a couldn't care less attitude . We don't go back either. There are so many places to try.

[Scunner]

Very sad to read that Jacqui. I probably wouldn't go back either.

[Jenny1]

I went once last year and didn't go again.  It took ages for my meal to arrive, Ages for dessert and then again for the bill. Never spoke to me once all the time I was there apart from taking my order. Thought it was just me being s bit fussy as everybody else on here seemed to rave about it.

[marina]

I'm really surprised to hear that.  We went there for the first time in May and enjoyed it so much we made sure we went again before leaving.  

Bearing in mind this was still very early in the season it was probably the only restaurant that we ate in that was always full. (Easy enough done when it's only small I know).  

But we never had to wait a long time for the courses, the food was very good and everyone in there very friendly.

However, our motto is never to go back anywhere where we've had a bad experience as there are just too many good restaurants wanting your business, so if this had happened to us we too wouldn't go back again.

[Clioman2]

we tried the Sardunya twice over the last fortnight after having seen other people's recommendations. We also were disappointed with the general quality of the food, in particular the liver and onions mentioned in another thread. This came as thin strips of liver with raw onion and very little else on the plate: not expected for a main course. They seem to provide too much bread as you start with balloon bread, move on to a thicker bread and are given a mini-pizza each as a pre-cursor to the main. A couple of the mains were actually served on bread. We're going back to Calis later in the year but will be staying away...from our experience George's Traditional Turkish Restaurant on the front beats the Sardunya hands down.

[Jacqui Harvey]

George's is our favourite too, food is lovely and the service is great.. They are really a great crowd and we always enjoy the banter with them. We won the meal for two in the Calis raffle and even though we exceded the two course one round and drinks and coffee, they still would not take any extra money from us.

[captainjon]

Have you not been to red islands exclusive fish restaurant  this year,you gave them rave reviews in the past?

[Jacqui Harvey]

Unfortunately, my husband has developed a fish allergy and is now ill if he eats fish. We could not believe anyone could get an allergy at his age, but it's apparently quite common.  He is so disappointed as fish was his favourite meal.  So we did not see the point of going out to the island.

[reggie]

Gutted, we are taking our friends there tonight after a year of telling them about it. Have just told them about it and they said they still wanted to try it. Will report tomorrow.