Fish & Rakı @ Karaburun İskelesi

A mostly-blue sky day with comfy temps that reached 66F. After a mostly overcast week with especially heavy rain on Saturday, we just had to take advantage of the change in the weather. With Mui still in Eskişehir — he left Wednesday for a pre-NY Eve party with his family — and mom wanting some quiet time as she continues to recuperate, it was just Aylin, Murat, Deniz, and I who headed off to Karaburun.

This small town, which sits on the tip of a peninsula that juts into the Aegean Sea, is one that neither Deniz nor I have ever been to before … mostly because back in the day before we made our permanent moves to the US, the old road made it a pain to go there just for the day. Beautiful scenery en route and in town. We went to the area known as Karaburun İskelesi [pier], which is on the waterfront … a wide promenade lined with restaurants, beyond which is a residential area.

Aylin and Murat had eaten at a fish restaurant here when they came to Karaburun for their anniversary in September. Alas, that restaurant had closed for the season in November as this part of the coast tends to be quieter than other places that are easier to get to. So, we picked another restaurant and sat down to enjoy a late-lunch. The temp was mostly comfortable — except when the sun went behind the clouds for brief periods — so sitting outdoors was a no brainer.

Since we were going to have fish — grilled whole with the skin on to keep the meat moist — we ordered just a few mezes. The beverage of choice was rakı … except for me as I don’t much care for this anise-flavored adult-beverage that is considered the national drink of Turkey.

The food was tasty … the service was good. That said, Aylin and Murat said they thought the restaurant they had previously patronized was better. I guess we’ll just have to return during the season to check it out.Read more