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by Tiberius » 11 Sep 2011 11:55 am
Hi All,
Not long back from our first holiday in Icmeler and very depressed indeed. We stayed in the Ince apartments which I was going to review for anybody staying there in the coming weeks but from what I can gather from recent threads on the forum this is now forbidden :-S
So heres a little review of my thoughts on the resort and the bars/restaurants we visited during the holiday.
Icmeler itself I thought was idealic. I wasn't sure what to expect in the weeks leading up to the holiday but the resort far surpassed any expectations I had. It has to be one of the most laid back and pleasant places I have ever visited. I can see now why so many people return year upon year. So glad we chose to stay in the Old Village also, it may be a little walk from the main area of the resort but in my opinion it has so much more character and offered a lot more relaxation to the holiday. I have read people stating that walking back into the old village in the dark is an absolute 'no no' but all I can say is that we did it every night, a few nights at 2/3 in the morning and I have never felt safer.
We visited a number of restaurants while we were there and i'll now give you my thoughts on them all:
Charlies place (towards old village along from Tansas) - We ate here on the first night and thought the service was excellent. We had one of the older waiters, unfortunately i never got his name but he was such a sincere and pleasant guy and really made us feel special. Food was excellent also, absolutely no complaints at all.
Dream Boys - We arrived here quite early on the second night. Staff were ok for the time we were there but a bit cheeky and in my humble opinion I thought the food was mediocre at best. It was the worst meal we had the whole trip in all honesty and we had to wait a long time for it. We didn't stay for the entertainment as just wanted to get up and away after a dull experience.
Tandoori Sizzler - We ate here on three occasions and every time the food and the service were absolutely second to none. The chicken Korma and Tikka Massala were so good. I also want to take the time to say that we were lucky enough to make good friends with our waiter Joseph who for a young guy of 23 is one of the most pleasant, sincere and heart warming people I have ever met. He is an absolute credit to the Turkish people, Icmeler and the Tandoori Sizzler and we wish him all the best for the future and hope to see him again soon.
Alins Grill (across the car park from Tansas) - We stopped here one night on the way into town as we couldn't be bothered to look around. Despite it having a frankie and bennies/fast food feel about it the food was actually really really good and the service was very pleasant indeed.
Majestic - We only ate here once and the food was very good however we did come back many a night for drinks (best amaretto in town) and entertainment was very repetitive at times but we made two very good friends in Michael (front of house) and Antonio (Turkish John Terry) two really cracking blokes who we hope to see again soon.
Lals (Old Village on the left up from Romance Palace) - The only word that I can really say sums this restaurant up is 'Sensational'. Lals is a traditional Ottoman restaurant with traditional decor too match. We ate here twice and the food was absolutely out of this world as was the service. I cannot reccomend this restaurant enough if you want to sample traditional turkish food.
Loveboat - Now don't get me wrong, the food in here was excellent.... however I do think the service left a lot to be desired. The loveboat is a nice idea but i felt it was a bit out of place in Icmeler, you can go to many other restaurants in the resort, get food which is just as good and get far better, friendlier and much more sincere service for a lot less money..... like the tandoori sizzler for example
Nefis Pide (old village a few doors up from lals) - Plain and simply the best pides in town bar none
Venice - We didn't eat in here but we did go in one night for entertainment as a recommendation from our barman, which was excellent. We had such a laugh and the missus even ended up on the bar dancing.
Sidiks Family restaurant (Old village - follow the road along from de-javu and turn right at wembley) This is a very small family run restaurant up in the old village which we discovered at the end of the two weeks. We had one of the best meals of the whole holiday here with service to match from the sidik family. A hidden gem in Icmeler which everybody should try at least once. I guarantee you'll be back, even if it's just to see the family again who welcome you with open arms.
A word of advice.....We visited a few other bars but one thing I would like to point out for first timers is that we tried a few cocktails in a few different bars but gave up on them in the end as they were very poor everywhere we tried them (other than our hotel bar), very little alcohol in all, some were suspect if there was any in at all and one was even watered down..... In my opinion, stick to spirits and efes
One final thing I will say about bars/restaurants in icmeler is be adventurous, head away from the main square and canal and have a walk up into the Old Village, there's many bars and restaurants up there where you'll get great value for money, fantastic food and the very best in service. It was really heart wrenching to see a lot of these places sitting virtually empty struggling to make a living when they gave just as good quality and service as some of the busier places in town.
For first timers wondering about money/cost, over the two weeks we had roughly 217 lira per day as a couple on average, however most days we only spent about 180 lira tops. At an average exhange rate of 2.75 lira to the pound 217 lira worked out as £79 a day between us. With this we managed to eat breakfast, lunch, evening meal, including drinks all day, alcoholic drinks all evening and whatever bits and bobs we needed from the supermarket etc. We did this every day and never wanted for anything and we also went on two trips included in those spends aswell as gifts etc.
The only bad experience I had the whole holiday involved the black and white barber shop. We were stopped one day on our way to the beach by the owner and were invited inside for his card. Against my better judgement and a little hesitation i reluctantly entered to take it out of politeness. Before I knew it the guy had wax on my nose and shaving foam all over my face and in the chair. I was never asked if I wanted this nor given a price but ended up having to pay 30 lira for a shave I didn't even want or need. Just a little word of warning to beware of this if you happen to get stopped as I felt this was a little naughty and borderline robbery to be honest, really put a dampener on the day, something we had never felt the whole holiday.
Despite that we had an excellent holiday and would not hesitate to return if not for the resort itself but for the wonderful people we met who made our holiday so special. The people of icmeler really are a credit to a fantastic country.
If anybody has any further queries just holla and to anybody about to head to icmeler enjoy, were very jealous
