Ju Restaurant, Çalış Beach - A Cosy Dining Atmosphere
Ju Restaurant along Çalış Beach in Fethiye was first on our list for our autumnal late lunch sessions.
We're far from being night owls these days and love to prepare or cook Turkish recipes at home through the hot summer months.
So the pleasant temperatures of autumn, early winter and spring are perfect weather for wandering around the various restaurants, cafes and salons of Fethiye and updating ourselves with - and enjoying - what's going on with our local food scene.
Because it is a scene that is constantly evolving - and that evolution has been picking up pace, recently.
Ju Restaurant
Ju used to be further along Çalış Beach - where EY's is now located - but they moved up to the beach entrance to a much bigger space.
And in the beginning, the decor and the furniture changed often - perhaps deciding on an identity.
Well, they seem to have settled on that identity, now - and we love to sit here.
In a lot of Turkish restaurants, if it's a large space, you're greeted with a sea of tables and chairs.
That's not the case in Ju. And that's what we really like about it.
Yes, there's an area where there are a few tables and chairs in the same space for busier times. But the rest of the restaurant is divided into smaller spaces by over-sized wooden planters with olive trees, shrubs and plants.
You can sit in your own cosy space or at least in a smaller, more intimate setting.
And this is perfect if the restaurant isn't particularly busy and you don't want to feel like you're rattling around in a vast space with little atmosphere.
We think other people must agree with this because there are often customers in there in the afternoons. Just chatting over a drink and, sometimes, food - Ju has special meal deals in the daytime.
Ju is not just an evening dining spot.
Ju Restaurant Food
You'll see images of fish as part of the decor and there is a lot of seafood choice on the Ju menu.
But it is not just a seafood restaurant. So if you're not a fish kinda person, don't be put off by that.
Choose from a whole host of dishes from the menu or simply head for the display fridges - framed by arches - and choose a bit of what you fancy.
I love seafood. So for my late lunch choice, I went for the Deniz Mahsülleri Güveç - seafood casserole.
Barry chose to keep life simple by ordering one of his staples - chicken schnitzel.
Pre-Meal Tempter
But before the meals arrived, first up was a complimentary appetiser.
Warm bread rolls, olives in olive oil and a creamy, crumbly cheese.
Easy on the bread - when your meal comes, the portion sizes are not small, here.
As we soon found out...
The Main Event
Fresh, crisp rocket leaves, two different dips and real, homemade chips on this plate.
And two schnitzel. The platter was not licked clean!
Barry was defeated in the end. And even I couldn't help him to finish his chips (I'm usually a very grateful recipient). I was more than suitably full from my own menu choice.
This was not a seafood casserole that was filled with a vegetables and a sprinkling of random pieces of fish.
It was packed with calamari (as you can see in the photo). Then, underneath that, there were lots of shrimps, chunks of white fish, cuttlefish and sauteed strips of red and yellow pepper.
The sauce was creamy - definitely flavoured with a touch of curry powder.
Outrageously good! At least for my tastebuds. And a very generous serving.
The plan was to help myself to a few of Barry's chips and dip one of the little cobs into the sauce. The sauce was just crying out for that!
Alas, two chips were more than enough and the bread didn't happen.
After sitting in Ju a good few times, enjoying a drink and talking about how we really must try the food, we finally did.
And it won't be the last time...
Ju Restaurant, Çalış Beach - Useful Info
- Ju Restaurant is the first restaurant on the right as you enter Çalış Beach at the main entrance, underneath Delta Hotel (see map below).
- The restaurant is open year round and serves a variety of international dishes as well as many of your favourite Turkish foods, including a vast array of meze choices.
- In the daytime, there are often meal deal offers. You can also get traditional Turkish breakfast and standalone breakfast dishes like menemen and sucuklu yumurta.
- We have included Ju Restaurant on our listed of places to eat and drink around Fethiye and you can see more of their food on their Instagram account.
