Ship Inn - Nice food and a cosy place in the park

In our autumn vacation in Antalya, we were so lucky, that we had a wonderful night out, while my father in law had a cosy day with his grandchildren. We were looking for a restaurant, that we had not been to in the past and found the restaurant Ship Inn by Melissa’s and Vanessa’s after a little reseach. It had good reviews and sounded like something that certainly was worth a visit.Og I must say that we were really pleasantly surprised, when we arrived!!

None of us had ever been on Ship Inn, but we knew where it was -almost next to one of our other good old favorites restaurant Yedi Mehmet (which you can read about here). That it was situated in the middle of the park was just a nice surprice for us, for it is apparently a really lovely park with fine illuminated trails, 3 large lakes with ducks, fish and birds and an abundance of lush vegetation, large trees, palm trees and flowers. There was actually a really romantic mood, so it was a perfect choice for a cozy “parents-evening”.

The restaurant is located in a cozy and intimate small building, with seatings for “only” 90 people indoors and 150 on the terrace (which is small after Turkish standards). We sat inside, because it was raining that day, but it was absolutely okay. Made it almost just even more cozy. The only drawback was that there were too many cats outside, but that can change quickly :- /

There are so many good treats to choose from and you can really see, that they love to give you a pleasent experience. The dishes are classic but with a twist (seen from the Turks perspective). There were several classic Turkish dishes such as pastrami and cheese, shrimp fried in butter and garlic, various small meze, Toros – kebap, köfte but also many with international flavor and various delicious cuts of lamb, a lot of fish and steaks. My husband had fish and I had steak with fried onions on top (actually this was the best steak I’ve ever had in Turkey – really delicious). The portions were large, so we could only share a chocolate souffle for dessert, after both starter and main course, but it was really, really good. The waiters were just so sweet and was actually speeking well English (but spokee Turkish with my husband Dennis). Ship Inn had a perfectly adequate menu and a fine selection of mainly local wines that we like, to follow developments in. There are actually quite a few good wines in between. Prices are quite ok – not too expensive.

I have read, that the Chef and the owner has studied in Germany and have been working at a number of quite good hotels in Turkey – among Talya hotel (our absolute favorite number 1 hotel for many, many years). Unfortunately, this gem is now closed. But much of the elegance and cosiness go back to this restaurant, so if you haven’t already been there, then go. It can really be recommended and I’m sure you wont be disappointed. On weekends, there should certainly be live music, so maybe it was worth going after.