The Fethiye fish market: dinner the local way

The best dinner in Fethiye is one you partly shop for yourself. In the covered market in the centre of town (Balik Pazari, a few streets back from the harbour) the fishmongers occupy the middle and the restaurants the ring around them, and the arrangement has become a small institution.

How it works

Walk a lap of the fish stalls first. Prices are per kilo and written up; sea bass and sea bream are farmed and cheap, red mullet, grouper, swordfish and prawns are wild and dearer. Pick your fish, have it weighed and cleaned, pay the fishmonger, and carry it to whichever restaurant you like the look of. The restaurant charges a fixed per-person fee - small, and posted on a board - which covers grilling or frying it and brings bread, salad, a few mezes and sauces to the table. Drinks are extra. You can also buy prawns or calamari and ask for them fried, or meat from the butchers in the same hall.

When to go

After 19:00, and later in July and August. The market is loud, lit, full of local families and visitors, and musicians work the tables. It is the single most atmospheric evening meal on the coast.

What to order

Whatever is wild and local that day: the fishmonger will tell you. Ask for the fish grilled (izgara) rather than fried unless it is small. Order a plate of mezes to start - haydari, patlican salatasi, fava, a few stuffed vine leaves - and a cold Efes or a glass of raki with water.

Other markets worth your time

The Fethiye Tuesday market (textiles, spices, fruit, the largest on the coast); the fish market at Kumkapi in Istanbul, which works the restaurant way rather than the stall way; and the Wednesday market in Kas, which the gulet reaches on the right day. Istanbul's Spice Market is part of day 2 on every Istanbul start.

Fethiye is the end of the Istanbul to Fethiye Tour and the turning point of every combined route; the evening before the gulet is the one to spend here.