Hilmi Restaurant Balık Pazarı — Restaurant in Fethiye

This place is a disgrace to Fethiye and to Turkish hospitality. If you want to be ignored, lied to, and overcharged while eating food ruined beyond recognition, Hilmi is waiting.

They have truly mastered one thing: turning a holiday dinner into pure humiliation. In 20+ years of travelling abroad, this is hands-down the worst dining experience we’ve ever had.

Let’s start with the waiter, a man who made it his mission to treat us like an inconvenience from the moment we sat down. Eye contact? Forbidden. Even while standing at our table, he stared past us like we weren’t there.

Lie Number One: “80 TL per person to cook your seafood.” Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. When the bill arrived, it had magically doubled to 160 TL per person. The excuse? We dared to order two types of seafood: sea bream for us, prawns for my son. That’s not a reason, that’s a scam. (I don't dare to do the maths for a table of 10 all ordering different type of seafood - a truly mind blowing deal!)

Lie Number Two: “The fish will be served boneless.” Spoiler alert: it's dumped on a plate whole. When challenged, the waiter waved us off with the immortal words: “We’re busy.” Translation: suck it up.

Lie Number Three: “We’ll cook the fish for you.” By “cook” they clearly mean “shove it in the oven, and expect it to magically turn itself into fine dining.” The fish itself was fresh, thanks to the market, not Hilmi, but they did nothing to it. No salt, no seasoning, no garnish. Just bare fish, as if flavour was an optional extra.

Here comes the best part? We asked about sides, to pay for, of course. The answer was a firm NO. After practically begging, we were “allowed” a salad. What arrived was a pile of mostly onion so sad it could have cried, no oil, no vinegar, nothing. Only when we flagged down another waiter did we finally get some dressing, which he took from another table. The guests at that table watched in disbelief as their oil and vinegar were marched away. That’s Hilmi-level service for you.

And the prawns? A massacre. Overcooked in the oven until they glued themselves to the oven dish under a layer of sticky, sugary sauce. That's not just bad cooking, it's an outright crime against food.

Meanwhile, our charming waiter floated around the big tables all night, buzzing around them like a moth hypnotised by the glow of £££ signs. His attention span was measured purely in wallet size. If you’re lucky enough to be seated at one of those tables, you might get service. If not, prepare to be ignored.

The grand finale? When we complained to the manager, he stood frozen, speechless, incapable of even a basic apology. Our waiter then stormed to the bar, muttering aggressively in Turkish, glaring at us like we’d committed some unspeakable offence by daring to expect the service we were paying for. Nothing screams “hospitality” quite like being insulted in a language you don’t understand.

Well done Hilmi for representing Turkey in the Hospitality Hall of Shame. Truly a performance we will remember.

Fethiye deserves better than this disgrace of a waiter and so do...

Hilmi Balik or fish restaurant is one of my most favorite places in Fethiye. The restaurant shares a large enclosed outdoor area with several other fish restaurants. It's like a big restaurant market where you definitely get the freshest fish in town! The selection of seafood is uncomparable and their meze which are the traditional staple appetizers in Turkey were the tastiest I have sampled during my trip. So food wise it's a top choice and you will not be disappointed! Now the atmosphere is a total experience: the plaza is full of tables and people happily celebrating dinner and friendship: everybody smile and laugh and eat with delight! The place is buzzing with people (and this totally makes the charm of this place) but service is quick and efficient. At night many lights and beautifully decorated pumpkin lanterns hang from a magnificent tree that shades the plaza during the day and give each table a warm and soft colored glow. And last but not least a couple of traditional band play during dinner entertaining the many guest of all restaurants combined. They will come to your table for a little tip and you will giggle and shake at the rythme of their tambour! Absolutely not to be missed while in Fethiye, also try to accompany the experience with a...

!!!Read before you order!!! We stopped by there yesterday and ordered a few things. I asked for a good Sea bass suggestion and the guy there pointed to a 650 Lira item in the menu and he said I'll make it special for you and will take the bones out for you. We ended up paying 2400 liras just for the fish and 4400($150) total for 2 and when I asked for an explanation he said that was a full fish and the price in the menu is for a small piece. It felt like we were scammed and ripped off. I don't understand why some places in this beautiful country deal with tourists like this and why restaurants allow their employees to do this. Sidenote: The fish was really good the starters and everything else were tasty but I still give it a 1 star so tourists are aware and ask for detailed price before they order. Also in Fetiyeh I gave a 200 Lira bill instead of a 20 for groceries and the guy called me and gave me...