Walk along the seafront of any small Turkish coastal town during autumn and winter months and you’ll be surprised at the number of restaurants that have closed their doors for the season.
Content to wait for the onslaught of tourists next May, owners and staff return to their family homes or take a much-needed break. Fair play, it’s a long summer when you’re busy serving meals and pouring drinks, not to mention the balancing of the books and trips to the wholesalers for stock.
However, it leaves local and foreign residents in a quandary when they fancy eating out, with little choice and limited menus.
Most households in Europe are in the habit of treating themselves to a takeaway now and again, whether it be a pizza, Indian curry, Chinese or kebab, with the kitchen drawer or memo board littered with paper menus, all with the convenience of lifting the phone to order a meal.
With online companies such as Just Eat, and its Turkish equivalent Yemeksepeti, having a hot meal delivered to your door couldn’t be easier, as long as you live in one of its registered areas. Yet, smaller places like Akbuk, Yesiltepe and Fevzipasa aren’t. This is where I think local restaurants are missing a trick.
It’s certainly true that some places are on WhatsApp where a menu can be viewed and ordered via a message, but we have to remember that in a population of mostly retired citizens, not everyone can get to grips with modern technology.
If eateries were to provide physical menus for its customers, they could be guaranteed business all year round. It simply makes sense. Providing a delivery service does come with fuel and packaging costs but surely, it’s better to be cooking and delivering meals than waiting for customers to show up on the off chance during the colder months.
My husband and I ventured out last Saturday night, which was very cold and windy, and found ourselves to be the only customers in one of our favourite restaurants. The meal was great, the room cosy with an open fire burning & the owner cheerful, but we couldn’t help wondering how much it was costing in staff wages, heating and electricity, just to keep the doors open.
There is also the issue of stock. Many restaurants in our local vicinity try their best to keep a full menu available during the winter season, whereas a limited quantity of meals would be more financially viable, reduce waste and keep most customers happy in the knowledge that everything is freshly prepared. Having dozens of meals available doesn’t always mean that satisfaction is guaranteed, as very often quality is better than quantity.
In the past, we have ordered basic food for home delivery and then stood outside on the phone trying to give directions to a motorcycle courier as he aimlessly drove up and down streets in search of us.
Nowadays, with the new road numbers, most areas are well sign-posted and Google Maps can generally aid delivery without issue, although we do kind of miss frantically waving our arms around at the garden gate to attract the attention of our local takeaway service!
Naturally, with a language barrier hindering communication, it would take time for card payments to be accepted, but a cash-on-delivery service is perfectly reasonable for most locals, as having the choice not to cook often outweighs the inconvenience of having to remember to use a cashpoint.
I have broached the subject of paper menus with a few local restaurants but so far none have been able to provide them. Perhaps it’s the initial outlay of printing costs that’s deterring them, but I do believe that in the long run, it would be beneficial to both residents and catering kitchens.
There are going to be some long, cold nights this winter and I can think of nothing more comforting than being able to order my favourite food to enjoy in front of the television on a Saturday night.