Sultan Ahmet Turkish Cuisine Ottawa — Restaurant in Ottawa

Wow. What an experience. My mom and I came here for dinner excited to try a new spot in Ottawa. And it was chaotic to say the least. I would like the preface this by saying that our server, Soula, and the food was amazing, but everything else was disappointing.

We made a reservation for 7:15pm, and we got sat a few minutes earlier which we were excited about. But the other parties who had reservations before us, were waiting much longer than us (the longest I saw a party wait to get sat was about 45 minutes after their reservation). There was no system for reservations or assigning tables, so it was extremely chaotic. You would just tell the hostess or the manager that you had a reservation and they would just figure it out, no system at all.

My mom and I got sat along the bar of the restaurant, which in theory, is fine. But our seat was right at the end of the bar where the servers get the drinks, desserts, and cutlery, and the bussers get the cleaning supplies and trays. This meant that they were constantly reaching between me and my mom, or (arguably worse), quickly reaching directly behind or over my head. I had both sharp cutlery and hot water passed directly over my head, where one slip up would have resulted in injuring me. There was one busser who kept basically throwing a tray over my head, almost hitting me every time. And another employee who reached between my mother and I, almost hitting my face in the process, and I was extremely close to her arm pit - there was no regard for personal space, and it’s definitely not something I want to deal with while at dinner.

Our drinks took 30+ minutes to get to us. I got a mango juice, and my mom got a fruit punch - both of which were out of cartons. The only reason we finally got our drinks was because our server took matters into her own hands and made sure our drinks were in her hands before doing anything else. And during the half hour of us waiting for our drinks, the section of the dining area we were in got incredibly smoky. All we heard was “what are you doing? Close the door!”. I feel bad for the chefs because the amount of smoke I experienced was enough to make me feel faint, and I had to sit outside for a few minutes.

It took us about an hour to get our food. We got our dinner before our appetizer, but it is what it is. Once all of our food arrived, we were very happy with the result. The meat was perfectly seasoned and cooked, the garlic dip was lovely, and the baba ganoush was amazing.

But, during our meal, on top of the arms constantly flying infront of our faces and almost being hit by many things, I had a very frustrating interaction with the bartender. He was cutting oranges and then throwing them into a bowl next to us. And a couple of times when we threw the orange, the juice or water or something would splash on me. I put up with a lot over the course of my meal without saying anything, that this was my last straw with staying quiet. So I politely asked the bartender if he could stop throwing the oranges and place them instead because I was getting splashed. After this request he rudely looked at me and said “what? Why?”, so I repeated myself. He then goes “Splashed by what?”, after explaining myself again he goes “ok whatever” and continues cutting his oranges and throwing them into the bowl. Ridiculous if you ask me.

On top of that, the table next to us waiting over an hour for their baklava, and one of the individuals at the table got up to ask about it multiple times, and kept getting told it was be 5 more minutes. Hearing this was the reason my mom and I decided not to get dessert.

During all of this, our server was running around trying to get everyone’s order, food, bills, and make sure all the guests were happy. While other servers were seemingly walking around without care, moving slowly, and not helping each other.

It’s honestly such a shame that this restaurant was so chaotic and poorly ran, because it really does have great potential. If you decide to come here, try to sit on the patio - looked much...

Update June 25th 2025: Went for dinner last night and unfortunately my previous review is no longer representative of the dining experience. At this time I can no longer recommend this restaurant.

The service was terrible. There were on 2 people serving, and we had to constantly flag them down because they were not coming by and checking in at all. It was a heat wave and I'm unsure if they just didn't have AC or if it was broken, but it was sweltering inside and they were not exactly on top of providing water or even checking on us. It was much hotter inside than outside.

We ordered the chef's mix grill dinner for 2, and the chicken on the plate and the beef doner meat was quite dry, the rest of the meats were decently well prepared. The menu also stated it came with grilled tomatoes and peppers, both of which were absent from the plate. The salad on the image shows pickles with it as well, and these were likewise missing, it was just onions and iceberg lettuce. As per my previous review, it still didn't come with any kind of sauce, so I ordered a side of hummus part way through the meal and was surprised to find it was $10. The menu also states it comes with bread, but no additional bread was brought out (not that we needed it) but to charge $10 for hummus and bread makes sense, to charge $10 for just hummus is outrageous.

We also ordered a mixed pide, which was decently flavored, but the bottom was quite soggy and mushy and difficult to eat.

Overall this experience was quite disappointing in terms of the service, as well as what was paid for not being delivered. I cannot in good faith recommend this restaurant anymore. Old review: I'll start by saying if I could give a 4.5 I would. A 4 isn't as high as I'd like to give but there were a few minor things I think could be improved upon that, if done, would definitely bring it up to a 5.

Came for lunch and got the chicken shish kebab. Portion was quite good for the price. The chicken was very juicy and the flavor of the charcoal really came through, which is a challenge to get both. The bread was excellent, the bulgur was also very flavorful, and had a nicely spiced tomato flavor to it. The onions with sumac were also nice. They also brought some extra fresh bread with the meal which was the same bread as came with it, but it was very good.

I will say, I wish the lettuce & carrot had some dressing, even a light dressing on them. The other thing I would add, is that it would be better with a spread or dip with it like yogurt or hummus or something like that as well, would really elevate the dish.

The service, we got asked if we were ready to order but hadn't been given menus when seated yet, we were then asked 3 or 4 times by different people in the first 5 minutes we sat down, which was attentive but almost felt a little like we were being rushed. Otherwise for the rest of the meal the service was excellent, good came out reasonably fast, water got refilled regularly as well.

All around the meal was excellent. I'd recommend this as a place worth trying, and I look forward to coming back and trying the Pide which...

Summary: This is a new place with a lot of potential. Location is great, food is mostly good, service is okay, prices are on a higher side, and the atmosphere and venue overall have a lot of room for improvement.

I took my family to this place after hearing about it from a friend. We love Turkish cuisine, and we were looking forward to trying the new restaurant. I made a reservation online (highly recommended in the evenings and during weekends). We got a table as soon as we arrived. But parking was a challenge. There is little parking space around the restaurant, and even getting into the parking lot took some time. We then had to wait for the parking attendant to find a spot for us and help us actually get into the spot, as most cars are double- and triple-parked, and there is little room to navigate.

The restaurant itself needs some re-organization. It was packed to the brim when we arrived, and because the tables are crammed into a limited space with little room between them, it felt like we were in the middle of a very noisy crowd. It was so noisy that it was difficult to hold a conversation. Besides, the place was poorly ventilated, and we got soaked in kitchen smells as soon as we walked in. The situation with ventilation was so bad, in fact, that the fire alarm (smoke detectors) went off 3 times during the 1.5 hours we stayed there. This just added to the overall mess and cacophony.

On a positive note, the restaurant was very clean, even the bathrooms. Staff were quick to help and overall very friendly.

Unlike many other Turkish restaurants, this place does not offer complimentary appetizers. We asked for tea, but they forgot to bring it. The menu is online but it was only after we were ready to order that the waiter informed us that some options on the online menu were not available.

Once we ordered, the food arrived pretty quickly. Portions were decent, and the way the food was served was overall quite appealing. I ordered a chicken kebab which was delicious, although a bit on a dryer side. My daughter’s lamb chops were fantastic. The Kofte BBQ that my wife ordered was too dry. I also ordered a Turkish coffee which, as had previously been the case with the tea, they forgot to bring. I had to insist that they bring the coffee once I saw that they included it in the bill.

The lunch cost us around $130, plus tip, without any dessert. Given the experience we had, I found it...