Babel Café Restaurant — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

I'm inclined to give this restaurant a lower ratinh because of the high average on Google, as I believe it does not fully deserve the 4.7-star average. The staff was friendly and the atmosphere was okay, which were the highlights of our visit.

However, the food left much to be desired. We dined at 16:00 and were disappointed by the appetizers, which seemed to have been in the refrigerator for too long rather than served fresh, a significant letdown here in Turkey where fresh bread is a staple. The main dish I ordered, manti, appealed to me to be canned rather than homemade, topped with yogurt – edible, but not exceptional. The meat dish (the kebap) was served 10 minutes later because the waiter didnt want the rest of the family to wait. Cant complain about it, just an event that happened.

While the service was commendable, the overall dining experience didn't live up to the hype, especially after a strenuous climb of about 1000 stairs, motivated by the glowing reviews. I feel a fair assessment for this dining experience would be a 2 to 3 stars, favoring 3 for the staff's...

On the bright side, service was impeccable. The food was good but not remarkable. We got the mezze plate. Nothing stood out. I certainly would go here if staying next door and you need a good, clean place. I would not go here for anything interesting or special. I can list a dozen restaurants I have eaten at around the world where the mezze was similar or the same, for basically the same price, and while they are all good they are not great. None of them are in Istanbul. I really think they can do better than be on level with a Turkish restaurant in NYC. In fact, the mezze at the Turkish Airlines lounge was better.

Perhaps the most incongruous element was hearing Johnny Cash in Istanbul, followed by a mish mash of music including Cuban jazz. I like eclectic music and Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison is played often at home. But some core theme or structure is needed no? If you want to play Johnny Cash then play Tom Waits next if you want to be eclectic. The Ramones. Billy Joel. I dealt, some congruence to the food, the moment, the music, the place — else it’s just an iTunes...

We came here based on all the great Google reviews. 90% of the customers present were tourists. Lots of hits but a couple of misses.

They had an excellent selection of vegetarian options. The vegetarian Babel special, meze platter for two, and falafel were 10/10 and highly recommended. I would definitely return to have it again.

As for the customer service, the server was in a grumpy mood. He was not friendly and didn’t bother to explain any of the menu options. He was probably frustrated by a customer who was inebriated and he was the only server for the entire restaurant. He did a good job handling it though.

Even though we ordered draft beer, we only received bottled beer.

The kebap was a huge disappointment. The chef must’ve left it in for too long because the entire thing was charred and burned black. The server offered to take it off the bill, but we had eaten most of it anyway, but we wanted to give them feedback.

They also don’t accept American Express even though it was advertised...