HODAN — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

Service: Very poor. Waiters are not personal at all, they gave us a table that was right next to the dish counter which resulted in having my chair hit several times. Keep in mind, my girlfriend reserved the table days ago...

Food: below average, I'm serious. The portions were small - not as small as in a French restaurant but still. The quality of the dishes they served was not impressive at all, not to mention that they were overpriced - even for Istanbul. The Chef, a lovely woman, unfortunately rather spent time on the couch chatting with people than checking on the dishes her staff served she created. Nope, not impressed, Hodan.

Location: Lovely! Super nice, and easy to reach, especially considering the very central location to the heartbeat of Istanbul. The beautiful atmosphere with an oasis feeling was so ... cute. Perfect for a date. The lightning, the in between gardenish feeling, uhhhh, loved it. My stars go to the atmosphere only.

Drinks: So, here's the deal. Although we didn't like the whole package as one, I want to believe this is a fancy cute place which is quiet and welcoming for a nice bottle of wine, raki, or whatever you desire.

Music: atmospheric, easy and not disturbing. Don't remember if they even had music, which is good I guess ... I mean that I don't remember. 😆

Comments: it's a great, refreshing little oasis for a drink maybe lunch, perfect for a little get together. Food and service: guys we're in Istanbul, you HAVE TO serve fantastic, mind-blowingly good food with super kind waiters to get a positive review from us. Didn't happen, so my overall review is: not...

Considering the fact that it’s a chef-owned restaurant, I had a great expectation at first. Went there for a birthday party. Unfortunately, the appetizers were below the expectations (especially the fried artichoke). Some were sold out (even tho we were early diners). They were also out of cold water. However, the entrees were very tasty. I personally liked the lemon chicken.

One unpleasant experience we had was there was a piece of flour packaging left in our food. My sister was almost choking. Called the executive chef to our table and she apologized, no incentive tho. Tbh, I expected a better service and experience. Save yourself some time and money, and try another restaurant.

Update: Upon submission of this review, I've received a call from the executive chef after three days. She started with polite questioning but, later started to raise her voice. She disrupted my explanation while I was trying to explain that every customer has a right to share their experience online. After sustaining a harsh tongue, I told her that I won't be dining in her restaurant after all. Instead of a humble attitude I'd expect, she said "I wouldn't allow you in even if you want".

Note for the Chef: You may be a 'great' chef but, owning/operating a restaurant might require a different skill set. Think twice before you pick...

The food was good, but not as spectacular as I expected from the price tag. The appetizers were great, but the main courses were very bland. They also did not offer dessert.

The service was cordial, but not solution oriented. I made a reservation to celebrate a birthday, and after asking was told nothing special could be added to the table (i.e. rose/flower/etc). Fine, no problem. During dinner I specified we were there to celebrate a birthday, again no recommendation for dessert. Fine, since they don't have desserts no problem. Then during the dinner we were constantly pestered by cats, which we told the hosts but they didn't recommend anything. They just watched us stand up as we evaded the cats. We finally told them to move us to a different table.

Thanks to the lack of apathy and lack of focus on the customer we couldn't focus on our evening at hand, and instead had to solve the problems put before us by restaurant management. Which is ironic because they automatically added gratuity to the bill (something uncommon in any restaurant when eating with less than 4 guests).

In summary, the appetizers were good, but everything else could be found better...