Mesai İstanbul — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

Our first day at this restaurant was on Saturday and they were fully booked. We managed to get a seat in their breakfast area which was quiet and good. Service was good, food was good and even staffs were good especially girls. They had a smile on face and friendly. Things went totally downhill from the second day. Let me breakdown each and every bit in a separate section:

Reservation: It's a good idea to book the table in advance especially on weekend. They get quite busy from hotel people and even outside people. We booked our table in advance for 3 days as we stayed in their hotel. They changed our table everyday which was good at least we get a different view and experience.

Views: This place is well located and their restaurant is on the 2nd floor which gives a good view of the city. Ambience and atmosphere is good in night time. We can easily see 2-3 mosques lit up during night and it's surroundings which makes a romantic dinner location.

Food: We didn't try their starter. So can't say anything about starter. We tried their main dishes which was good especially their lamb. Lamb was soft , juicy and properly cooked. Quality of main dishes was good and portion was sufficient. However I didn't see any vegetarian dishes in their menu. It would have been nice to have some vegetables as a side dish.

Cons: They add 10% service charge on the bill and it's fixed which I find it weird. Service charge should be optional and it depends upon the customer whether they want to pay or not. There isn't much information regarding service charge. It came as a surprise to us. The service they provided wasn't extraordinary very standard. See below comment on why. Being a classy restaurant they should provide a printed menu. But here it's all about scanning QR code and sitting looking at your mobiles.. Waiters are unfriendly and unwelcoming. Waiters made no effort to talk to us whilst we dinned, no interaction, not much of a friendly smile either considering we ate there more than once. Still we pay service charge which is not justifiable. We were told that there is a dress code to the restaurant no shorts or trainers. However the waiters and manager were wearing trainers. This to us was double standards. There should be a smoking area and a non smoking area regardless of the restaurant been open top. I find it unpleasant to be seat next to someone who's smoking around me. Not only the smell but it's makes you feel sick especially with not much air floating around. My hair and clothes smelt very bad on our last night.

Overall, once you are paying a higher amount for food and service. Customer do expect good service and...

Spent the new year 2024 celebrations here, which didn’t start on a good note. They messed up our reservation and they conveyed this in a severely impolite way. However it seems their staff is not trained in English or service in English - only a few are. Thus things may have been lost in translation. Having said that. This was one of the best meals we had in Istanbul, the food was perfectly prepared and tastes wonderful. The short ribs were tender and with the right amount of fat, the sashimi and artichoke was at good acidity levels which served as a good appetizer. The desert cake was the best - a small Black Forest cake with sour cherries. Breakfast has a good spread of buffet with Turkish local dishes and western. The views are great, especially in the second floor - the roof has wonderful views of the strait and the grand mosques. This was a great view during the NYE celebrations. Atmosphere was great. Overall a five star, but due to the service I give it one star less. For the restaurant, please train your staff better. This is a super hotspot for tourists, your staff better learn better English...

Amazing food, great views and superb service , must visit place in Karaköy.👍🏼

The food is amazing, really delicious. Best mezze is by far called “Müdür”, this is a special mezze which you will only find here. The menu has a lot of variety both fish and meat dishes. They offer all the mezze’s as gluten free if you tell them you have gluten allergy, which makes this place really unique. I would recommend to order 4-5 mezze for 2 people to share and main dishes. After 9:30pm, Turkish music plays and people start to dance next to their tables. It’s not a nightclub necessarily but it’s an authentic experience to see, since you will most likely find locals.

The views are also great and everything inside is super luxurious.

Apart from food, music and atmosphere being super nice, service is excellent 👍🏼👏🏼 They are super fast, friendly and caring. The staff will take care of...