Moise Karaköy — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

We were staying in a hotel nearby and didnt want to eat the food at the hotel as it was Italian (when in Turkey, pizzas and pasta do not appeal as such). We stumbleed across Moise on our first night, not expecting much and instead was completely blown away.

Views: has a fabulous view of the Old Town and the Bosphorus.

Food: Usually with views that good, you expect food to be average. We were however blown away by the chicken kebab which was beautifully succulent and tender, and perfectly grilled. We ordered a salad and other mezze plates which were yummy too.

Service: if the views and food are 5/5, then the service is 10/5. The staff were beyond friendly. We were travelling with our 4 month old baby Isabel and they were not bothered at all - accommodated by giving us a table that allowed the pram to fit, played with Isabel and was very patient with her. All the staff members treated us so well, but particularly the front house restaurant manager Firdevs. Thank you so much.

We loved our first dinner there so much we visited again on our second night.

In summary, must go spot in Istanbul for drinks, food, views and friendly service! Karakoy is only a short tram ride away from the old town, and Moise a 5 min walk from the tram. It's worth going to Moise no matter where you are staying...

My partner and I reserved a table for dinner, but the experience was awful from the start. The waiter seated us right under a speaker blasting loud music, making it unbearable to stay there. We asked to switch tables since the restaurant was almost empty, but they claimed all other tables were reserved. However, no one else showed up the entire time we were there.

We asked three times to have the music turned down, but nothing changed. Eventually, we moved to another table ourselves because we couldn’t stand it any longer.

The food was a huge disappointment. It looked nothing like the pictures and tasted terrible. The spreads didn’t come with the advertised pita bread on google reviews, and there was no grilled kebab or seafood as seen on other people pictures. The only two main dishes available were grilled chicken and beef, so we chose the chicken. What we got were two tiny pieces of chicken drenched in oil, with French fries that tasted like cardboard. The Aperol Spritz drinks were so watered down they tasted like flavored water.

In the end, we paid a lot and felt completely scammed. I never leave reviews, but I wanted to warn others...

Let’s just begin by saying that while this place is not waterside, the view from this boutique restaurant/hotel is amazing. The place is clean with a refined atmosphere, yet not pompous.

As a typical American, the first thing I ordered was the hummus with pastrami. Unlike the hummus we usually get in the States, this one was not lemon forward but instead it was smoky, nutty and somewhat meaty.

The Muhammara mezze was a great surprise. I did not expect an alleged spicy paste to hit all the right notes in my palate, but it certainly did. It was spicy, sweet, savory, crunchy, creamy, nutty, smoky, etc, etc!

This restaurant also sports an open grill on which they cook the meats. The concept is great, yet funny, as the grillers are sitting down while turning the shis kabobs🤪😂.

The beef skewer was tender as so was the chicken, but I didn’t care much for the Adana Kebab nor the rice.

The service was good Turkish service, which tends to be professional, but not accompanied by a whole lot of smiles.

I’ll give it a 4 1/2 stars ⭐️, and that’s my sincere opinion, I...