Novas Hagiasophia Restaurant — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

WARNING! Save yourself the disappointment and don’t eat here!

Wow, truly a zero star experience but to be fair I decided to give them two stars for their astounding effort as scammers. Reading all these fantastic reviews I can only conclude that they are buying positive reviews, because this food was really so bad.

We walked in and had an off feeling about the place but since I read so many wonderful reviews (and also we had a hungry toddler with us) we decided not to look for another place. Big mistake..

To start, they put the same bottle of wine on every table, which is super weird because wine is such an important part of fine dining so why would you think everyone wants the same kind? Then we sent it back and asked to see a wine menu, they gave us one and every wine was from the same vineyard. Red flag.

But we still went ahead and asked for a recommendation based on our order and the chef brought out three bottles. We said we would like one that is lower in tannins so he said ok that would be one of the two on the right… but if you read the description in the wine menu they were both described as tannic. Then when we brought that up he went back and picked one and just brought us the full glasses, not opening and pouring the bottle at the table, and not giving an opportunity to taste it first as every fine restaurant does when you buy a bottle. Another red flag.

The wine was very basic and flat, no dimensionality, no sparkle… it was a relatively expensive bottle so we expected far more. When we mentioned it that it didn’t have any character the chef said that wine is haram and he doesn’t really know much about wine and only drinks it in little sips!!!! (So in other words, we are only selling it to make money).

Then our appetizers came out and they were at least decent, but certainly nothing deserving of the high price tag that they came with.

Finally the much awaited main courses arrived, the roasted lamb shank and the meat stew in the clay pot (I don’t remember the name). The lamb meat itself was fresh but was totally under-seasoned, undercooked (difficult to cut, not tender at all), practically no salt, just a little bit of tomato paste in a lot of water and a little seasoning.

Someone wrote in another review that the chef studied in France… hmm… 🤔 if he did I don’t think he learned anything. Personally I grew up eating homemade Turkish food and I am a good home cook. My husband is a truly outstanding cook from the Greek tradition. If I ever prepared a meal like either of these I would be absolutely ashamed to serve it to anyone. So to serve it at a fine dining restaurant in this beautiful cosmopolitan city is truly only something a con artist could get away with.

Oh and their specialty dish, the meat in the clay pot, was dry and tasteless… cheap meat, cheap sauce, poor seasoning. We couldn’t even finish it. After we left I told my husband it tasted like they cooked it in a regular stew pot, then put it into the clay before bringing it out and lighting it on fire for the “show” and breaking the clay to serve it. It was not good at all.

The music was also tacky American pop from the 80’s and 90’s, very unatmospheric.

All in all we ordered one bottle of wine, one sparkling water, three appetizers and two entrees and it came to almost 10,000 Turkish lira. It was really a waste of money and even worse than that, we wasted one of our three nights in Istanbul here instead of eating someplace good. Any average restaurant on the street could have easily outperformed this place.

So congratulations to you, Novas Hagiasophia Restaurant… you managed to scam us tonight. I just hope this review will help others to not fall for your...

Disappointing and Overpriced – Not Worth the Hype

We were genuinely excited to try this restaurant as our first meal in Istanbul, especially after reading the glowing reviews. Located near Taksim, it seemed like the perfect spot to kick off our trip. Unfortunately, the experience left us quite disappointed.

Our bill came to 4213 TL for two starters, two mains, and two drinks. To put that into perspective, this is more than what you’d pay at a top-tier restaurant in the UK, which is shocking considering we’re in Turkey — a country known for its excellent food at reasonable prices.

Having spent time in Turkey before, I’m familiar with the typical costs, and it’s clear this restaurant has dramatically inflated its prices. Comparing menus from the past year, several items have more than doubled in price. At that level, naturally, we expected exceptional quality and generous portions. • Starters: The dips were decent — the hummus had more of a paste-like texture, which some may like. The bread and sauces were fine, nothing memorable. • Mains: The grilled fish was the standout dish — fresh, well-cooked, and probably the only item that justified its price. The lamb, though tender, was shockingly small in portion and didn’t come close to justifying its cost.

I don’t doubt that this restaurant was once excellent and fairly priced. But it now feels like a tourist trap banking on its reputation. If you’re in the area, I’d strongly recommend walking just 10 minutes further — there are many spots offering far better value for money and a more...

A more upmarket restaurant than your usual local kebab restaurants you find all over Istanbul. Offering the usual Turkish dishes, you will be able to pick from vegetarian, meat and seafood options. Lovely comfy seats and nice decor. Service was very good and friendly. The stairs to the toilet are a little bit windy, so take care if you have any issues with stairs.

I got the mushrooms stuffed with cheese and a traditional eggplant dish. They were nice but could have done with a bit more seasoning, I got their chili sauce to add some flavor. Their pita and homemade dips were delicious though. The fried anchovies were done very well and the whole sea bass looked and smelt delicious! Dishes came out in plates with a metal lid on top which was a nice touch.

They gave us complimentary Turkish cake and rice pudding with Turkish tea as the kitchen was closed (12am) and we couldn’t order the kaniffe which was a shame.

There was a bit of confusion with the bill and we had to pay an extra 10% to put the card machine back on again as they closed it for the day. They put up a bit of a fight to RE open it even when that was our only option. If they had communicated that was the case we would have settled the bill earlier. They also charged 10% service tax but as we paid separately this wasn’t really calculated accurately.

Unfortunately it left a bit of a bitter taste to our whole experience as before that it was a really great night. I would recommend to go but make sure you settle up before 12 or have...