shamse restaurant — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

Visited with my lady for our first evening meal in Istanbul. Although not Turkish cuisine, the overwhelming popularity and positive reviews drew us in.

Downstairs off Istikal Street, you are led into a subterranean Iranian paradise. Live music was playing courtesy of a keyboard player rousing & entertaining the diners.

All staff we encountered were very welcoming and helpful throughout our visit. Indeed, our order was taken by the owner himself. I asked his recommendations and gladly took his suggestions.

Dolma (Leaf Wraps) Kashke Badenjan Dizi Sonati Shamse Dish 1 Barberry Rice

The starters were a tasty and interesting introduction to our meal. I originally asked for hummus but was directed instead to the Kashke Badejan. A wise choice, a delicious dish of various flavours and textures.

Dolma Leaf Wraps were unlike anything we've had before. Delicate leaves, topped with barberries, are stuffed with all manner of goodness.

Bread baskets are very tasty, complimentary, and plentiful. 3 baskets we had overall. It is very generous and most enjoyable.

I had the Shamse Dish 1, chicken on the bone, chicken breast, and lamb. This is their smallest kebab dish, but don't let the photo fool you. It is a very large plate of food most generously filled and of high quality.

My lady had the Dizi Sonati, a lamb stew that came with a tool to mash the contents. A polite lady showed us tourists how to eat it the Iranian way. A delicious filling stew of very generous proportions.

Not only was the food we ordered generous in its portion and quality, but we were gifted with sweet treats and tea also. An Iranian sweet with pistachio, a nutty biscuit, AND a complimentary tea.

Every dish was of top quality and smart presentation. The atompshere was welcoming and the best compliment I can pay, "It is as if I were dining in someone's home."

The hospitality and friendliness is unlike any restaurant I have visited in the UK. I imagine this would be typical of Middle East cuisine in country of origin.

The owner himself once more joined us after our meal and shared stories of his date export business, his family, and how he came to Istanbul. A successful venture given the popularity online and bolstered by a 2nd Shamse branch nearby.

A wonderful meal & experience and one I would recommend to anyone visiting Istanbul, locals &...

Ugh, where to start?

Atmosphere: If I could give this negative stars, I would.

We walked in and couldn't sit inside because although there was plenty of space, both the music and person singing karaoke were so loud and disruptive that we sat outside. Even then, with the door closed the music was loud. Then the karaoke person kept coming outside and keeping the door open. We couldn't hear the conversation among ourselves even with raised voices. We were a group of 7 and we were the largest group but the party of 2 that came and sat next to the table from us and were smoking were catered to more by means of this excessively loud and irritating music than our group who sat outside to avoid this disruption.

Service:

The ONLY positive: the staff was polite.

We waited OVER an hour for our food to arrive. What a waste of time, all the while having to have my ears and head hurt from the loud music. We could have gone elsewhere, eaten, come back, and our food would still not have arrived. The bread that covered the dishes was also cold.

Food: I've had much better Iranian/Persian food with more flavor in the States. The food was average at best. We ordered the large platters and shared them along with the Ayrans with all different levels of saltiness. One turned out to be nice, the others far too salty.

Price/(lack of) Value Excessively overpriced. Not for Turkish standards, but even American standards, our bill when split came to over 600TL (almost $33) per person. I've eaten at a number of Persian and Iranian restaurants in the States, I think the maximum per person cost had come to $30, and that's pushing it. And that is when each person orders their own dish and gets a full portion. (for reference, I went back to İstiklal the following night for dinner at another place, to another (in my opinion) overpriced restaurant for the portion sizes, and for 2 people paid a little over 200TL, and was still more satisfied than here.

I would not go back here. The politeness of the staff does not outweigh every other disappointment this restaurant brought.

This was not worth my time, effort, money, ear suffering, and...

Istanbul is truly a three-dimensional city where no space is left unused. This restaurant is below ground, so keep your eyes open for a little sign with its name by some stairs leading down. The restaurant offers a choice between carpeted seating and regular tables, which is an interesting change. If you are a regular meat-eater, you will enjoy a delicious meal. However, if you are vegetarian or vegan, beware. The website indicated that they offered vegetarian options. These were no longer listed on the menu in the restaurant, but the waiter said they could easily make the dishes vegetarian. We ordered Gheimeh with eggplant ("No goosht!") after being assured by both the waiter and waitress that the khoresht had not been cooked with the meat in it. They add the meat to it later they said. When our dishes came, the flavour was delicious, authentic and one could tell that indeed, meat had not been cooked in the khoresht. However, after a few bites, we found huge chunks of meat at the bottom. The waitress thought this was funny and said she was sorry, all the while smiling and looking at us with pity, as though we didn't know what was good for us. My husband, who speaks Persian, had to explain why we didn't eat meat, and she looked genuinely surprised. I find it hard to believe that we were the first vegetarians she came across, but who knows? The Kashk-e-bademjan, was oversalted, but the other dishes...