Şiva Oyster Fish Restaurant — Restaurant in Fatih

From the UK, saw these reviews and planned ahead to come here due to the reviews. The General manager , was overall lovely. I ordered the octopus and casserole as there was no crab, my friend ordered grilled vegetables and rice. I asked for my octopus to be grilled with the casserole on the side, as I wasn’t sure of it being in my casserole sauce , and asked for the octopus to be well seasoned, was reassured it would be. Food arrived in good time, but was dissatisfied by “flavours”; the octopus arrived and was visible charred, the end of the tentacle was crispy, I literally could snap it, the meatier part was tough and the octopus itself was not at all seasoned :/ Having it in the casserole instead would not have been any better as the mix of mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes was insipid, tasted like tomatoes and mushrooms had been taken straight from a can and gently heated . My friends grilled vegetables was a platter of onion , medium tomatoes, red peppers (not deseeded) , and courgette. The only saving grace was the rice, it was as rice should be, but everything else was literally just grilled , not flavour at all, sometimes even not cooked at all, even the carrot was raw, basically raw veg with grill marks on them :/. Being in turkey by this point for four days, I would definitely recommend going elsewhere, both for price (around 100-130tl usually) and decent food. Overall my octopus would have been 800 Tl, but the GM dealt with my complaint fairly , in the end, and removed my octopus...

⚠️ Tourists Beware: Hidden Lobster Pricing Scam

I recently dined at Siva Seafood in Istanbul and paid ₺13,500 for a lobster—without ever being shown the weight or price per kilo. The waiter casually said “we sell by weight,” but never disclosed the actual weight before preparing the dish. There was no clear pricing on the menu, and we were not given a chance to approve the portion size.

That’s a textbook tourist trap move.

While the food was okay and the ambiance decent, this kind of pricing behavior is unacceptable and deceptive. When I reviewed the bill later, I realized the lobster alone was over half our total. Other items were also massively overpriced (₺1,800 for fried calamari, for example).

I’ve eaten seafood all over Turkey—including upscale places in Bodrum and Alaçatı—and I’ve never seen lobster priced like this without some serious manipulation involved.

🚫 Advice to other travelers: Insist on seeing the lobster’s weight and price per kg before they cook it.

Ask for written confirmation or take a photo of the scale.

If they’re vague or dismissive, walk out.

Don’t fall for the "market price" excuse without seeing the actual numbers.

This place is clearly targeting...

This place has a weird vibe that feels like they try to scam you, and after reading the other reviews and experiencing a dinner here myself I can understand why some say 5 star reviews might be fake. The food was good ( my fish was actually very good, but shepherd salad and chicken was just okay); the price is a bit high but I’m okay with that too; but the issue is the uncomfortable atmosphere. Two guys outside bothering every pedestrian aggressively and trying to persuade them to come inside, and watching it constantly while siting and trying to have relaxing dinner; is intolerable. The other guys inside push you for getting the food you don’t want, wine you didn’t ask for, etc. it’s a lot of pushing. I have lived in both USA and Middle East before and this is not the culture and not acceptable. It’s simply annoying. I would love to recommend them but I can’t. The food is 4 start at best and considering the vibe I would not go...