Resto Ethnica — Restaurant in Fatih

I strongly believe that this restaurant bought lots of 5 star reviews. Neither the food or the service was worth the 5 star review.

My husband ordered Ottoman Kebab one and I ordered Tirit(?), not sure whether I got the spelling right. The kebab was okay, but was probably the least tasty one we had in Istanbul. And we stayed in Taksim and Maltepe areas for over a week in each area and dined out every night. Let’s say, we tried over a dozen kebab places across Istanbul. So we know what good kebab should taste like. Their kebab was cooked well but didn’t have much flavours in it.

The Tirit I ordered should be a special stew type of food. In the description, it says the bread should be soaked in bone broth. But when it was served, the break was soaked in oil! The beef was cooked okay but one piece tasted alright and the next piece was really salty.

We were quite disappointed at the food. In terms of service, they didn’t have much either. It was okay but we had better service in Istanbul, warm, welcoming and delightful service.

They offered free tea and beklava, which we were grateful. But again, it wasn’t the best.

For a place with 5 star reviews, I would expect the top quality food and extremely welcoming staff members. But we got none. I would have given a one star but an extra star for the environment. It was pretty good vibe.

I believe it’s very common for restaurants in this area to buy good reviews because I saw people leaving similar reviews under other restaurants with over 4.7 stars rating. I could understand that they are very busy and it’s a place for tourists but it doesn’t mean that you can make good food. We still want good food as tourists.

Last but not the least, the bill was over 900 lira, which was the most expensive one that we had in Istanbul. They added 10% service charge themselves so we didn’t tip at all. We wouldn’t want to tip anyway.

I would recommend staying in Taksim. Everything is reasonable and you could find quality food with a very reasonable price.

If you are reading this, get a burger from KFC or McDonald’s or Burger King or get a sandwich from Subway. Don’t bother looking for any restaurants nearby. At least you won’t be disappointed and lose a lot of money. Then head to Taskim/Osmanbey, you will find much...

Don’t be fooled by all the 5 star reviews, this so called ‘restaurant’ probably fakes/buys the reviews. And when that despicable excuse for a man that stands outside in his cheap beige suit touting for business tries to lure you in, don’t do it especially if you’re female travellers. We stupidly decided to have dinner here at around 6pm and the place was empty yet the service was slow. We ordered the lamb chops and when they arrived they were actually huge mutton chops which had a pool of blood sitting on top. We asked for them to cook the chops more as there was still blood in them, again when they brought them around the second time the blood was still there. They then argued with us that it was not blood we were seeing but juices from the fat. Fat is not red in colour. As we hadn’t touched the food we said we would pay for our drinks, after some back and fourth they said they will cancel the order and charge nothing. We still insisted on paying for our drinks as we had been drinking them. When they pretended to go and get the bill they came back and said we can’t leave without paying for everything as the chef had told them it was not blood on the food. At this point we were surrounded by 3 males who were intimidating us and we were unable to move. The guy in the cheap beige suit then threatened to call the police and got his phone and started dialling in order to force us to pay for something we did not consume. As it was our first time in Istanbul, we were left very frightened and shaken by this experience at this point and so agreed to pay the bill in full so we could get out of there quickly. As I said at the start, if you are females travellers AVOID this place...

Horrible. Went for breakfast. The waiter outside was trying to lure some other tourists in. Who didn’t want to eat there. So he ignored me, although I did want to.

I had read the reviews on Google Maps, so I asked him for “the best breakfast in Istanbul”. He said “sure, the Anatolian breakfast, take a seat”. I did. They offered me Turkish tea. I had it and it wasn’t bad. And then I waited. And waited. And waited.

And some other customers arrived. And they got served. And I received another cup of tea. And I drank it. And it wasn’t bad. And then waited.

And then I asked the waiter (by the way, there is a meme on the internet saying something like “if you wait for the waiter, then you become the waiter”): “how much more till my order arrives?”. And he asked back: “.what order?”. “My Anatolian breakfast”. “I didn’t understand you wanted to have breakfast”. “Then why didn’t you offer me a menu or ask if I wanted something for almost one hour?”. No answer.

I paid for the two cups of Turkish tea that were supposed to be on the house. And left. And will never return even if it’s the only restaurant left in the whole city.

I admit the food looked great, though. On other...