Zaitoune Findikzade -‏حلويات زيتونة — Restaurant in Fatih

No complaints about their sweets – they are really good and worth trying. But the shop itself is not worth the visit.

We had a very bad experience with the staff, especially the young man at the front who takes the orders. When we first entered, he welcomed us warmly, and I was happy to hear him speak Arabic. I realized he was Syrian. I asked about the prices, and he started listing the price per kilo for each type of sweet. I told him I’m just a tourist and only wanted a small amount to taste – maybe for 150 lira.

Suddenly, his attitude changed. I wish he had simply said no politely and let me go somewhere else. But instead, he said “yes” in a very cold way. Then, when another customer came and ordered a large amount, he left me waiting for a long time.

Finally, he prepared my small box and took it to the cashier, and told me the price was 250 lira. I was embarrassed. Luckily, my hotel was close by. I gave him 150 lira and asked him to keep the sweets until I came back with the rest. Even then, his attitude was rude.

A shop in a tourist area should treat all visitors with respect. Sadly, that was not the case. Respect comes before money or profit. That day, I decided I would never return to that shop again. Even my son told me we should give the sweets back because we felt so humiliated.

I was planning to buy more as gifts before leaving Turkey, but I chose another shop near Sultanahmet Mosque instead. The sweets there were not as good, but the young Algerian man who worked there was kind, respectful, and welcomed us with a smile.

Unlike “Zeytouna” shop, where the staff does not respect their customers, that small act of kindness made a big difference. If you ever visit Zeytouna, try ordering a small amount first, and you’ll see what kind of...

I need to sing the praises of this place! It was recommended to me by a friend and once I arrived to Istanbul I had to find it. I wanted to get gifts for family, friends, and colleagues and I knew that they had delicious oriental sweets in miniature sizes. The welcoming we received from the staff was unmatched, they also helped with recommendations and continuously offered tasting. At some point - out of curiosity - I asked about a desert on display that I hadn’t seen before. The sales rep explained that it was called Madlou’a, a Syrian desert typically served with Ashta on top and sprinkled with pistachios. As I was moving forward to check out, the team invited us to take a seat and try the Madlou’a. At this point we were already served many samples along with Turkish coffee! To top it all off, we got a discount (although we hadn’t ask for one) and they included several reusable bags with our purchase as they knew the boxes were to be gifted. We left with full hearts (and bellies). Highly recommend for professional customer service, deliciousness and freshness, and beautiful...

I bought a bulk of mixed sweets in 2019 and my family and friends really liked it. I came in today in this location wanting to buy 8 kilos of mixed sweets. The staff was extremely rude in not wanting to give us a little discount. Mind you 1 kilo is for 480 lira and 600 lira for honey, which is a lot when you account the amount I wanted to buy. The Fatih location told me 450 lira just a few days before and then them saying 480 lira just made me irritated. My family just ended up walking out and bought the 8 kilos from another sweet shop close by. My family and my friends will surly never buy from ZaitouneOglu again. Customer’s satisfaction should be any shop’s number one priority. There’s thousands of shops that’s sells the exact same thing that can...