The Istanbul Kitchen — Restaurant in Cheltenham

i honestly don't know how people give 5 stars so easily to restaurants. even if the service is great and the food is great - was it really a perfect rating? to me, the staff and their service was excellent - friendly and well-mannered the food was over-priced and my group felt similarly. between us, we have eaten at quite a handful of 'turkish' / 'kebab-heavy' establishments, and i don't know whether it's because of the cheltenham clientele or some other reason as to why the pricing was above expected i had the (insert turkish name for food here) which tasted like a posh version of mac n cheese but the lamb kofte were very meaty and delicious. we ordered the sharing platter for starters which actually had a good selection of a bit of everything in the starter menu. i feel like the server put the hummus and falafel on my side intentionally, as if to assert his dominance (i'm allergic to chickpea). not sure if this is a turkish thing. my friends next to me had it facing the other way, so there was definitely some evidence of foul play there. we had 'complimentary' turkish teas which i feel they give to everyone who doesn't include it as part of their order. maybe that's why most of the other reviews were 5 stars. in turkey, this stuff is like tap water to them - it's almost expected to be free i had the mango and passionfruit cheesecake as a finisher and there were some pistachios on the scoop of ice cream next to it (potentially out of spite again? as i'm almost allergic to these too) - and it was a well rounded solid 3 course meal. we packed up our things after seeing the bill - which at first i thought we were paying for everyone's meal.. sadly, it was just for us 4. the only reason i would be returning to this restaurant is to hear the pre-recorded happy birthday song they play as i am too embarrassed to ask them for the youtube link... and a part of me still thinks it's being performed live each time

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Worst Turkish experience in UK! We eat a lot of Turkish food and have visited Turkish restaurants in many parts of the UK. This is by far the worst experience. We came here very early evening after shopping, looking forward to a nice Turkish meal....we love Turkish food. Unfortunately it wasn't the usual service you get in a Turkish restaurant. No complimentary bread & dips, which was fine because we weren't too hungry. Although we noticed that other tables were receiving it. No follow up during our meal to check everything was OK. Sadly there were a couple of issues with my meal which could have easily been resolved had I been asked if everything was OK with my meal. This is the first time I've experienced this. When we told them we had a few issues with the meal and can we have the bill please, we heard one of the waitresses say that we were rude. We are not rude, just because we pointed out the faults. It is in fact rude to be ignorant to paying customers and it is rude to serve them undercooked and dry food. Part of my meal was dry and the tomatoes & peppers on both meals were undercooked. I notice from other reviews that I am not alone in being ignored and not checked on. May I suggest that you work on your customer...

I recently visited The Istanbul Kitchen, a Turkish restaurant located in Cheltenham, with some friends. Overall, our experience was quite enjoyable. The staff was friendly and attentive, making us feel welcome from the moment we walked in.

The food, for the most part, was delicious and satisfying. Portion sizes were quite generous, and we left the restaurant with satisfied appetites. The flavors of the dishes were authentic and well-prepared, and we particularly enjoyed the variety of kebabs and mezze options on the menu.

However, the only drawback was the pricing. We found the menu to be a bit on the expensive side, which was a bit of a disappointment. While the quality of the food and service were commendable, the higher prices left us with a somewhat mixed impression.

In summary, The Istanbul Kitchen offers a pleasant dining experience with friendly staff and tasty, generously portioned Turkish cuisine. If the pricing were more reasonable, it would easily earn a 5-star rating from us. Nevertheless, we would still recommend it for those looking for a delightful Turkish dining experience in Cheltenham, and we award it a solid...