Istanbul Restaurant — Restaurant in London

Do not eat here!!!! It seems to have been taken over by new management and the management and service is a complete shambles.

Two of our group ordered a sharing plater which seems to be the only thing on their menu they are able to produce correctly. While the other two from our group ordered the Prawn Sautéed dish with one portion of chips this variation was obviously too much for both staff and chef as they brought the rice with no prawns then brought the two prawn dishes 1 with only 3 prawns while the other had 9 and no chips!

When queried, the staff were confused unable to resolve the issue without the manager, who we had to also direct in how to resolve this issue which was to take the 3 prawn dish away and provide her with the correct portion with the chips as requested.

Our meal together was spoilt as one of us no had no food to eat while she had to wait for it to be recooked. Then suddenly the chips arrived but no prawns! I ask the manager if he was going to remove the cost of her meal as the service has been disgraceful and he spoke in English with me and agreed to this compensation.

However once we had all finally eaten the person who's meal was insufficiently below par was the person who paid not realising they had included her meal which they said would be deducted. When this was addressed with the manager he said he didn't charge for the prawns that were taken away!! He then proceeded to speak in his language to his staff for her to translate that we had 3 sets of prawns.

So if I hadn't asked for a dish to be removed he would've made us also pay for the 3 prawns they dished up!!

The food is mediocre and they are unable to serve up portions correctly or in a timely manner they are unable cope with any variation on their menu even if it is just chips. The hassle just to eat and enjoy your time together as group is really spoilt by this establishment and I would never eat here again or recommend anyone to eat here!.. There are plenty of really good Turkish restaurants locally but sadly...

We enjoyed reading the detailed menu, and choosing something different for us. Dinner was served with the first course of charred flatbread and three sauces: a tzatziki, a mint yogurt, and a pepper sauce that was mildly spicy. The table was set with sparkling clean dishes, and cleaned just before the next plate was set. The waitstaff was smiling, attentive and knowledgeable to answer our questions. The dinner plates are beautiful and hold the delicious meals that included salad, rice and spiced meat. Save some sauces to try with the main dish. The lamb liver was tender, grilled and hot. Same with my lamb meatballs. The spicing was perfect for us as we didn't touch the salt or pepper set! The rice was a nice side cooked perfectly. There was a nicely charred 1/2 tomato and a charred green mild chile with good flavor. The salad was one of the best I've had as a side as it had attention to detail with bite-sized cucumber and tomato, greens and marinated red cabbage. A lemon wedge on the plate was pretty and the extra squeeze of fresh citrus enhanced the meal! We ate until we were full, and asked for a take-out box that had enough for another meal. Then we were ready to leave until the server asked us if we wanted Turkish tea. Sure we did! They brought a steaming little glass of tea and two perfect pastries lightly sweetened with a sprinkle of pistachios. We loved our entire experience...

Just visited Istanbul restaurant for the first time with family based on a recommendation from family friends. It was a weekday so the restaurant was not busy. We ordered the largest platter available because we hate decisions and know that we love the full range of meats and chicken cooked various ways with bulgur and plain rice accompanied with a cold meze starters with lahmacun. I would not rate the cold starters but have to say that the platter was larger than we are used to and did not disappoint and made up for any disappointment with the starters. We were then served with a complimentary pastry and turkish tea. As usual for us when leaving a Turkish restaurant we left with our doggy bag of leftover food for the next two meals (we really cannot eat big even if we love the food!)..... Have to say North London Turkish restaurants serve better food than we found in (geographical!) Istanbul last summer, though I guess that is a little like eating middle eastern food on Queensway!!!

Staff not that great with English but guess that is part of the cultural experience to take on the chin! Staff in Istanbul spoke better English but food was not as good as over here! North London not as scenic as the...