Istanbul Grill — Restaurant in Arlington

Was a bit annoyed with the communication I had with an employee here over the phone. I asked if the zucchini cakes I saw onthe menu online were a sweet item. I don't know what she thought I asked but she went on to say "i don't know but this is a mediterranean restaurant. The owner is from Turkey" to which i said ummm ok I'm well aware of who I called and the type of restaurant this is. So I then went on to say ok well do you at least know if the yogurt sauce served with it is sweet .... she says "yes it comes on the side because some people don't like it on there". WO_OW I was in my car alone with no other noise competing with our phone call so maybe something inside the restaurant was distracting her or keeping her from hearing me clearly. I said no I'm asking is this item SWEET????? or is it made with like salt and or other spices? It finally clicked to her and she said no this is a fried appetizer item and the yogurt is not sweet. Sheesh. So for anyone that's curious the zucchini cake as named online also known as zucchini pancakes on their receipt. It's a shredded zucchini mixture fried in a salty batter in the shape of triangles. So I'm not sure why this is called cake or pancakes at all but whatever. Hopefully you can see the pictures. I thought it would either be an actual cake slice like banana nut bread cake because I've heard of people making similar cakes using zucchini or something like a s saavory callion Chinese Pancake. As far as the taste/texture. Closest thing I can equate it to is like a tator tot /fried onion ring. Salty Crispy outside and mushy innards. I'd recommend it if you like onion rings. I was searching for lunch and wanted something quick and light and stumbled upon this restaurant and while the pancake was not what I wanted I was so. Curious I decided to get it anyway and that's all I got...

I lived in Turkey for 4 years and love Turkish food and have tried many times to find a Turkish restaurant in the U.S. that was the real thing. I have been so disappointed in the food at Turkish restaurants in the U.S. I found one in New York City that was very good and authentic Turkish food but that was the only one. I became very skeptical and got to the point where I wasn’t really willing to try a Turkish restaurant except every great once in a while. One of those times when I got a desire to try again I searched online for Turkish restaurants in the DFW area and Istanbul Grill in Arlington came up. My wife and I went and when we entered I said hello to the people greeting us in Turkish. They were the owners and were pleasantly surprised that I greeted them in Turkish. I can still speak a little bit of conversational Turkish and we talked for a while in Turkish but soon reached the limit of my ability. That was the beginning of a great friendship with the owners, Sam and Dee, and with the food which we found is the real thing!! We have been there many times and many times we’ve gone there with our whole family or other big groups. . Over the years we’ve celebrated birth announcements, births, marriage engagements, wedding anniversaries, and even went there to be encouraged with some good Turkish food after my mom passed away in 2016. After she died my dad would regularly invite us to dinner at Istanbul Grill and would bring a bottle of wine. Istanbul Grill is more than just a good restaurant with great food, it is a place with many wonderful memories and times of blessing for me and our family. I highly recommend it not only for the food but for the genuinely gracious...

To preface this review I'm Armenian so I've generally had different versions of the foods served at this restaurant thus I came with certain expectations. Generally I would recommend this place to people new to Mediterranean / foreign food but it will leave something to be desired for the more experienced. Leans towards the expensive, especially if you are with family get ready to spend money. Good atmosphere, the interior is well designed, music too loud especially since it's generic classical music and not particularly fitting for the theme of the restaurant. Very polite staff.

Dolma (under cold appetizer section) - Tasted pretty strange, had a weird sour / tangy flavor, the filling was too mushy for lack of a better term which hid any texture the meat might have had. The olive oil hides the flavor of the grape leaf. It was interesting but not something that I'd recommend.

Beef/Lamb sish combination - The beef was really good A+, lamb was pretty all right as well the flavor wasn't as prominent as I'd like but overall would recommend. Rice has a slight sweetness and is balanced well by the tangy red cabbage.

Chicken Sautée - I'm not a huge fan of the chicken / tomato flavor combination but this was a quality dish. Tomatoes and chicken were well made. Came with rice and red cabbage.

Baklava - Get...this...dessert. This is basically the best Baklava I've ever had so far in my life. Absolutely the highlight of my visit. Ignore the whipped cream that it comes with, complete distraction and contradiction to the wonderful flavor and texture of the Baklava. Eat...