Istanbul Foodlovers — Restaurant in Monroe Township

1st time customer. Food was good. There were only 5 occupied tables altogether. Service started out slow where we had to wait a couple of minutes to order but quickly picked up after we ordered. (I didn't mind the wait since there were only 2 staff that I could see and the young woman behind the cash register was also the waitress, bus boy, etc although it would have helped if she acknowledged that she was also the waiter and would get back to us. In the beginning, I thought they had forgotten about us until she came back perhaps 15 mins later and asked for our order.)

There is complementary warm bread and olives which were a nice touch.

We ordered the Istanbul Sampler ($14.51) which is about 4 different items with 3 of each. Nothing to rave about but everything was hot and well prepared. I usually don't like the grape leaf wrapped appetizer but it was good at this establishment.

My adana kebab ($17.63) was what I expected it to be. Good presentation and taste. The chicken hunkar begendi ($17.63) is marinated tender chicken breast cubes on pureed cooked eggplant. I wasn't expecting the slightly tangy tomato sauce on top of the chicken but overall pretty good. I didn't have the gyro (doner) and lamb adana ($18.67) but my brother nearly finished it all which is a good sign. You don't get extra meat, just that it's 1/2 an order of lamb and 1/2 an order of beef.

I like that they offered unique drinks like a Turkish sprite although pricey at $3.12 for what might be an 8 oz small bottle. My can of diet pepsi was $2.

The reason why they got 3 stars are the following:

1. They had customers that were passing by our table to go to the restroom without masks on and on top of it all, they were coughing at TWO tables not even covering their mouths. No one at the establishment enforced mask wearing once customers were up and walking about the restaurant, especially since the 3 people that got up from two different tables (one set was an older white couple and another was a blonde woman in her 50's) were coughing with poor manners not even covering their mouths.Unfortunately they had to pass by our table to get to the restroom.
2. The price of the items listed on the menu do not reflect the actual price when it was rung up by the cashier. They're about $3 more than the online and paper menu for some meal items. (I don't like surprises. Be up front!)
3. They taxed me twice at 6.625%.
4. This one ticked me off, but I did not say anything. I paid with my credit card at the front desk. The cashier AUTOMATICALLY TIPPED herself 18% without asking me! Her loss as I would normally have given 20%, but it's a matter of principal. You do NOT select your own tip amount!!! I suppose in the end, she ended up with more than 20% considering the meals were each already not only raised in price but also taxed individually and then taxed again as a total!

Probably not coming back and not recommending it for those reasons. I would have understood if they were up front about the automatic gratuity and taxing twice and different price than what's on the menu. I understand restaurants are/were suffering, but don't try to get one over on patrons...

Had a great experience at this authentic Turkish restaurant. The hospitality by the staff was excellent and they treated everyone in the restuarant like we were their family. The food was excellent and authentic with dishes that aren't to common at other Turkish restaurants.

For starters we had kibbeh and lamajoun. The kibbeh is my friends favorite childhood dish and said that it tasted just like his mother would prepare it. I was really excited for the lamajoun and it lived up to my hype for it. It's like a very thin crust pizza. The meat spread on top was excellent.

My main dish was the Adana kebab with yogurt. Was really delicious. For dessert we had a pudding dish which was so luscious and rich and brought home the baklava for later. The baklava was sweet and flakey. So good!

Istanbulfoodlovers is my favorite turkish restaurant that I have been to. The food is amazing and the staff made me feel the authenticity. Loved every minute that I was there. Would recommend for anyone...

This place has taught me that when trying a new restaurant make sure to audit the menu; I don’t feel like that is an appropriate way to think when going out to eat nor should you have too think that way. I would have appreciated the waitress being upfront and honest about the menu prices and credit card prices; they are different and they also add 18% gratuity, but that too is hidden on the back side of the menu in a small font. I understand why the prices were different even though I don’t agree with it. I just ask for honesty when ordering. As for the gratuity, it felt like a scam. The service was basic, nothing that justified 18% and I usually tip 18-20% or more. On the positive side, the taste was okay and I loved the atmosphere and music. I will not be returning due to the poor ethics of the restaurant. ...