Aya Sofia Restaurant — Restaurant in St. Louis

Ok, first let me start of saying that I have eaten Turkish food for most of my life. Growing up in Germany most of my life I have eaten Turkish food daily. Germany has a Turkish population of more than 4 million and the "Doner kebab" is the number one fast food there. Also most of my friends were turkish and I ate at their houses many times.

Well now that I'm living in St. Louis I was excited to find a Turkish restaurant. I decided to go there for lunch, I ordered my favorite, a Doner kebab. The waitress brought it out and after looking at it I told her that this is not Doner kebab, she looked at me weird and asked what I mean. I told her that the meat is not doner kebab meat. She insisted that it was Doner kebab so I asked to talk to the cook. The cook came out and I pointed out that this meat is not doner kebab meat and he being turkish should know that. He replied in a rude way by saying that this is all they have. I told him again, you are turkish and you should know better. I saw that this guy was having a bad day so asked him if they had "lahmacun" which is turkish pizza. He told me that they don't and walked away. I looked at the menu again and saw that they have borek so I ordered some of that. She brought out 6 small triangular pieces, I tried one of the pieces and realized that they made the borek's from store bought filo dough which tasted horrible. When I lived in Germany my Turkish friends moms would make the filo dough by hand and it was amazing, also the borek itself was much bigger and had more meat.

So after a big let down by the food I paid for my meal and as I was walking out the cook was talking to the waitress. I was so mad that as I was walking out couldn't keep myself from not telling him that the food is not Turkish at all and he as being Turkish should know better.

SO PEOPLE, PLEASE DON'T GO TO THIS PLACE AND EXPECT AUTHENTIC TURKISH FOOD. THAT WOULD BE LIKE GOING TO TACO BELL AND LOOKING FOR MEXICAN FOOD. THIS PLACE PLAIN AND SIMPLE SUCKS. I'M SORRY, I LOVE TURKISH FOOD AND DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO DISLIKE TURKISH FOOD BECAUSE THEY GOT DISAPPOINTED HERE. TURKISH CUISINE IS AMAZING BUT THIS PLACE...

I was browsing for a romantic spot to take the wifey and this place had the look and feel that I was going for. To my surprise the restaurant had a phenomenal ambiance and excellent service right from the moment we walked in door.

We had the platter with humus, biber ezme and babaganuş for an appetizer. At most Mediterranean places, this would be served with with hot pita bread but here they serve it with tiny baguette slices. Both are good, but if you prefer the pita, you can ask for an order of it and will only cost $1. In my opinion, it was worth the $1 and we really enjoyed it.

For entrees we tried the sis kebab and the Iskender. Both dishes were flavorful in their own ways. For the sis kebab you have a variety of options, we choice 1 kebab lamb and 1 kebab chicken. I would highly recommend chicken kebab as it came out succulent and was more juicy and had more flavor compared to the lamb.

They have a plethora of wine selections and dessert options if those peak your interest. If the server asks if you are interested in coffee or desserts, it's worth saying yes, because instead of bringing you a menu,they will bring out a tray of everything for you to see visually, which I thought was a very nice touch. While there were a few dessert options that sounded delicious, we were both very full for dinner and had to say no to dessert.

Overall, we had a great time. I thought this Turkish spot was a bit over priced. Parking is limited but there are ample street parking available. Make sure to reserve prior especially weekends.

Ambience - 10/10 Staff service/ attitude - 9/10 Food quality/portion - 9/10 Location -...

Great ambiance. Good food. Great taste of Turkish cuisine. The Turkish coffee Is excellent and you really can't go wrong with any appetizer. There is an excellent assortment of desserts to choose from to finish your meal off.

Restaurant is clean and the staff was very polite and helpful. I myself had a tough time with pronounciation of some of the dishes and there was no laughing just a mild correction for my own knowledge. I appreciate the recommendations of staff when I try a new place because often it is hard to decide. I may not go with it but it usually directs me to where I want to be on the menu. Our server was exceptional in this regard.

Bathrooms were clean, food arrived quickly and overall it was a great experience. My only deduction for a star was due to portion sizes of the appetizers. They are appetizers I get it but there was barely enough to get a taste when sharing at a table and not nearly the portion there should have been for the price. This is just my opinion as a self diagnosed glutton, however, so you may find portions to be more to your liking. Entree portions were great though and more than made up for it.

Again overall experience was great so if you are looking for a quaint spot to try some Turkish food in the Lou...