Lovely owner, great service, large portions and great baklava. The hummus and lamb and chicken skewers are great.

I live near Bistro Turkuaz and eat there often. Everything that I have had on the menu is delicious. I particularly like the chicken kofte. Also the lemony chicken soup is excellent. The baklava is the best in Seattle! The ambiance is cozy and intimate. I love that the owner is also the chef and visits at table as time allows--she makes you feel like family. The wait staff is friendly and solicitous but not intrusively so. read more

We went for dinner on a Wednesday evening (Valentine's Day, actually) to this little Turkish bistro in Madrona. The food was great - we tried the hummus and pancar for appetizers, and the lamb kebab and the tas kebab for our entrees. Everything was wonderful (although I think the pita was store bought?) and having enjoyed the appetizers immensely I ended up taking my tas kebab and rice home for lunch the next day, and just ate the salad (which was very fresh and the dressing was very good). My lunch the day after was way better than normal, this heated up very nicely. The place is small, but the service was fast and friendly, the music was exactly to our taste and not overly loud. I would highly recommend giving this place a try - or going back if you've been before! read more

What a gem! We have ordered take out four times since moving to the neighborhood. The food is hearty, tasty, and well priced. In particular, I recommend Borek (a vegetarian spinach and feta pasty) and the Chicken Special (grilled chicken with pita and eggplant in a tomato sauce over rice). Every dish we've ordered has included salad and bit of hummus. The prices are more than reasonable for the quantity and quality. The owner is wonderful. They generally have just a few staff working. Yes, this means it can take a moment for the food to be ready (sorry the other reviews complaining about this are ridiculous), but they've always provided a reasonably accurate time for when the food will be ready. Even more, the owner has sometimes thrown in dessert as a kind gesture. read more

See all

The food was fine but seemed expensive for what it was. The service was nice but slow, although they were short staffed the day we visited. The ambiance was good and had a nice small feel to it. read more

Darling little Bistro Turkuaz, located in the charming Madrona neighborhood in Seattle, never disappoints! The owner, DeAnna, is a magnificent chef, and her lamb dishes, marinated in her secret sauce, are very special, as are her baklava, soups, homemade cakes, dolmas and other Middle Eastern delicacies. The restaurant itself is adorable, too, decorated with ethnic art and romantic lighting. Go to Bistro Turkuaz, and you'll feel like you've really been transported to Turkey. YUM! Cannot recommend it highly enough. read more

Great service and chef seemed sweet, but I was wasn't a fan of the manti recipe. The baked goods were worth it though. I spent the past week comparing manti across multiple Turkish restaurants all over Seattle. Of all the places I visited, this one used the freshest ingredients; however, it just didn't read as manti. It tasted like tortellini salad. I've never seen manti with olives before, and there wasn't enough yogurt sauce. I couldn't detect any brown butter sauce or spicy red sauce either. I liked the addition of fresh vegetables, but again without enough yogurt it just wasn't manti in my book. I would not order it again. It also took the longest to prepare out of every place I tried. If you want manti I'd recommend Ballard instead. The lemon cake the chef thew in and the pita were great though. The cake was moist and the pita was the thin style, which I like. I think I would go back to try another baked good. The service was great, which took my review from 3 stars to 4; however, I would not try another entree. read more

Very disappointed. We came in with our daughter at 6pm. There was only one other table of customers but it was a large group of 9. Other than that it was empty. It took 15 mins for the server to return to us to take our order. Granted, she was all alone, working. From there it took 50 mins for our food to arrive and we only ordered two dishes. We didn't start eating until 7:05!! And it was average food. Nothing special for it to take an hour. Further, we only wanted one glass of wine each but ended up ordering another one because of how long we waited. The bill was ridiculous. $111 for only two dishes, hummus, and two glasses of wine. Given the huge delays I would have expected them to comp at least the extra wine or one dish. It was a huge rip off considering the delays. And, again, for very average food. Well plated and healthy but nothing special. The woman in the kitchen who I believe was either the manager or the owner apologized and mentioned the huge group. But, I would have preferred a kind gesture given the circumstance (offering baklava - which she did - isn't enough). read more

You better eat everything on your plate. If you don't, you're gonna get a visit to your table from the owner/cook! After watching "Food" at the Egyptian Theatre, we were, well, hungry. We decided to go someplace along the way to home in Mount Baker. So we drove through Madrona to check out options. We spied Bistro Turkuaz and thought, "What's this? We never saw a restaurant here before. Let's try it." We entered into an inviting environment, warmly decorated and with Mediterranean music played at just-the-right volume. There were other customers, but Turkuaz was not packed. Greeted by an attractive young woman, she indicated that we could sit anywhere we liked. We began with a bottle of Mark West '07 Pinot Noir. Turkuaz has an exhaustive list of appetizers, about half made with eggplant. We ordered the eggplant Baba Ghanoush. The Baba Ghanoush came chilled on a plate (it looks like oatmeal), drizzled with olive oil and a dried green herb and served with slices of warm pita bread. It was decent, but I can't say I swooned. For our entrees we got the Lamb Shank and the Tas Kebob with beef. The Lamb Shank is bomb!! Again I say, the Lamb Shank is bomb! It comes with little boiled potatoes and a to-die-for tomato-based sauce. Despite the name, the Tas Kebob is not served on a skewer, but is cubes of beef sauced up and served on a bed of a really nice rice. The beef was low-key in flavor, but good. Curiously, the green salad that comes with the Lamb Shank is served as a starter before the entrée. The very same salad is served with the Tas Kebob, but in the case of the Tas Kebob, the salad comes on the same plate as the entrée. After our meal, our waitress served us complementary baklava. I may have had baklava before, but I don't recall. JP raved about it and said he liked it so much because it wasn't too sweet. I can take or leave it. The waitress explained that they make baklava without honey, which is the more typical recipe. JP had his leftover lamb boxed up and I had left a little salad and rice on my plate. So while we were noshing on the baklava, a Rhea Perlman lookalike came out and asked if there was anything that was wrong with our food. We assured her everything was more than fine. After Rhea was placated, our waitress who was folding napkins at a table next to us said in a whisper, "That's my mother. She does that all the time. It's embarrassing". We laughed. read more

Food is good. Extremely slow service. Understaffed for a Saturday night. Seated at 6:30 and received appetizers at 7:40p. Still waiting on main dish as I am writing review at 8:06pm. Hoping to get served before they close:). Will say server was friendly and apologetic, but not sure I would return based on my first visit. read more

I am addicted to lamb..... Its the truth! Came to this place looking to have more tasty lamb dishes. The location is very cute and feels like your in someones house. It is pretty tiny and fills up pretty quickly so reservations might be a good idea unless you don't mind wandering around Madrona I went with the Lamb shank which was good but a bit pricey at $25. They also can be a bit stingy with the pita bread but the food was good. A good place ot hit up for turkish food. read more

We sat in a very cold place (almost every customer kept their coats on, including us) for 60 minutes waiting for our food to arrive. Two of the dishes were cold platters which would take about 10 min total to assemble (dolmas, tabbouleh, hummus, apple slices, etc) if I'm being generous. One of the platters was missing a key ingredient - hummus, but the other platter had it. I didn't even bother to ask for it because I knew it would take forever. The other dish was a lamb kabob that was extremely overcooked and lacking flavor. Why does that take an hour? The food overall was not good, lacked flavor, and there was a hair on the "clean" plates they brought us and 2 hairs in my kids food. It would be one thing if the food was great but it's just bad. The place is a nice idea and the owner seems very sweet but I just can't ever see going back. read more

Overpriced, poor ambience, disappointing food. Went looking forward too a good Mediterranean dinner left feeling very disappointed. I ordered what was described on the menu as a casserole that ended up being a soup. The chicken was dry and flavor bland, rice tasted old, the only good thing on the plate was the salad. I couldn't even finish half of it. My husband got the ravioli, for about $15 it had five ravioli?? He said it tasted ok, but for that price it should have been amazing and a bigger portion. We will not be back, go to Petra for really amazing food. read more

One dish we got was a traditional Turkish dish Turkuaz Special. It was really good and took us back to our trip to Turkey. The chicken kebab was not that special and needed more flavorful spices to be more Turkish. Next time I'll try something else that has more interesting flavors going on than a kebab. You can tell they use good ingredients in all their food. Was the first time here and will try them again. read more

5 stars based on the taste and quality of the food!! I had the ravioli and my meal was sumptuous and melt in your mouth delicious. But only 1 star for the amount of food they give you. I think there were about 9 very small raviolis on my plate, which I consumed in about 5 seconds flat. And that was it. No rice or salad or veggies or sides. For a meal that costs $17 I would have expected more. My dinner companion had the lamb kebab $19. Again same thing. Chunk of meat (which he thoroughly enjoyed!) and he did get some rice, but only able 4 tablespoons worth. Service was great. Everyone in the restaurant was friendly and talkative. The bathroom is just one unisex bathroom and there seemed to be a line for it all night long. Loads of great photos on the wall and the ambiance is very nice. Has a nice "Madrona" feel to it. It's a small place, so I recommend getting a reservation or arriving early. Also recommend having a snack before going since portions are so small. We ended up going out for Sushi after our dinner here. read more

Loved all the appetizers we had for dinner!Spiced shrimp, Baked Feta, Mucver, and Acuka with lovely warm pita. Such great flavors and the service was excellent. Will be back!! read more

See all

A lovely little restaurant. The space is warm and uplifting, and the service is equally warm and energizing. We tried 3 appetizers staying away from typical things such as hummus and baba gonoush, and opted for baked feta cheese, a roasted pepper and walnut spread, and a spicy shrimp casserole. All 3 were flavorful, favorably rich, soulful, well spiced, and delicious. The shrimp were a little bit on the small side, but still quite tasty. They served little pita triangles with all of the appetizers like many other local "Mediterranean" restaurants, and although they are ok, they just can't compare to the great Turkish style breads that this restaurant and most others around here don't take the time to make. It would be so amazing to eat this food with real fresh Turkish bread(s), and not the boring typical pitas almost everybody else serves Wine selection was excellent, mostly in terms of good Turkish wines offered at a reasonable price. Our main dishes were enjoyable and satisfying except for the beef which was very tough to cut and eat, and a bit disappointing. Two different dishes made with grilled chicken breast were both a win. The side salads were decent, but the rice pilaf was really well made. If they added a roasted pepper to some of the dishes, it may have been even better. I forgot to ask if they make a hot sauce, which needs to be further explored next time. For dessert, they had baklava which sounded interesting, yet it was made with walnut opposed to pistachio which we prefer, so we passed on that this time... but we may try it on the next visit. They also had cheesecake which may appeal to some customers, but it came across kind of boring and less authentic with that meal. This is not a place to come for fast dining, but a great place to relax and enjoy a slower meal in a warm environment. It also isn't cheap, but besides for the beef, I felt like we got a reasonable value. Overall, it was a great dining experience filled with love and hospitality in most of the food and service. I'll definitely return. If they added Turkish bread, served bulgar as an option more often, upped the game on the beef, and served more Turkish desserts, it could definitely get 5 stars. read more

Very friendly people running this place. The appetizers are what shines here, a lot of intriguing options. We had beets layered with goat cheese and fig sauce. Was delicious but a tiny portion for 12$. The zucchini pancakes were a little more hearty and were also solid. Everything was done well, I liked the ambiance, food and service. It is pricey though, 2 entrees and 2 appetizers and we were well into the 90's. Not sure it's worth that. read more

I love the flavors at this intimate Madrona bistro - the middle eastern food is good, and owners are friendly. It's small - no room for a crowd here. I give it 3-stars rather than 4-stars because it isn't that good a value -- the food is good, but it's really to pricey for what it is. It's worth a trip, but not a place you'll go back to again and again. read more

Loved this! I'll say I was a bit skeptical walking in, it's a small place with not a lot of staff and I was afraid it would be too slow. We also showed up a half hour before closing, not realizing it, but we were graciously welcomed in. And the food spoke for itself. It was well paced and not slow for us at all. We had a great time chatting with the owner about the neighborhood, her family, about Turkey and the disco food and how they cook each dish. We tried some new wine from Turkey, went crazy for the baked feta and were stuffed half way through our entrees but kept going anyway. And of course we had to stay for Baklava!! This is such a gem, a charming family business with the quality of any other restaurant in Madrona. I highly recommend giving this spot a try. I will be back!! read more

See all

At the suggestion of my Turkish friends, I chose Bistro Turkuaz for a first date dinner, and it didn't disappoint. The food is great, but the best feature is the staff/owner. They're all SO friendly and make dining there remarkable. The date was going well, and the waitress clearly saw love budding and didn't kick us out despite us staying well past closing. That was 3 years ago and my now wife and I return here every year (multiple times) to celebrate our love and the delicious food :) We've tried so many things on the many and have never been disappointed. read more

The Ambiance wasn't very good. It was a hot day and the ceiling fan wasn't working. Service was just okay. Warm water with no ice for people that like that. I wouldn't want to be in there when it's busy. The owner or cook came out and asked if everything was good. She seems nice. We started with the Mediterranean platter which was a good amount of food. More pita bread would have been nice...The tabouli was different. consisted of all couscous. Not tabouli. The olives tasted strange... the baba ganoush had a weird liquid texture to it. The feta was good. We shared the mixed Kabob plate. Not my favorite... the lamb patty taste like a hamburger... chicken had a strange flavor and texture to it... it's a good amount of food but not worth the money to me. I was a little disappointed because I chose this place based on the Yelp rating. I kindly disagree with its current yelp rating. Sorry read more

Absolutely loved the lamb plate!! Staff was extremely friendly and made sure we were taken care of even as they were in the middle of preparing a large order. read more

Bistro Turkuaz - Absolutely loved the lamb plate! - Turkish Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Since I am Turkish (and a decent cook), I usually stay away from Turkish restaurants. They can never capture the essence of the food and worse, they streamline things for the American tastes. Well, the dinner I had at Bistro Turkuaz on 34th Ave in Madrona was actually quite good. Bistro Turkuaz is a small, quaint Turkish restaurant that's been quietly serving the Madrona community for quite some time. We live in walking distance from the restaurant but I haven't been there for a while (We sampled it 3-4 years ago and didn't like it all that much). This time around, the food was really decent. Yes, there was some streamlining going on but for the most part, the essence of the flavors were there, given that they do not have access to naturally and/or organically-grown vegetables (back in Turkey and yes, it makes a huge difference). My friend Ben and I had shared the olives appetizer (good), some Acuka (a red pepper paste appetizer... great), some Patlican Sote (eggplants saute with yogurt... just OK) and then I had some lamb shank, slow cooked with vegetables (perfect). We even sampled the baklava (decent) and the rice pudding (bad), despite my restrictions on certain foods. The wine selection is fairly pedestrian but appropriate for the food selection as well as for the price points they are going for. The prices ($7-$12 for appetizers, $17-$30 for entrees) are good and the service was great. The ambiance is just right for Madrona. I'd recommend it to those who are looking for a different (but not that different) taste or something distinctly Mediterranean. If you do go and like red wine, try a bottle of Kavaklidere Yakut, a red blend from Turkey. It is an amazing young (uncomplicated, unsophisticated but good) wine that complements the lamb dishes really well. read more

As someone who grew up eating Turkish food, this was phenomenal!!! I got the mixed grill, the Turkuaz sampler appetizer, and my dad had the rice pudding. It was very similar to what my grandma used to make. The flavors were great! I want to go back on a Wednesday to try their Manti. The owner was very friendly and we had a great dinner here. My only complaint is that they charged $1 for every extra pita bread we asked for. It made me mad, because the place is pretty overpriced, and it was kind of insulting to be charged for extra pita bread. They gave one pita for the entire Turkuaz sampler that was being shared by 4 people. You'd think that after paying $25 for each dish that contained 6 little pieces of meat (Kebob sized), they could spare an extra pita free of charge. read more

My favorite place in the neighborhood hands down. Great food (the acuka is to die for, zucchini pancakes are amazing). I like the lamb kebobs, though high ratings for the ravioli and lamb shank too from fellow diners. Lovely, warm ambience. Good vibes all around. Incredibly friendly mother daughter owner and staff. read more

This was the first Turkish restaurant I've ever eaten at. The food was delicious! All of the food was freshly prepared. We had a group of thee families including kids (tweens). While probably not suitable for younger children, older kids will enjoy the food as much as the adults do. Food was served family style which made it easy for everyone to experiment, yet get just what they wanted. The service was excellent. Though busy, our waitress patiently answered all of our questions and constantly checked on us. This is a family owned restaurant. The owner and her children clearly take great pride in what they do. We'll definitely be going back. We had the following dishes, all of which were excellent: Turkuaz Plate, Turkuaz Salad, Chicken Kabab, Beef Kabab, Lamb Kabab, Turlu Guvec. For desert we had Sutlac and Baklava which provided a great conclusion to the meal. read more

I love it here so much, the food is really REALLY good, very authentic and the owner and her daughter are honest to goodness great people. Not overly smiley or anything like that-----just natural. The small setting immediately gives the sense that food cognoscenti are the clientelle. The dolmas are wonderful, salad too. I'm not Turkish, but I can tell this is Turkish food done well. Somehow I've never had to wait, which I suppose is a reality on a busy night because the place is tiny. You'll be glad you went. read more

This is the place that I took my now fiance' to for our second date. The staff went above and beyond to make our meal into a magical experience. The food, service and wine were all perfection. The weather on our date night was horrible, with snow and freezing rain. I have to say, that created a bit of a 'We Are Survivors vs. Seattle Winter' vibe in the bistro, which seemed to make our experience even better. Other diners were sharing food, talking to strangers in a wave of 'feel good'. We delightedly joined into the fun. I haven't experienced anything like that in ages. Pure magic. Call for takeout and support Bistro Turkuaz, especially during this Coronavirus age. read more

The food is great, and the ambiance is lovely. We've had several lovely meals there in the past. HOWEVER, the server was completely rude to us when we attempted to use an Open Table Dining Cheque. She refused to accept it, and got very defensive. She didn't like the fact that the other members of my party were questioning her refusal to accept the check, so she essentially kicked us out. Needless to say, we will never return. read more

Came here with my girlfriend last night and the food was amazing. You walk in and you are impressed because it is such a small restaurant. There is only room for about 25 people tops and more like 20. The decor is very turkish but there was french music playing while we were there. We started with the Turkuaz Sampler and I have to say I was just blown away. The hummas was great, it is easy to get it with a little too much garlic (and I like garlic) but this one they had the right amount of lemon juice to bring out all of the flavor. While you do have to pay an extra $1 for some extra pita, and you probably will, such is a small price to pay for delicious food. We then moved onto dinner, I had the grilled lamb chops and my girlfriend had the Turkuaz Special which was essentially the lamb kebab with patlican sote and a nice tomato sauce. The lamb was cooked perfectly and well seasoned. To finish the night the server recommended we have the baklava because it was especially good this week. She was right. We will certainly be coming back again and again. read more

My girlfriend and I found this place online and it looked really authentic. We were not disappointed. We traveled through Turkey together and know good Turkish food when we taste it. Not only was the food great, but so was the service. Our waitress was friendly and talked to us about making home cooked Turkish food. We had the Chicken Kebab, Baba Ghanoush and Chicken Güveç. Our meal was flavorful, healthy, and the yogurt dipping sauce was amazing. I highly recommend Bistro Turkuaz. read more

If you've been here and given this place a high rating, the odds are it's because you haven't eaten at another Seattle Turkish restaurant called Ephesus which is much better and more reasonably priced. My girlfriend & I love Mediterranean food and came here with an open mind, but walked away very disappointed and unsatisfied. We tried a number of their appetizers and a couple different entrees which were recommended to us as "must try" by the waitress. Frankly, none of it was extraordinary or even memorable, with the notable exception of their Acuka appetizer. That one dish was actually good enough that I would come back to get that for take out. Otherwise, I'd recommend dining at Ephesus for about half the cost and at least twice the enjoyment. read more

Treat yourself and start things off with an order of flavor-popping tabouli. Treat yourself some more and splurge for the perfectly cooked and seasoned pirzola (lamb chops). Treat yourself a final time with some crisp, delicious baklava. You could really order anything here and be more than pleased, and the service quickly reminds you of professionalism and sincerity. read more

Great authentic food and lovely family running this place. Red pepper hummus style chutney in Mediterranean platter was to die for! read more

Bistro Turkuaz - Baklava - Turkish Near Me - Seattle, Washington

This place is a real gem. Just ask the waitress what to get for appetizers and she will not disappoint. Each dish was quite amazing. For the main course we all had lamb, and each dish was perfect. I had the full rack of lamb chops, my wife the lamb shank. I've never tasted lamb like this. read more

Valentines evening. We couldn't have found a better way to have spent it then at Turkuaz Bistro. We had such a splendid time here that I actually thought of coming back the next day. I've eaten plenty of Mediterranean cuisines and Persian cuisine but have not had Turkish until this evening. This was a first. It still surprises me as to why it has taken us so long to finally eat this cuisine. We've had Moroccan, Lebanese, Israeli, Iranian (Persian) so many times and somehow always find a way to bypass this. The restaurant had a very nice feel about it. From the dim lighting to the elegant decor that surrounds you, it was the perfect setting for a nice romantic evening. Great hospitality accompanied with a simple menu with a good wine selection made the experience so much more. What else can you ask for. You as guest are also greeted by the owner herself. Making sure you feel very welcomed and enjoying your meal. It was nice. Now for the food. Basically I only had one thing targeted, the Kebabs. Everyone claims that Turkish Cuisine is known for having the best Kebabs in the world. Though some may argue, I was finally avail to find out for myself. I've had many different versions of Kebab and so my expectations where high. I found it splendidly good. But it wasn't the best I've had. None the less, still very good! This evening they had a special to cater Valentines. It was a combination of Lamb, Chicken and Beef along with a ground patty on the side complementing a nice helping of a vinaigrette tossed salad. Each bite was very gratifying. Expectations close to being met. The highlight of the dish was the chicken. Wow! It was simply amazing. The tenderness, juiciness, flavorful meat was a delight at every bite. Kind of wished I just ordered the Chicken Kebab dish. As far as the lamb and beef goes, it was really good tender, wonderfully spiced but I have had better. Also we ordered a nice appetizer platter that featured Ganoush, Hummus and Yogurt sauce drench in olive oil. With it came a nice helping of pita bread. Delicious. We had to stop our selves from snacking at it as the waiter continued to resupply us with more of there fresh Pita. At the end of the meal, we would have hoped to sample there desert but since the generous helpings in which we where served prevented our stomach to take any more, maybe our next visit we will be much prepared. Meaning we will definitely be back. Looking for a nice romantic evening and not worried about dishing out some cash this nice little restaurant in the Madison area should provide an elegant and wonderful meal. A dinner for two cost us about a 100$ but then again we did order the dinner special which coast us a little more. The average dish seemed to be about 15-18$ while the appetizers where about 8-15$. On top of that that there is a great wine selection available and an after dinner Turkish Coffee ( Espresso ) which should definitely cap your evening. Either with or without having desert. Your choice to dining here shouldn't disappoint. Enjoy! read more

This restaurant is a beautiful, little gem! Although small, it is very quaint and you feel transported to a foreign country. The service was extremely friendly and genuine. The dinner was amazing! It felt like a home-cooked meal by "mom"...which if she were my mom, I would probably get really fat from all the amazing food. The flavors and spices were warm, rich and absolutely delicious! A must try is the Turkish coffee- dark, rich with sweet notes. It will certainly keep you on your toes. I also had the marinated tiger shrimp and had no complaints on how perfect the shrimp were cooked. My boyfriend tried the meat patties and loved it too. Definitely looking forward to going back to try more! read more

Bistro Turkuaz - Turkish coffee - Turkish Near Me - Seattle, Washington

See all

Bottom line, we will definitely come back. Don't ask why I even bothered to come here when I do not like eggplant nor lamb. But my husband ordered the Turkuaz Special (eggplant, lamb, red sauce, etc.) and OMG was I surprised! The eggplant was to die for. They must have somehow caramelized it, by accident?, on purpose?, who cares, it was amazing. Everything in that dish was amazing. I ordered the Cacik appetizer which comes with pita bread. Pita was hot while the Cacik is cold, a very good combination not to mention the flavors. Then we had the lemon ricotta cheesecake with sour cherries on top. It's hard to write this review without drooling. read more

Great turkish food, tasty and well prepared. I tried the appetizer plater and mix grill and as a finishing touch their great baklava. The tables were small and close to each other, it felt like we are all eating in the same table. Its kind of an expensive place but I cant wait to go back on Wednesday to try their Manti (kind of a meat ravioli) read more