hold up! Shut the front door! Slap your momma!…read more This place is THAT good. We first walked by on a late night coming from Taksim square and I was surprised to find this clean and stylish lokanta packed with late night partygoers. With the large groups of people enjoying their food I made a note to come back. We ended up eating here six times during our week in Istanbul. The food was cheap and plentiful! Çorba or soup was the best only 1.50 TL. I liked that they had a community atmosphere and the checkered floor reminds me of times gone past!! Its located down Istikal street on a side street. If your heading away from Taksim square then its on your right.

This place was close to my hotel and of course there were attendants trying to usher me and anyone…read moreelse who walked by to sit down and order. I fell for it because I was starving. I got a chicken kebab and it didn't have much flavor. It came with undercooked French fries. At least the stray cats were fat and happy. It wouldn't have been so bad if the men weren't so aggressive when trying to flirt with me. It's so obvious they are after someone with a U.S., U.K., or Euro passport. Even the old married ones. I kept trying to pay and leave and they kept bringing me additional cups of free tea.

The people outside were enticing us to come inside and we were tired from the airport and…read moreperishing. I'm really glad we ended up coming here because the prices weren't too bad and the food was pretty good as well! It was very healthy as well as an adequate portion size that would make you full. Served all spoke English and were very accommodating when having us split the check, overall a good experience as a first timer in turkey!

I think it was pretty awesome! Cheap, delicious food. Especially liked the one with eggplants in it.read more

My friends and I decided to cap our vacation with a Bosphorus Cruise because we thought it would be…read morea relazing and fun way to see the city and take in the culture. Boy were we wrong. The cruise was offered by our hotel and sounded like a good enough recommendation to take up. The night started out with a pick up from the cruise hosts which was nice and timely. We then noticed that the transport service was set to pick up multiple groups (3 in total after our pick up) which took a good chunk of time that we weren't expecting. I knew I was tired after the trip and figured if this was a problem later we could taxi home. On getting to the tour boat the atmosphere seemed nice enough with strobe lights and music, a nicely set table. I found it a bit strange that the food was already served for every person in attendance even though not everyone was there. Again, I gave them the benefit of the doubt since it was cold appetizers - but I still thought it was strange that the hosts in no way tried to explain what each portion of the meal at any point was. The best I could describe the food would be some scooped potato stuff next to an eggplant slice with creamy stuff dolloped on top, next to the same creamy stuff piped onto the plate, some creamy stuff with orange bits in it, and some quinoa looking stuff that wasnt quinoa along with a mediocre iceberg side salad. Not exactly impressive. The hosts come to each group and ask where everyone is from which I take as a cute way to make the experience feel multicultural. Later as the MC - a middle aged man who happens to know bits and pieces of many languages - uses these markers to basically make semi-racist, stereotyping remarks about each group...ONE BY ONE....which takes up a HUGE amount of time and you could tell he was running out of steam, running out of racist remarks to say by the end of the whole group introduction. Some groups were enthused by this and others we pretty whatever about it...my theory is the MC was guaging who was giving him the best response and using this info to carter the experience to these cultural groups and leaving the others in the dust. My friends and I noticed that the "dance floor" was pretty small and were curious if this was really where the dancing would take place. The MC gets along to introducing the dancing portion of the evening with the main highlight of the show "The Whirling Dervish" up first. The MC asked the group to "show some respect" as a gentleman dressed in what appears to be traditional dervish garb comes from below deck and then proceeds to get into dervish pose and start twirling. The twirling continues for a good 5 minutes it seems, and in the middle of it I can't help but laugh and turn to my friend asking "is this literally all there is? he has not done anything different the entire time." The tornado dance stops and he goes back below deck...probably the least respectful rendition of a spiritual dance I could have seen. The rest of the local dance are all right and were really something I feel ANYONE on the boat could have done with a week or so of work, no offense to the dancers who im sure are hard working people. The best dancer was probably the belly dancer who probably had the most dancing experience of everyone. The people of Orient House are like many businesses and know that sex sells and used her to get the crowd going which it did for certain groups but I could see right through it - although having tits rubbed against me wasn't the worst thing in the world. The hosts then paraded her around to each group for a group picture which they later tried to sell for €30 The dinner portion was either chicken or fish with a beverage of choice. My friend got some wine which she said was not that enjoyable. I got the fish which was placed on a bed of iceberg lettuce and my friends go the chicken and a side of rice pilaf. Again...not exactly impressive. I was hoping the food would be a helpful distraction from the poor performance but I was sadly mistaken. Dinner was topped off with some mealy fruits. The cruised dragged on for what felt like forever - we kept thinking the boat was close to port and would get excited only to see it basically just go in circles. The MC continued on to the group dance portion of the evening. This is where he used his group intro reconisence to basically appease the more lively portions of the cruise people. He spoke in their language and played for the most part their music which I have nothing against but it definitely felt very segregating which I could sense other visitors were feeling as well. I wanted to go home. During the maddness we were given the bill which my friends and I thought the hotel was going to bill us for. The total for three people - €150 - not bad compared to the prices Ive seen other people or their website post but totally not worth the price - I was pissed but we coughed it up. In hind sight I wish we got billed in lira. As the boat finally docked to

İ like this place due great food and high quality of service. However, last week i have noticed…read morethat price sky rocketed, and fewer customers around. İ decided to give a break for a while. Perhaps , they become more reasonable.

From the owner: Et & Kebap Restaurantread more

Extra ordinary Quality and great prices to match. Phenomenol…read moreservice and great tasting food. As the name suggests the ingredients are exquisite and very fresh!! Would highly reccomend to any one visiting!

This was a good restaurant and I was not disappointed with my experience here…read more The food was very good and the service was friendly and attentive. They were very flexible since they allowed all 7 of us to use 7 different credit cards to pay for the group meal, which was very helpful. We ordered a couple of bottles of red wine and they arrived slightly chilled, which was perfect for those hot evenings in the summer. I'd recommend this restaurant if you're in the area.

We ended up in Bej after planning to stop by Lokanta Maya for dinner without a reservation (on a…read moreMonday night) and learning there were no tables available. Desperate to avoid the row of tourist traps along the water, we asked the staff at Lokanta Maya if they could point us in the direction of another good restaurant in the area, and that's how we found Bej. The ambiance here is upscale/ classy/ trendy, but not stuffy. There was a huge display of gorgeous fresh flowers greeting us when we walked in, and we managed to snag the only unreserved table in the place. The menu offered a good selection of food, all slightly interesting twists on classic meals. The three of us split a bottle of wine from a moderate sized wine list, and started off with a couple of appetizers. There was a slightly spicy chicken dish we ordered that was delicious. For a main course I ordered the baked goat cheese, which was described as being served with beets and arugula. Perhaps the description in Turkish was more accurate, but I was depending on the English version of the menu, being a foreigner and all. When my meal arrived it was actually mostly a large bowl or salad, with a largish sized baked goat cheese on top. The flavor was great, and it was warm and creamy. The beets were difficult to find, but were eventually discovered hiding at the bottom of my bowl. While it wasn't the most delicious flavor combination, it was still really good, and I enjoyed the meal. We finished things off with a selection of ice creams: Rose, lavender, and chocolate. This was the perfect ending to a meal, and the unique flavors were a definite treat for the taste buds. Don't skip the chocolate because it is typical though- it paired wonderfully with the other flavors and really made them even more enjoyable. Another cool discovery at this place is back behind the bar area, there is actually a little shop which is open during the day. It is filled with cool items (from paper, prints, home decor items) that all have a unique and slightly funky flair. Much better for potential souvenir shopping than your typical tourist traps.