Upon walking into the restaurant, you immediately embark upon a open-fire grill. The smoke coming…read morefrom it made me crave the not-yet-ordered grilled meats. For appetizer, my friend and I shared the mezze platter consisting of eight different spreads. It was a great choice because it let us try several different spreads. My favorites are the eggplant spread and the hummus. For grilled meats, we loved both the grilled filet mignon and the grilled chicken skewers. The meats have been aged and seasoned to perfection. It was the best meat we have had in Istanbul. You really can taste the difference between other inferiorly prepared meats. The meats come with grilled flatbread, which was delicious as well. For dessert, I had the best kunefe ever! I was so full at the end of the meal that I almost could not drink their sweet complimentary tea...almost. P.S. Warning: The long pepper that comes with the meats is extremely spicy. Don't say that nobody warned you.

Highly recommend for a traditional Turkish meal that is fresh and clean…read more We started with the mezze platter for two which had an array of different cold dips. Accompanied by fresh baked bread which was mildly crunchy on the outside but light and fluffy inside. Every item was full of wonderful flavors. For the main course we had the Tenderloin which was so soft and tasty.

Exceptional service and exceptional food!! Came here at maybe 10:00 p.m. for dinner without a…read morereservation for a group of seven and we were immediately seated. The server and everyone was super nice with answering questions. Brought us a large array of their dips on-the-house soon as we entered, with some really delicious soft flatbread. All of those those mezzss were actually so nice and some of the best we had during out trip to turkey. The beetroot one was especially unique with something like potatoes and beetroot mixed together in that dish. Highlight of the night was the Adana Kebab! Proper spicy and flavorful. Wanted to try the Iskander Kebab because I read about it online (as one of the dishes to try in Istanbul) but honestly that Adana kebab is much much better! Vine leaves appetizer was also delicious. Just the inside the leaves where it was so flavorful that you would want more of it. Family got the Falafel Burger and lentil bisque. I I tried the actual falafel and it was quite tasty and I believe they liked the bisque is very because it was all finished! We got the money for the table to try but I think it was just okay. The yogurt sauce was a little too tangy for me and the monkey itself seemed very doughy. Was too much of the actual pasta and barely any filling inside. So it just tasted like plain pasta with the yogurt sauce.

I came here since it was on me ex's list of to visit restaurants in Istanbul that she had tagged…read moreand given me. The best part of this is that it was right across the street from the Stop Over Hotel that Turkish Airlines grants you. Food was great, service was phenomenal and I even got bread, dips and an apple tea on the house! There were not many people in the restaurant, so I kind of actually enjoyed the ambiance.

I love diner kebap. I've had 3 at different places and this was best. I asked to not salt it it…read more Plenty for two

A MUST TRY. As an American, I have been SO impressed with food here in Turkey and if you are in the…read morearea, this restaurant is an absolute MUST-TRY if you're looking for great food. I had some of THEE BEST chicken kebab I've ever had in this country here. The beef kebab was also tender and flavorful. You cannot go wrong with any of these! The service was quick and prompt, and the servers were great at making recommendations. I came here in the winter so we sat indoors which felt a bit cramped however, there is also outdoor seating during the nicer weather months. If I'm ever back here in Istanbul, I would definitely come back. And if you're reading this, you NEED to try the Old Ottoman!

Istanbul is a fascinating cosmopolitan city with tons of eateries spread across its massively…read moresprawling landscape. I spent considerable time researching the ONE restaurant our group of two families (4 adults, 3 kids aged 13-15) would visit during our overnight stop while on the Norwegian Viva cruise ship. I kept coming back to Gulhane Sark Sofrasi while researching and decided this was our spot. After all, it has 5,246 Tripadvisor reviews and is ranked the #5 restaurant in Istanbul. The food, service and outdoor ambience were all fantastic. Oh, the house cat was fantastic, too, and sure was protective of its turf, scaring away any other cats who dared try snagging any dropped food. My gals ordered what I felt were plain (less exotic?) chicken dishes but they really enjoyed them. My daughter chose the Sultan's Favorite. My best buddy's daughter ordered a steak which looked fantastic. His wife ordered an eggplant dish and some protein according to her strict diet (for health reasons) as well as shrimp and grilled veggies. Us boys shared the mixed appetizer plate with delicious dips and dolmas as well as, the recommended "Adana the Classsic" kebab ($16) and some kind of cheesey meaty casserole/stew (either the Dana Guvec or the Kuzu Guvec) ~$23 that was also recommended to us. The kebab was absolutely fantastic although I didn't love the casserole/stew which seemed to me to have less flavor. The dips were awesome, especially the Turkish "salsa". I felt $30 for their House Wine & $16 for a Margarita were a little steep but maybe those are common price points for Istanbul. The entrees too were a little pricier than in mainland Greece but again, Istanbul definitely seemed more advanced and modern. I highly recommend Gulhane Sark Sofrasi and would definitely go back!

Very nice restaurant with live music when we got there. The menu is varied and the staff speaks…read moreEnglish. We got a chicken kebab and a regular kebab. Both were good but a bit salty for our palate. Very friendly staff...as in truly friendly and welcoming......Nice patio dining.

One of our favorite meals in Istanbul. The meat was so juicy and flavorful in both the spicy adana…read moreand the chicken. And mixed perfectly with the onions, tomatoes, and cilantro. A wrap is not too large; most of us ordered seconds. Prices were als9 fantastic. Limited indoor and outdoor seating, but we were able to be seated easily Wednesday evening.

Mega hyped because of the Anthony Bourdain connection. I've been in Istanbul for over a month, and…read moreevery time I have visited the place has been completely packed with tourists. Many of the reviews mention the good service, but my experience has been a little different. Every time I've visited here, I felt very uncomfortable and I don't find it welcoming. They still have an enormous amount of tourist business because of the Bourdain connection, and people seem to come here almost as a pilgrimage. The food itself is very good, but honestly, it isn't significantly better than some of the other places nearby. There are several restaurants in the area serving good kebap. Overall, glad I tried it because of the Bourdain connection, but for me, the hype is much bigger than the experience.

We had a variety of different foods. They were all very delicious. You can get good pizza, good…read moreTurkish food, good fish. Also, the service was great. The staff was really friendly.

It was great! This is my second time here and still yummy food and everything! The atmosphere was…read moreawesome, service is still good! The rice pudding was nice and so was the kannafeh. The turkish coffee and çai were also yummy. Kadi was also very nice.

This was a great first vacation meal! We got hummus, grape…read moreleaves, an alexander kabob, a raki and a small bottled water. The Alexander kabob was fantastic! The sauce, bread and curd made a brilliant combo and there was also a slice of potato a chili and a tomato. This is the first time I have ever felt like yogurt added anything to a dish. It was so good. The raki was awesome. The waiter insisted I add some water to it and he definitely knew best, it was sharp. And then it turned white! It is an anise liquor, like a jaegermeister, and I was glad I tried it. We ate in the semi outside seating which is always such a highlight in Istanbul. Great ambience and the wait staff and host were really welcoming. They gave us complimentary tea and baklava when we asked for the check and that was also lovely.

The accommodations were wonderful, the service was excellent, and they did everything they could to…read moremake our night incredible. Everything was delicious, and the show was spectacular. Congratulations to the whole team! Cozatmosphere, with pleasant music. Everything was very clean.

Wonderful authentic Turkish food from Antakya. Service was also solid, English speaking and good…read morewith talking through my girlfriend's allergies. We got the mezze plate with 8 different mezzes---the spicy yogurt was our favorite and it's very spicy. The bread they use is excellent, has some red spice on it that we all loved. For dinner got the lamb shish which was excellent, and the pera antakia kebab which was also very good. All around great, highly recommend

One of the absolute best we had it Istanbul. My husband and I did a couple Michelin restaurants in…read moreIstanbul including Turk Fatih Tutak and Sankai but I must say Pera Antakya was certainly our top pick in its category even next to our Michelin experiences. It was our most memorable experience given the food was just so authentic and good. We were pleasantly surprised because I had found Pera Antakya in my research when planning our trip and it was first on our list to try, we then discovered when we arrived at our hotel (The Westist) on our first night that Pera Antakya was right next door. We were shocked/surprised/thrilled all at the same time. As such, we had dinner here the first night we arrived in Istanbul and was blown away. We did the meze, the wrap, farmer's cheese, and the mixed grill plate all based on recommendations from who we believe was the owner. The hospitality was lovely, welcoming, but more so the food was incredibly memorable and we found ourselves wishing we had more time in Istanbul so we could come back and eat at Pera Antakya. We did a couple other highly rated restaurants in similar concept to Pera Antakya over the week we stayed in Istanbul and ultimately though food in Istanbul is generally good, we found Pera was still the best we had out of all them in the same category. In fact, if it was only one restaurant we could go back to and have another meal at or if I could only recommend one restaurant to eat at while you're in Istanbul--- it would be Pera Antakya. We were that impressed with this place. Do not miss it if you're in Istanbul!