I love Tarantula! Great decoration, interesting menu (twists on some classic Istanbul…read morefavorites...and they have sliders) and all affordable and fairly priced. Even though it opened just a few months ago, it's already super packed every night! We were a huge group of 12+ and the waitstaff was extremely accomodating and we had a really fun time. Would go back in a heartbeat.

Experienced iskender on a food tour. We were treated to a couple dishes. The lamb was the best we…read morehad in Turkey, made so good by pouring a water butter on top of the plate. You can see and feel the care of long-time family ownership here.

Impeccable Kebabs. I didn't much care for any Turkish Kebabs I tried in America, but the ones at…read moreplaces like this have thoroughly changed my opinion on how good a Turkish kebab can be.

Visited Çiya Sofrası as it is a restaurant featured on the World's 50 Best discovery list and as…read morethe chef was featured on Netflix's Chef's Table. Menu is based on recipes collected from all across Turkey an the menu might vary daily depending on what they have available. The restaurant itself also features 3 locations all adjacent to or across from each other. Party of 7 seated upstairs. There honestly is so much space and seating between all three locations. No reservation as we just walked in. Honestly didn't look at the menu as we had friends who were local and asked if they could just order. What I would recommend though is just get whatever sounds interesting as everything we tried was delicious. The big airy bread and the beets were a must as well as the stuffed intestines. The kebab we ordered was also so good that we got a second one. It's also very large and shareable. In fact, everything should be shared. A lot of desserts to choose from and my favorite was the bitter orange.

Great place to try authentic Turkish cuisine. They have a huge variety of dishes, and thanks to the…read morecafeteria-style presentation, we were able to point to different dishes and try all kinds of things that we normally wouldn't have tried since we didn't know what they were or what they looked like. We also bumped into a local woman outside who told us what her favorite items at the restaurant were. My favorite dish was definitely the meat topped with the pomegranate seeds and the oblong falafel-looking thing shown in the first picture. I wasn't a fan of the intestines. I also wasn't a fan of the Turkish pizza with lamb, though I felt the lamb all throughout my time in Istanbul was a bit too gamey for my taste. Overall, I think this is an excellent place to get a taste of what Turkish cuisine has to offer--we came here towards the end of our trip but I think coming here at the beginning would have been a better choice, so that we could know what kinds of dishes to seek out during the rest of our time at Turkey!

Amazing food, great vibe, and outstanding service. Would recommend to any local or tourist.read more

Amazing food, authentic to Tuscan cuisine with the beauty of being in Istanbul. Everyone was so…read morenice and kind, I felt like a regular even though it was my first time there. Mr. Omer was one of the kindest people I've ever met and I felt at home. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is visiting Kadıköy and wants a little taste of Italy :)

From the owner: Kadıköy'ün renkli sokaklarına tepeden bakan gizli bir bahçe!read more

This restaurant is very bad and it is to expensive and stinks like poop they should improve on…read moremaking it bigger

This local favorite is highly recommended, and since we are in Kadikoy are we decided to have a…read moremeal here. Nothing fancy at all, with the menu only offering Lahmacun and Pide. Friendly and welcoming service. Lahmacun was fresh, crispy crust. Pide was good.

Huge variety of cheeses, olives, honey. Easy to find. Short walk from the marmaray. Very welcoming…read moreowner.

A great find - delicious!…read more Kadiköy is a great area for a walk and to do some shopping and eating. Friendly people, low prices .... and a bit less touristy than Sultanahmet or Beyoglu. And this shop / restaurant is exactly the kind of thing you wanna find. Great products, nicely presented, friendly staff and owner. We decided to grab some of the delicious food to eat right in (on one of the few tables right out front). We didn't really read or ask what we ordered, just pointed to some food that looked delicious....well, it pretty much all looked good. One of the items we ordered was some kind of spicy Couscous / Bulgur....delicous food! Stuffed mussels were nicely done also. Other stuff was good too....check the pics. So, if you're in Kadiköy (which you should be), then be sure not to miss this wonderfull place!

This is a fantastic, fantastic place for ciger or kebab. The dudes working there have so much…read moreclass, as soon as you sit down you are ready to expect great service. Food is so tasty, it's the perfect complement to the great service they provide. I highly recommend the kunefe as the perfect touch to a great meal. For tourists or those new to Turkish cuisine, you must go to Hulusi. They are doing it right. Meat!

From the owner: ciğer veçöp şişread more

Recommended on an Istanbul guide from The Washington Post, Basta Street Food Bar is a small…read morerestaurant in the charming neighborhood of Kadikoy. With a few tables on the sidewalk outside and a few inside, most people sit at the bar. The menu is very small so that they can concentrate on perfecting their food. We ordered the hummus to start, which comes with a pile of thin tortilla strips for dipping. Delicious! My wife really enjoyed her lamb wrap full of flavor! My beef wrap tasted great, but the beef chunks are thick and often fatty. Being a vegetarian most of my life, I found it hard to eat. Service was attentive and the server even gave our five-year-old daughter a free iced tea.

Istanbul in 2025 is a city steeped in deception, greed, and betrayal. And as for the…read moreburger--despite Turkey's global reputation for its meat--the experience is painfully overrated. As a Turk who's traveled extensively across the United States and tasted burgers crafted with mastery--especially those with two juicy patties--I can confidently say: what's being served here is the work of amateurs. Sorry

A must visit while in Istanbul. The kebab was incredible with amazing service and they were able to…read morehelp us English speakers as well.

Çiya Sofrası and Kebab occupy opposite sides of a busy street in Kadıköy where Chef and owner Musa…read moreDağdeviren has created a destination for not only grilled Meats and Mezze but also a lively atmosphere. Part of Istanbul's Anatolian coast, the Kebab Restaurant later giving way to Çiya Sofrası and its fame, guests here are situated across three floors where the menu offers a well-culled list of items prepared traditionally including complex Mercimek Corbası and golden Dumplings generously stuffed with ground Meat. A growing business with three locations, all a few meters apart, Ciya's Lahmacun arrives beautifully crisp with Toppings well-balanced while Spicy Lamb Kebab doesn't hold back in its liberal application of Peppers. Part of the dining scene since 1998, five men in an open kitchen working fast on the ground floor, Babaganoush is served more chunky than those elsewhere and whether one choose this or the signature Ciya Kebab wrapped in Pastry the results are impressive across-the-board.