Cafe Istanbul

I just got back from Istanbul and was excited to read that Cafe Istanbul has Aryan and Kadayif. I ordered my meal plus the Aryan and Kadayif. It was delivered in 30 min that was nice. However my main meal was average and they replaced the Kadayif with baklava. The aryan tasted off and I threw most of it away. The pita was ok but lacking flavor. I called the restaurant and asked why I was given baklava and they stated that they didn't have kadayif. I wish they just called me to tell me and refund the cost versus just throwing in something I didn't order. I won't be ordering from them again.

Written by dhara r. on 3/7/2013 | Member since 2011
dhara ordered from here within the last year

Total failure. The food never arrived, notwithstanding the fact that they confirmed my order. They never told me there had been a problem. I tried to call them twice, but no one picked up the phone. Ultimately, I had to reverse the order through Seamless' customer service, which was obnoxious. Then again, at least Seamless picks up the phone when you call them. I tried this place because the reviews looked positive. But as I was waiting for my food that never arrived, I noticed that the reviews for Cafe Istanbul on Yelp are almost universally negative.

Written by Robert Z. on 1/7/2013 | 1 other review | Member since 2008
Robert ordered from here within the last year

Not perfection, but pretty darn close. I ordered the chicken kabob meal for myself. The chicken breast chunks were juicy, very flavourful (without too much overpowering seasoning) and fresh!! The rice was one of the best I've ever tasted as well, buttery, fragrant and dee-lish! What the best part was the service. I had acccidentally sent the order without updating my phone number. I called them when I realized and the guy on the phone told me the driver already left. As I was hanging up the phone, a knock on the door. Never has there been a delivery guy willing to come up when I didn't answer, and he'd probably waited in the lobby several minutes, but he was SOOO nice, charismatic, and didn't complain one bit about my absent-mindedness. With the commotion at the door, my dog got loose, and the door kicked my butt out the door and I locked myself out. Long story short, he couldn't wait around because I told him I wanted to give him a tip as I was waiting for my concierge to let me back in the apartment, he was so courteous and said no problem, next time! Holy Smokes! I know people who will crawl on all fours just to pickup a quarter and he is fine walking away from a $5 delivery tip?? That is stellar service and this place is now at the TOP of my seamless favorites!! Both the guy who answered the phone, and the delivery guy spoke excellent English, something that I tend to find challenging calling a restaurant. Kudos you gus, A new regular customer I am!

Written by joorei m. on 2/7/2013 | Member since 2012
joorei ordered from here within the last year

Food is so good, but by the time it was delivered, it was almost cold. Would eat here again but maybe not by delivery.

Written by dina a. on 1/27/2013 | Member since 2012
dina ordered from here within the last year

I really like the food and the options they offer. The delivery man is very kind and polite. I always order from this place because of the quality of the food at a low price

Written by Lucrecia M. on 11/10/2012 | 1 other review | Member since 2012
Lucrecia ordered from here within the last month

Friendly delivery!

Written by Robert S. on 2/29/2012 | Member since 2007
Robert ordered from here over a year ago

Ordered pizza and pita. Both excellent and the food turned up after 45 minutes. Recommended when you want a tasty something in the later hours.

Written by Tom C. on 10/3/2011 | Member since 2011
Tom ordered from here over a year ago

Moussaka was very bland, the rice was undercooked and flavorless, and the delivery person did not follow instructions and was not at the door when he called and said he was there. The only thing good was the pita bread. So if all you want is pita bread, go for it. Otherwise, don't waste your money.

Written by Andrea L. on 9/19/2011 | 2 other reviews | Member since 2011
Andrea ordered from here over a year ago

First the order came really quickly - within 30 minutes of my order. I ordered the Kofte platter and it's excellent. The lamb is a little rarer than I like but it was good. The meatballs weren't balls, they were actually flat with grillmarks on them. My sauce was so good I used it for my meat, salad and rice although it did include a separate salad dressing. The bread was packaged separately and arrived still hot. I would order from them again.

Written by Mini N. on 8/25/2011 | 4 other reviews | Member since 2011
Mini ordered from here over a year ago

Most of our meal was unbelievably uneatable. Quite a surprize after tasting the wonderful home made pita (which is the best thing we have ever eaten) The Falafel were old and dried out as small black hokey pucks. The Lamb meatballs and the chunks of lamb were also dried out and old. The portions of meat were extremely small with too much rice and iceburg lettuce. Some of this might have been because it was delivered and not eaten right off the grill but then why over cook everything- Order some pita and hummus and grill you own meat.

Written by Peter Z. on 5/23/2011 | Member since 2011
Peter ordered from here over a year ago

took FOREVER to get here (~70 mins). hummus is weird and runny. meat was tough and burnt. pita is fluffy and thick which is good, but not good enough to justify ordering from here again.

Written by Deepali P. on 4/26/2011 | 4 other reviews | Member since 2010
Deepali ordered from here over a year ago

wings were decent to good but not great. hummus was weird tasting. runnier than im used to and just tasted funny to me. baba ghanouj was also decent to good but not great. delivery guy gave me a weird look too! not sure if id order from here again.

Written by KINGSTON K. on 4/5/2011 | 1 other review | Member since 2008
KINGSTON ordered from here over a year ago

The gyro/pita's are great and I really like the hummus. Really fast delivery, but I live around the corner from the restaurant, so that may vary.

Written by Kevin F. on 4/5/2011 | 3 other reviews | Member since 2011
Kevin ordered from here over a year ago

Just ok. The dolma was not prepared the way I am used to. However, the rest of the food was just eh, nothing amazing. Also, I am lactose intolerant and asked for a dairy free sauce, but still got cacik, which I was disappointed by.

Written by Kelsey T. on 4/11/2013 | Member since 2012
Kelsey ordered from here within the last year

Always fresh and tasty. I love this place!

Written by Saul C. on 4/3/2013 | Member since 2011
Saul ordered from here within the last year