Antiochia

This place was excellent, first rate cuisine from the south of Turkey. Was recommended to me by someone who works in our Istanbul office. I’ve been here twice now and the food was memorable both times.
Highlights included the hummus of which we got two orders. Very creamy and drizzled with olive oil. It came with pita breads for dipping. The chicken with spices was unreal and some of the tastiest chicken I’ve had in a while. Tabouleh was fresh and very flavorful. A tomato dish was a nice complement and refreshing choice.
It was a lot of food and we walked out of there pretty full but at the same time the food was light and felt healthy.
Service was a tad slow but that didn’t bother us as the food was so on point. Can’t wait to repeat.

My boyfriend and I ate here on one of our last nights in Instanbul.
The ambiance and service were great — we felt pampered and all loved up from the dim lights.
The food was great — we ordered several small dishes to share and each was more delicious than the next. Our waiter recommended a wine for us and it was also great.
After our giant meal, we meandered around the neighborhood, which is also great for drinks and dancing. Winning!

Antiochia was recommended in our Lonely Planet Istanbul guide so we made a reservation for 9:00pm on a Saturday night. This is one more restaurant in town where a reservation is merely a ticket to enter, since you’ll wait for 20 – 30 minutes for a table anyway (as was our experience). The hosts and service are extremely friendly and obliging, but some patience is required as you wait and hungrily see all the delicious dishes passing you by on the way from the kitchen.
Anyway, we were finally seated and the friendly waiter came over and offered a few suggestions. We ordered a course of six meze dishes along with a mixed Turkish salad, and a grilled meat wrap (I can’t remember the name in Turkish but this seems to be the dish the restaurant specializes in). The waiter encouraged us to order more, but this was really more than enough for two people. The food was all delicious with the mezes being light and flavorful, Paired with a couple of rounds of raki and a Bamonte beer, this was an exceptional meal. We finished with semolina halva for dessert and some complimentary tea which was great.
The restaurant itself is beautiful — a cozy, vaulted brick space with lots of tables close together and lots of groups having a great time. We really enjoyed this, and I’d recommend it if you’re looking for an interesting, centrally located spot in Beyoğlu.

A total gem. Locals mostly but very high quality. The owner /​manager was an amazing host, and we just trusted him to order our food. He started us with a mezze assortment — a walnut based muhamara dip, olives marinated in thyme and pomegranate juice/​molasses excellent hummus, taboule with rocket, roasted eggplant, spicy lavash, blasted with an urfa pepper oil then lightly grilled. Very tasty! A dip made of 3 different yougurts and cooked eggplant. Desserts were a cheese with caramelized and breaded cheese then another dessert that was chopped sweetened walnut

This was one of the best meals I had on my trip to Turkey — certainly one of the pricier meals we had, but well worth the extra money. I’d highly recommend coming here if you’re looking for a nice ambiance and dinner.
We started out with 6 bowls of meze — the server chose for us, but there was not one that we didn’t like. There was roasted eggplant, fresh hummus, a walnut spread, tomato and mint salad, a homemade yogurt dip, tabouleh, and olives. My favorites were the roasted eggplant, hummus, and walnut spread. I don’t even like olives, but these olives were actually pretty tasty. You can’t really go wrong with any of the mezes, but don’t leave without eating a few (or a lot) of these.
The server also brought us some couscous-​batter appetizer filled with minced meat, which was really delicious, and a piece of grilled cheese. I hadn’t had either of these dishes, but they were great.
Other than the mezes, the highlight of the meal was 2 skewers of the most tender, perfectly cooked steak kebabs. It was better than some pieces of filet mignon that I’ve had a steakhouses. It was just the right amount of pink inside, and we were all ooh-​ing and ahh-​ing as we ate this. It came on a piece of durum wrap, and with some chopped tomatoes and roasted tomatoes. Don’t miss this dish.
The durum wrap was also good, filled with steak that was great quality, tomatoes and red onions. I enjoyed this, but after eating at a bunch of other places in the city, you can probably get elsewhere (check out my review for Durumzade) for cheaper. Nevertheless, it was delicious.
We finished our meal with some candied pumpkin, tahini sauce, and crushed walnuts which is pretty typical. I liked this dessert but wouldn’t say that you absolutely need to get it. If you come (and you should if you like good food), make sure you get the steak kabobs and meze.
The service was really great as our waiter was very attentive, friendly, and talked with us a bunch. The ambiance of the place was beautiful with stone walls, arches, and an open kitchen so you can see them grill the meat. It wasn’t a cheap meal (relative to other places in Istanbul), as we paid 400 Turkish lira for 5 people, but it was certainly worth the money and experience for a finer dining experience. I’d come back here again and would recommend this place!

An unforgettable meal. From the moment we walked nervously in the door we were greeted like family and fed like royalty. The assorted mezze consisted of familiar flavors but were of an exceptional quality we had never before tasted. And you absolutely must have the pumpkin dessert. It defies all expectation. The memory of that remarkable texture, that harmonious blend of elements still haunts me 2 weeks later. Yes, it’s crowded, but do you really want to eat in a restaurant where the crickets are chirping?

Exceptional Turkish food in a spacious but still cozy dining room. Service was excellent. I would go again tomorrow if it was here in NYC. A nice break from patio and sidewalk dining and aggressive recruiting of some of Istanbul’s meyhanes. Quiet. Nice. And not expensive.

We ate here twice during our recent trip to Turkey. Among the best food we had on our trip. Friendly service, excellent food. Be careful how much you order though, portions are generous. Also we discovered here how great Turkish red wines are.

This offers the most amazing Turkish food we’ve had! The service is superb! The flavor of every single item is clean and fresh. The mezze are fantastic! The chicken and lamb sis are cooked perfectly, tender and flavorful. It’s affordable. Check it out. It’s worth your money!

We had the most amazing meal here this evening! The food was beautiful, especially their meze starters. The service was excellent and they had a great wine list. We had the best night, would definitely recommend!

Our only complaint was that we ordered too much and ate too much (they do try to get you to add items to your order).
Otherwise, the food was excellent — could be considered a slightly upscale take on standard Turkish street foods?
Service was slow, but restaurant was busy.

This is a lovely restaurant and the best food we had in our ten days in Turkey; it was prepared well using fine ingredients, and their olive oil is excellent. The atmosphere is very nice and we liked Antiochia so much, we ended up going back a couple of times. It’s also in a great neighborhood and just around the corner from a bunch of very hip bars where it’s fun to grab a couple of drinks and people watch after.
We made friends with a guy from the old city, and this was the one restaurant he recommended in Pera; apparently they had a sister restaurant near his house in the old city that he loved.
We had Bulent and Sinan as servers and both were authentically nice people and we enjoyed talking with them greatly (there are plenty of smiles for a tourist in Turkey, sadly most of them are fake). And aside from making us feel really at home and explaining the food to us, Sinan made excellent suggestions in pairing wines with our meals. They were so sweet, they even gave my wife a little parting gift on our last night there.
(Writing this made me think about how good their food is, and I would go there right now if I could!)

Exceptional customer service … And the food melts in your mouth… It is hands down one of the best foods I have tasted in Turkey… We were complete strangers here and this place was recommended and we were extremely surprised. If you want good kabob that is the best kabob ever best filet…, as a middle easterner I would swear on how amazing this place is. They have two restaurants one that is newer and one that is the first one with more outside but both foods are amazing…
Thank you for a great experience …

Great location and interior ambiance. Good food and service were top notch. The restaurant has several different small dining areas which gave a more intimate experience. The menu was small on selection but we appreciated that as everything was amazing. We had a nice steady service of small appetizers preceding our meal. Neighborhood had a great vibe and was able to have a post dinner drink after our meal.

Great little place in Pera district… food is quite fresh and authentic!

Excellent Turkish style dinner. The fresh pitas went perfectly with the variety of mezzes you can order. The meat is tender, juicy, and perfectly seasoned. I have already eaten here twice and was thoroughly satisfied with everything that was brought to the table. We ended our meal with a very unique dessert of candies pumpkin and vanilla ice cream. I’ve never had anything like this! Highly recommend this for anyone looking for a great Turkish meal!

I came here for lunch on a recommendation from the Lonely Planet guidebook. (Lunch discount from 12PM-​3PM). I had a plate of grilled meats, grilled tomato and a salad. Must say, the highlight of this meal, was the grilled tomato. Everything was delicious, but the grilled tomato really stood out. It was like biting into an apple. It was so juicy and bursting of flavor. Definitely get the tomato! And the grilled meats :)

This review 3.5 FYI.
Small, quaint restaurant, with quick and friendly ish service.
The food came out pretty quickly, and it was good. Not amazing but good. Tasty mezes, but not really up to the hype that I got from other reviews.
I ordered the chicken shish and it was really tender and tasty! Dessert was the crispy pumpkin with walnuts and tahini. It was cool to try but I wouldn’t get it again.
The restaurant was empty when we went at 8 pm and the music was kind of killing the mood (slow covers of maroon 5, ymca and stuff like that).
Overall, good food, and good service :)

I love this place. I’ve only ever dined in the newer establishment next to house café in Tunel. The food is consistently good; from the eggplant mezes to the grilled meats. They also have a fantastic mezes platter for sharing and don’t worry if you are eating alone they also have grilled dishes with four meze samplings. Delicious. And did I mention the bread? The service is also great and I love the fact that the staff remember me and welcome me back. Prices are good as well.

Yum. Clean eating at it’s finest. Will fly back from Manhattan to eat here again.