Hatay Has Kral Sofrası

Fifteen years ago we found this Syrian-​Turkish restaurant to serve the most amazingly delicious food we had ever had in our lives.
Sadly, on our return visit recently we found the service to be indifferent and the food just OK. Previously, our experience was so extraordinary that we made the long trek to this off the beaten track neighborhood 4 nights in a row.
Sometimes you can’t go home again :(…

Best meal by far in Instanbul! Thanks for all the Unilocalers reviews. They were spot on. Get the flaming salted Chicken and the beef kebob. All the salads we had were great too!

I ate at this traditional Turkish restaurant when I went to Istanbul for work.
There were about 40 of us in a long dining table and the service was pleasing and quick given that there were a lot of us and they had to take care of their other customers. Once seated, appetizers came right away: hummus, bread, pide, olives, and aubergine.
For the main entrée, there was this fall of the bone chicken with rice. It was a flashy eventful entrance for the chickens. They took out a cart that had three covered plates, lit it up, and then took down the covers. I couldn’t really see because I was a bit far. But was it was quite a show! Then WALA. There was chicken inside. This chicken. I don’t know how they made it, I’m guess it’s salted-​baked chicken but it was the softest and most fall of the bone chicken I’ve eaten.
We also got the A Meter Pasa Kebab. Meter stick kebab is the dish to order. You won’t be disappointed. Everyone in my table was quite entertained. To be frank, it was my first time seeing a kebab this long. The meat was tender, crunchy, and juicy. It’s fall of the bone yummy too! The bread at the bottom of the meat seeped up all the juice which made it 10x tastier.
For deserts, I had Kunefe, a traditional Turkish dessert made-​up of cheese and drizzled with syrup, and Turkish tea. It tasted a bit tangy due to the orange blossom added to the syrup.
Overall, I highly recommend this place! I am a fan. I’m definitely eating here again when I go back to Istanbul.

Really an off the beaten path experience coming here. I thought that we were really lost as we ended up walking by local residential area with clothes hanging off the window rails. I was also ready to turn my heels back as I was really getting uncomfortable being the sole Asian tourist and girl wandering the street on a cold and dreary evening with some European looking man. Thank goodness we finally arrived! The entrance seems to be part of a take-​away counter but there is a man in suit that will get you seated.
The dinning area is huge and bright compare to the standard kebab restaurants. The main wall seems to be inspired by Jurassic Park (yes its bizarre!). It is painted green with fake grass and forest animals! While the other walls are painted and decorated with Arabic writting and passé art. They also have tv screens which unsurprisingly showed the soccer game. The staff here is friendly but they spoke only either Turkish or Arabic. Yeep this is definitely a local hot spot. Since we knew exactly what we want we just pointed out to it off of the menu. We ordered the Adana Kofte, the salad and lamb stew which I forgot the name. The food came out of the kitchen fairly quickly and ready for us to devour. Yeeep devour was the appropriate word. The food was just great and well worth the trek especially my favorite Adana Kofte! The lamb is really tender and well seasoned. Ohhh boy! If I live in Turkey, I will blow up like a balloon especially from this place.

Im so glad I followed the opinions of the fellow Unilocal contributors to this place.
The only place during our 8 day visit in Istanbul where we were not con’d into bogus charges labeled under service fees, or special dishes with outrageous price tags not on the menu.
The food was very delicious, various Kebab plates in addition to many Arabic dishes.
Order the Lebanese dip as an appetizer if you like spicy dips. It goes very nicely with the warm bread they serve you.
Our family of 11 was seated right away and everyone in the party enjoyed the experience.

Awesome food don’t let the average outside fool you. This is the best Turkish food I’ve had. They have a clay oven. For groups they have these dishes that they set on fire. Good fresh juices and coffe or tea and a little fruit at the end of my lunch were free! I highly recommend this place just a few steps from the Aksaray Metro.

This was our first meal in Turkey, and it was the best one of our 12 day trip. Thanks, fellow Unilocalers! It was close to our hotel but definitely more in a residential area. I was happy we were the only tourists there.
Being vegetarian, I ordered off the cold mezes menu. I got the biberce and the stuffed grape leaves. The biberce was killer– a dip with lots of spicy pepper and savory flavors. I loved the grape leaves too because the rice had a hefty dose of cinnamon. My husband got the mixed (beef, lamb and chicken) kebabs. He said all the meat was perfectly cooked and very tender. The lamb was his favorite.
If we had more time in Istanbul, we would have made another visit.

An excellent meal, out of the main area and an all-​around pleasure. Fresh dishes, great service, and thanks to that other reviewer below who recommended it! A nice way to finish up a long day.
Beware the taxi drivers on your way back, they will try to scam you.

A solid choice for food in Istanbul. This was recommended to me by one of the taxi drivers at Ataturk, and it did not disappoint. Try the kebobs and fantastic house-​made side dishes. Great selection of Turkish desserts as well. One of the best things is that it is open late night, and there is still a lively crowd inside. No tourists as well so seems like a hidden gem.