Osmanlı Saray Mutfağı Asitane Restaurant in Istanbul

Highly recommended. Service was excellent. Traditional Ottoman style dishes.

High-end Turkish dining place that serves authentic Ottoman empire dishes, many of which were created and served to the royal and noble families of the empire.The restaurant recreates all these recipe and offers a visit back to the past, ala fine dining. This offers you a chance to sit back and enjoy the wonderful cuisine that the Turkish culture can offer.

Authentic Turkish cuisine.Set menu was a good deal.It has a nice courtyard if you would like to sit outside or go for a smoke.

Our friends in Istanbul invited us to dinner at this place and it was really good. They specialise in ottoman food and this was my first experience of this cuisine and it was really good. Our server was amazing he brought us various dishes and served each of us in small portions and so we were able to try a good variety. Also they had some really good desserts and a good variety of halavs.

Amazing food; the guy that served us was a real pro!

If that was the food people were eating in the 15th century, then I finally found one good thing about living in this century.I went there with sky high expectations about the food after my wife read about this restaurant on Atlas Obscura, but I was really disappointed. They claim that these dishes are from the 15th century onward, but the food lacked a LOT of spices and as far as I know spices were widely used in cooking at those eras too.Staff were really nice and helpful and they speak English very well but the food really needs a lot of improvement especially their selection of spices.

Different tastes and amazing service. Loved the filled Melon and the deserts. Will definitely come again.

Delightful restaurant with outdoor dining area. Excellent service. The food was varied and all excellent. The drink in the photo is hyacinth sherbet which was delicious. They went out of their way to accommodate the vegan and the gluten free diners in our group.#outdoorpatio#vegan#glutenfree#hyacinth

Asitane is located in a storical place. Right next to kariye muzesi. Even though right now the curch is under reformation, you can also walk around too see some old houses. It’s our second visit to this restaurant. For us it’s interesting because they try to reproduce historycal recipes. The place is magnificent, very romantic and cozy. The service its nice too, trying always to make you feel comfortable. We had small tasting of their dishes since we were 6 and we wanted to try different stuff. We startes with the appetizers, different styles, all of them bread spreads, actually they were pretty good to start the dinner (probably the best ones were the hummus (antique recipe with cinnamonand the lor cheese with pul biber). We also some salads, very refreshing, simple but tasty and good. Probably the best of the night was piruhi, this ravioli shaped pasta, with walnuts and cheese, pretty good. If i have to say a dish that I didn’t like, that would be the mushrooms, they were mushy, with an odd taste and the cheese (smokedwas the main flavour, not pairing too much together. We had also some couscous, that was nice, bigger size than usual couscous, a nice dough flavour but will be great if there was some more spiciness. Then we had two meat platters, antique kebabs which actually were allright but we were expecting much more. As a wines we’ve choose one shiraz from Pamukkale, pretty nice and a okuzgozu which i didnt take a photo but was also very nice. As a dessert we tried şeftali ka’a , preserved baked peach with a dough seasoned with cinnamon, walnuts and icecrean. Fresh, sweet and nice. Probably the best was the dough. As i said the service tries hard to make you confortable, that you can observe because they r asking everytime if everything is allright and they are interestes about you. As a gift (also they did it first timeyou leave the restaurant with a homemade jam, this time plum jam.

This restaurant was a real disappointment. I was interested to try some different dishes to what you find in restaurants in Turkey everywhere and the menu is certainly interesting. Unfortunately the food is just not very well prepared. The stuffed calamari was good, the 4 dips ranged from being ok to being inedible. Overall if you’re looking for fine dining this will probably be a disappointment but if you just want to try something different you might like it. I think it’s not worth the prices they’re charging

Owkey this might sound a bit confusing;1First of all they got an amazing turkish menu with variety of traditional foods2The interior design & the atmosphere is fascinating with turkish arts, offering both indoor & outdoor sitting3I ordered "Mahmoudiya stew" which was rather unique & unusual at the same time; Unique in a way that you dont find such dish around Istanbul (not as far as Ive seen); And unusual as the combination of cinnamon, fruits, nuts & chicken as a mix stew while served with no bread & mildly cold (which Im confused if its supposed to be like this), but the taste was sweet good4I came around 7:30 PM which not much customers available; At the beginning when I entered there were 4 waiters available but for that fact there would have been a moment where I had to wait for a waiter appear so I could ask him for anything (like to the extend where I could formally just get up and leave the restaurant entirely in a gently manner); the phone was also ringing couple of time and no one would come to answer! I think I do get this that this is a luxury turkish restaurant and they just dont want to bother customers so much but at the same time it would be nice to check on the customer after sometime (at least trespass)With all said, overall good different turkish food and enjoyed the atmosphere and the vibe.

Best dinner in our trip.. traditional taste with a twist. Very kind personel. Quite formal atmosphere. Excellent prices for the offered menu.

Very different Ottoman cuisine but worth to try 👍👍with nice music

One of our most delicious meals in Istanbul! Beautiful ambiance, incredible service and just amazing food. Its so interesting that each dish has been thoroughly researched and recreated from the Ottoman era. Incredible attention to detail, highly recommend.

The place is really beautiful and the attention is excellent. The food was spectacular and have to much flavor, nice place to visit.

We went to this restaurant based on the reviews. We felt the food was fairly average and when you consider the price you can get a better meal else where. The service was friendly but the food seemed to lack seasoning.

I had heard many good things about this restaurant and was very much looking forward to it. The calamari stuffed with shrimp was absolutely wonderful. On the other hand, the lamb stew was very disappointing. It lacked proper seasoning and was somehow tasteless. The dessert was milk pudding and was OK but not exceptional. I had two glasses of wine which were decent. It was the single most expensive meal I’ve had in Istanbul.

This is a uniqie restaurant where you can find very special Ottoman cuisine with real recipes. Probably the best restaurant in Istanbul.

This is my personal opinion.The reservation to this restaurant was smooth without problem. The waiters could speak good English. Very warm welcome and that 1 and only star for the good service.Each and everything we ordered tasted just meat. No spices no flavors just tasted nothing. Starters were served with upscale presentation but tasted only cinnamon. In the main course, I had ordered Kebaps and was trying hard to find some flavor and like it, but in vain.If that is what the Ottomans ate, then i must say they had a bad taste. But I am sure they didnt.The restaurant claims to serve original Ottoman cuisine but this is a big FAKE (Again from my point of view).Secondly, they had a loud Live music which was not at all good to my ears. I have had been to restaurants with Live Turkish music and songs. And I like them. Sorry but it was no good and the small room and loud music just damaged our evening even more further.For those who like eating intense flavored food and like fine dinning, I would recommend you NOT to go this restaurant and dont rely on the ratings. I went there because it is 1 restaurant in the middle of nowhere with good rating. But again dont rely on the rating. Instead Ulus 29 is a better one.

Wonderful fantastic food. Great wine. Nice place. First class service.

Food presentation was good, but taste is below what you would expect. Food tasted flat with no real flavour (we ordered chicken fillet and goat meatService was attentive and courtious.

A cool menu with lots of options but the location is super isolated and the atmosphere is boring.

As far as I can tell, the authentic Ottoman concept of this restaurant is a bit of a gimmick. I cant speak to the historical accuracy of the food, but I can report that its not very good, considering the price. My main meal consisted of touch chunks of chicken in fruit and juice that tasted like it came out of a canned fruit cocktail.

Atmosphere, service ,food, price is excellent. If you dont like baharat you will not like it. Traditional turkish food. You can taste it for once at least.the location is easy with Gps

This place is a legendary restaurant. I dont know any other authentic Ottoman Empire cuisine. The food usually focuses on sweet and savory at the same time. All the menu items are consist of very traditional flavors.

service is good, ordered stuffed melon as recommended by Guardian but not as good as expected, lamb stew is the same, a bit too heavy, humus with cinnamon and pine nut is amazing, just tiny portion as part of a cold appetizer

This restaurant is centrally located on the European side of Istanbul. The food is typical Turkish, but of mediocre quality.The waiters are very smelly, as deodorants are clearly optional for the staff.Prices are surprisingly cheap for everything.You can have a quiet evening with love Turkish music here if your food quality and hygiene expectations are very low.

Fantastic food, flavours and atmosphere. Great detail in the menus showing the date of when first records exist from the recipe. A gastronomy experience with an mixture of historical experience. I definitely recommend a visit.

An outstanding experience. The almond soup is a must try. Beautiful space inside and out. The food is utterly different from anything weve previously tried but viva la difference! Not the easiest place to find but worth the search.

Its worth trying this place to experience some authentic old ottoman cuisine. Prices are of course on the higher side. Service was not fantastic, servers were randomly clearing up for some people at the table and only topping up drinks for some.

Very nice, typical historic restaurant, recommended especially for iftar dinners. Live music and even a handmade jam to take home.

If you come to Balat, must visit restaurant. They have 2 menus, one is winter and other one is summer. I tried summer menu. Asked waiter for suggestions and he agreed choises in my mind. For soup, first choise Almond Soup is a different taste and must be tried. Second choise for soup can be find any ottoman restaurant so go choise with first one. For cold starters strongly recommend to try them all so choise Asitane Treats for all but it will be small portions. From rise and pastry, try Eggplant Piruhi. Strongly recommended. For main course, we tried Mutancana. Delicious. Last of all for dessert, Ottoman Halvas. These halvas are completely different than other halvas you can try... this is outstanding!!! Over all, this is now one of my favorite restaurant.

Asitane restaurant is located next to the iconic Chora church. It specialises in authentic Ottoman cuisine. We had the almond soup, mincemeat stuffed pastries laid over strained yoghurt and tender lamb cooked with apricots figs and honey.The food was well prepared though a bit bland for our palate. The staff is friendly and helpful and the ambience nice for a summer lunch. The cost is on the steep side.

Ottoman Palace cuisine next to Kariye Museum in Edirnekapi. The best authentic and unique restaurant in Istanbul with amazing foods.

What a wonderful meal! You definitely need to come here for unique Turkish food. Its right next to Chora Church another must see.

This is not traditional Turkish cuisine - it is Ottoman food, so only worth a visit if youre in Istanbul for several days in my opinion. The food is really quite good and not something youll find elsewhere. The service is friendly and waiters are multilingual. Just be aware that some of the entrees are quite sweet, so be sure to read the menu.

Absolutely worth the visit!Its very close to Chora museum.Open for lunch and we were the only two tables. The service was simply perfect, refined local but very affordable prices.On their website you will find menu and prices. Ottoman cuisine

I would say price - value is very low. Food is different than local Turkish, they call it historic Turkish cuisine. However tastes really odd and even not nice sometimes. I believe the chef rather than having taste buds applying the original historic recipe with low quality ingredients. Result two stars.

Were sold wine for 160 lires, which cost 30 lires. Tried to give us a cheap filling for the hookah instead of the one we ordered. Thought we wouldnt notice. A complete rip-off.

Asitane is a concept restaurant. The concept is that it serves authentic, unique, researched recipes from Turkeys past, food that was served to Sultans and Potentates. Great concept. It and the positive reviews from TripAdvisor and my guide book drew me in. But I go out to eat good food, not concepts, and no amount of hype can mask the fact that this restaurant does not deliver its promise or seem to care about delivering it. Case in point: I ordered the signature dish, the stuffed melon. This favorite of some historic Sultan is a scooped out half melon filed with ground meat, spices and other admittedly tasty things. So far so good. But the melon that cradled the concoction was "raw": hard, unripe and tasteless. I had to cut it with a knife and fork. When I pointed this out to my waiter in response to his perfunctory, "How is everything?", he spouted an excuse that combined, I paraphrase, "We cant get ripe melon here" and "Its not the time of year for ripe melon." This outrageous lie could be refuted by stepping out the door of Asitane and walking a couple blocks to the nearest fruit market where sweet ripe melons were stacked like cordwood. How, I wondered and wonder still, could a restaurant that boasts the culinary exotica of antiquity dare to serve an "authentic" dish missing one of its essential flavor notes, the sweetness of ripe melon? Its like serving potato/leek soup without the leeks. Or Cherries Jubilee with only the Jubilee. Assuming, for the moment, the waiter was right and ripe melon was nowhere to be found, why was the dish on the menu? Why was it served? Customer service is not a concept the staff of Asitane is imbued with. "Im sorry youre unhappy with the dish. Could I bring you another at no cost?" would have been an appropriate response from a well-trained waiter. Or, "Let me take the cost of the dish off your bill." No dice. Even the offer of a complimentary dessert and coffee would have worked wonders on my attitude. But thats not the all of it. There was the salad with the fancy name and pedigree (created c.1850that consisted of a few leaves of lettuce on a plate drizzled with what looked and tasted like Ranch dressing. There was the fact that no one welcomed me when I arrived at the restaurant or even bothered to acknowledge that Id made a reservation. Finally, a restaurant of Asitanes pretense to culinary loftiness (with lofty prices to matchshould never, EVER, serve Lipton Tea. Its inexcusable. A $60+ lunch and I get Lipton tea? In Turkey? Land of tea? This restaurant is a fraud. Take the positive reviews with a large grain of organic sea salt. Read the negative reviews carefully and decide whether a trek to this beanery on the distant fringe of Istanbul is worth the time to find it and the bundle youll drop. You can get better food for less closer to wherever youre staying in Istanbul.

The atmosphere comes together with the delicious food to create an astonishing ambiance. The food is high quality and inexpensive and the service is remarkable.

Very delicious food, rich menu and very friendly staff. Old fashion restaurant. Highly recommended...

One if the best restaurants that I have been to in my life, really authentic and truly delicious, but be adventurous in your selection

This place is great for tourists wanting the experience of ottoman food. This place is unique and has a menu like Ive never seen in Istanbul before, and that makes the flavors interesting and especial. Everyone enjoyed their meal, I had the chicken with apricots, which was too sweet, but some people from different cultures might like the taste. All in all, dont miss out on this restaurant if youre going to the Chora Church and experience the flavor palette of the ottoman times.

Great Ottoman fare. Would struggle to find the kind of dishes and drinks elsewhere. Definetly recommend. Nearly all tables were internationals. Great friendly service I would add.

Traditional ottoman food is ok but portions are small though especially for those are from the north america. Parking is limited and valets have a fixed price and you are forced to pay. Not all waiters are customer friendly. Just try not to involve any personal conversation otherwise you may not get a complimentary tea service :)

I really enjoyed the nice atmosphere, the exellent sevice and the incredible courses, which recreated traditional ottoman recipes. A really unique experience.

We had a fantastic experience visiting Asistane Restaurent after a visit in the impressive Chora Church, now Kariye Museem. The food was simply delicate and very well tasting. A fine combination of Tyrkish taste twisted with international style. The staff was friendly, respective, relaxed and very attentive and helpful. We can recommend the plave and would love to return.

We had a great time and highly recommend going, especially if you have an appreciation for food and history. It is different - as you would expect from recipes between 100 and 500+ years old. I would characterize it as historical first, experiential second, and quality food third.Contrary to other reviews - we thought the portions were quite large and wished they had smaller portions and a tasting menu, there were many things we wanted to try but couldnt because we were full. Further, we were not charged a service fee in the bill. Overall great experience; so happy we went.NOTE - THE GOOGLE MAP LOCATION IS NOT CORRECT. It is actually 1.5 blocks South East from the location that shows up, in the corner.

Food isnt very good. Tiny and overpriced portions. The gimmick is that youre eating foods from throughout the ages, but there may be a reason why they stopped making some of those recipes 5 centuries ago. They charged us a very high service charge and when we asked about it they kept denying it was service and it was a drinks charge. They became extremely unfriendly after we paid. Really cannot recommend it to anyone.