The food was good but the quantity was small. I gave it 2 stars because the food was good. The price is extremely expensive because in other restaurants it costs 4 or 5 dollars at most. I'm sorry but I don't recommend it. It's sad to pay 9.50 dollars for a soup.
Food: 4
fusun sahin
Authentic Turkish food. We came here for breakfast twice. Got the royal breakfast and dolmas. Also the cheese plate and the yoldaş plate. Everyone in our group loved their food and hospitality.
Joe R.
We ordered delivery through Grubhub from Istanbul'lu as this restaurant was outside of our local area and we were excited to try some Turkish food. The order arrived on time and the driver was responsive. As for the order, we had the sigara borek, chicken pilav, dolma, fries, and an extra order of bread. The food was quite tasty, cooked well, and flavorful and the rice was amazing. The issue we had was with the portion sizes and the extravagant costs. I know there is inflation these days, but our chicken pilav had 3 pieces of sliced chicken breast which amounted to about ¼ of a single breast. For nearly $20 this was outrageous. The sigara borak was also quite tiny for $10, and the fries amounted to a small portion that you would receive from a fast food chain and were twice as expensive. It was quite the disappointment as we were looking to support local business, but for the cost along with the Grubhub add-ons, it wasn't worth it. Perhaps next time we will make the trek to the restaurant to see how the in person experience is.
j j.
The interior is very comfortable and it was a nice touch of authenticity to see Turkish patrons there. The bread was so, so very good - tender and warm and fresh. I ordered the Sultan's delight, a pureed eggplant with lamb chunks. I liked the roasted tomatoes and peppers that were on top. I also tried a dessert that was like a birds nest of phyllo dough, drenched in honey and filled with pistachios. It was very sweet, but also good, and with a pleasant texture. The dessert portion was very generous. I would return.
Imann Mosleh
The food was too salty. I ordered Doner which the meat was not fresh. Also I ordered fries and it tasted very bad it seems that the oil was not fresh. Also, the cuisine had mandatory charge of 4% on credit cards and 18% gratuity. The atmosphere was ok.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Sayed Mousawi
Hidden gem really. The waitress was helpful and friendly . Food was great . Would come here again for sure . Highly
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sean Dacey
Delicious Turkish food. Best Turkish restaurant in Boston by far. Definitely worth the visit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
alek bedroya
Authentic food and great service with a warm and cozy environment that makes the experience very enjoyable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amir H Souri
I have come here multiple times, and each time, the food quality worsened compared to the past. The kabobs are overly salty, garnished with no authentic ingredients (fries on the top of donar?!). Also, I was not too fond of the fact that tip is included already while they ask for extra tips in the receipt, hoping to double charge the customers. It doesn't represent well Turkish food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Adana Kebab
kader dura
I got Turkish beans (kuru fasulye) it wasn’t bad but too spicy and the portions are small for the
The best food in town! I'm not a huge food of Turkish food but this place makes me want to eat here every night! The foods is all handmade and made with love! Must try the doner kebab, lahmacun!
Michael Fournier
I used to go before the pandemic and liked it but oddly, the food is better than before. Iskander is wonderful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Adana Kebab, Iskender, Hummus
Trevor Bass
Absolutely wonderful Turkish restaurant just outside Davis Square. Definitely my favorite Turkish restaurant, and one of my all-time favorite restaurants, in the Boston area. The star of the show is the food, which is beautifully prepared and has many options for a wide variety of diets. Just go already!Vegetarian options: Plentiful vegetarian options! A bit more limited for vegans, but there are still some great options.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Olivia B
Cozy eating area and quick service. Istanbul'lu was a great introduction to Turkish food with lots of options including Turkish coffee, Black Sea pancakes and more. Menu has changed from previous pictures.Parking: On a two-lane main road, and parking is available on one side only.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kunefe
Sabina Zajmi
My time as a customer here ended as quickly as it started! If you wanna gamble wether you’re eating or not today, order here!I discovered this place & ordered 3 times this week here, perfect food. Kofte was perfect, rice was soft and fluffy. Today I placed 2 orders and boy I regret it!Instead of the soft moist kofte I got black dry kofte with a burned crust!The rice was RAW! Never in my life has a restaurant served me such undercooked rice. It looked overdone on the outside, but once you ate it it was hard and raw in the middle, which tells me they boiled it fast.On one of the plates there was not even a tablespoon salad.I had told my husband about this place, so today he decided to try it out too, but instead he got the worst food of his life. Even if we could somehow eat the burned kofte, we had nothing to eat it with as the rice was raw.Mistakes can happen, but to serve paying customer bad food so it doesn’t go to waste is abhorrent.I wanted to give them a chance to remedy the situation, so I called. I explained the issues with my order but the owner/manager was rude and wouldn’t accept it. I even offered him to send a driver to pick up and see it for himself, I even offered to bring the food there since it was going to trash anyway, but he would just not accept any fault. In the end he yelled at me “What do you want? You want your money back?” And I said “No, keep it, you just lost 2 customers”.I will not give my business to someone dishonest! Customers are not your trash cans. We pay for our food with hard earned money. Next time something is done bad, throw it out.
The food was good but the quantity was small. I gave it 2 stars because the food was good. The price is extremely expensive because in other restaurants it costs 4 or 5 dollars at most. I'm sorry but I don't recommend it. It's sad to pay 9.50 dollars for a soup.
Food: 4
Authentic Turkish food. We came here for breakfast twice. Got the royal breakfast and dolmas. Also the cheese plate and the yoldaş plate. Everyone in our group loved their food and hospitality.
We ordered delivery through Grubhub from Istanbul'lu as this restaurant was outside of our local area and we were excited to try some Turkish food. The order arrived on time and the driver was responsive. As for the order, we had the sigara borek, chicken pilav, dolma, fries, and an extra order of bread. The food was quite tasty, cooked well, and flavorful and the rice was amazing. The issue we had was with the portion sizes and the extravagant costs. I know there is inflation these days, but our chicken pilav had 3 pieces of sliced chicken breast which amounted to about ¼ of a single breast. For nearly $20 this was outrageous. The sigara borak was also quite tiny for $10, and the fries amounted to a small portion that you would receive from a fast food chain and were twice as expensive. It was quite the disappointment as we were looking to support local business, but for the cost along with the Grubhub add-ons, it wasn't worth it. Perhaps next time we will make the trek to the restaurant to see how the in person experience is.
The interior is very comfortable and it was a nice touch of authenticity to see Turkish patrons there. The bread was so, so very good - tender and warm and fresh. I ordered the Sultan's delight, a pureed eggplant with lamb chunks. I liked the roasted tomatoes and peppers that were on top. I also tried a dessert that was like a birds nest of phyllo dough, drenched in honey and filled with pistachios. It was very sweet, but also good, and with a pleasant texture. The dessert portion was very generous. I would return.
The food was too salty. I ordered Doner which the meat was not fresh. Also I ordered fries and it tasted very bad it seems that the oil was not fresh. Also, the cuisine had mandatory charge of 4% on credit cards and 18% gratuity. The atmosphere was ok.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Hidden gem really. The waitress was helpful and friendly . Food was great . Would come here again for sure . Highly
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious Turkish food. Best Turkish restaurant in Boston by far. Definitely worth the visit.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Authentic food and great service with a warm and cozy environment that makes the experience very enjoyable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I have come here multiple times, and each time, the food quality worsened compared to the past. The kabobs are overly salty, garnished with no authentic ingredients (fries on the top of donar?!). Also, I was not too fond of the fact that tip is included already while they ask for extra tips in the receipt, hoping to double charge the customers. It doesn't represent well Turkish food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Adana Kebab
I got Turkish beans (kuru fasulye) it wasn’t bad but too spicy and the portions are small for the
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
The best food in town! I'm not a huge food of Turkish food but this place makes me want to eat here every night! The foods is all handmade and made with love! Must try the doner kebab, lahmacun!
I used to go before the pandemic and liked it but oddly, the food is better than before. Iskander is wonderful.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Adana Kebab, Iskender, Hummus
Absolutely wonderful Turkish restaurant just outside Davis Square. Definitely my favorite Turkish restaurant, and one of my all-time favorite restaurants, in the Boston area. The star of the show is the food, which is beautifully prepared and has many options for a wide variety of diets. Just go already!Vegetarian options: Plentiful vegetarian options! A bit more limited for vegans, but there are still some great options.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cozy eating area and quick service. Istanbul'lu was a great introduction to Turkish food with lots of options including Turkish coffee, Black Sea pancakes and more. Menu has changed from previous pictures.Parking: On a two-lane main road, and parking is available on one side only.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Kunefe
My time as a customer here ended as quickly as it started! If you wanna gamble wether you’re eating or not today, order here!I discovered this place & ordered 3 times this week here, perfect food. Kofte was perfect, rice was soft and fluffy. Today I placed 2 orders and boy I regret it!Instead of the soft moist kofte I got black dry kofte with a burned crust!The rice was RAW! Never in my life has a restaurant served me such undercooked rice. It looked overdone on the outside, but once you ate it it was hard and raw in the middle, which tells me they boiled it fast.On one of the plates there was not even a tablespoon salad.I had told my husband about this place, so today he decided to try it out too, but instead he got the worst food of his life. Even if we could somehow eat the burned kofte, we had nothing to eat it with as the rice was raw.Mistakes can happen, but to serve paying customer bad food so it doesn’t go to waste is abhorrent.I wanted to give them a chance to remedy the situation, so I called. I explained the issues with my order but the owner/manager was rude and wouldn’t accept it. I even offered him to send a driver to pick up and see it for himself, I even offered to bring the food there since it was going to trash anyway, but he would just not accept any fault. In the end he yelled at me “What do you want? You want your money back?” And I said “No, keep it, you just lost 2 customers”.I will not give my business to someone dishonest! Customers are not your trash cans. We pay for our food with hard earned money. Next time something is done bad, throw it out.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Kofte Plate