Uskudar Turkish Restaurant
“Still very good: hot yogurt soup on a cold day, spinach pie, baklava.”
“We also ordered hot appetizer, the cigar borek, crispy thin spring rolls with feta cheese inside, super yummy.”
“The köfte kebab is always aromatic and my go-to dessert is the kekül — rendered here as a heavenly coconut pudding topped with ground pistachios.”
Uskudar Turkish Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I've always loved Turkish cuisine especially after visiting Istanbul. I recommend for those who haven't to do so but that is for another website. This small cute restaurant on the UES was our destination after an event in the neighborhood.
We went for the stuffed grape leaves and Ciger (liver) to start. Both were very good. As for entrée Chicken Adana and Hunkar Begendi(lamb) was both delicious. The chicken on the skewer was moist and tender and seasoned nicely. The lamb in a stew of eggplant and tomatoes was hearty and flavorful.
We'll be returning if we are ever in the neighborhood and wanting a good Turkish meal. Heck, might just buy a ticket on Turkish Air.
Wow, what a tiny restaurant. I was not expecting there only to be a handful of tables. I was glad I had made reservations.
Upon being seated, we were served fresh bread and olives.
My friend and I shared a shepherd salad and I had the Yogurt Kebab. Both were extremely fresh and authentic. The flavors were not mind-blowing though.
Service was great as well.
Really tasty. We were in town and staying at my SIL's apartment nearby. I wasn't feeling well one night so we decided to order in. The food was fast, hot, and good.
We ordered –
Hummus with pita
Sucuk (sausage)
Coban Salad
Lamb Shish
Tas Kebab
Baklava
So tasty!!! Everything was on point (with maybe the exception of the Baklava… it was a bit too soggy for my tastes but that may be personal preference). Hands down, the lamb is phenomenal. Just incredible. If you are going to order anything… get the lamb! The salad was really quality. Super fresh and tasty.
I didn't try the sausage but my husband said it was really good with a nice spice. I loved the tas kebab… it's was tender and perfect and there was a TON of it. The hummus was clearly homemade and very good. But the pita… whoa. The pita was true pita. This isn't skinny, store bought, tears if you breathe on it pita… this was thick and savory and amazing. My only wish was that it was a little more salted but that didn't stop me from devouring every last bit of it.
The shish came with rice and we got a side of veggies too. They were a perfect compliment to the meal and really helped when I wasn't feeling so hot.
All in all, we would come back here for fast and tasty food!
Uskudar serves up some solid Turkish fare in a small but quaint restaurant. We started with appetizers of ezme, a spicy mashed tomato mixture, and tarator, a rich mixture of spinach, yogurt, sour cream, garlic etc. These were served with delicious hot, crusty bread that was one of the highlights of our meal.
My main course was adana, a spicy ground beef kabob served with a side of onion salad and a grilled tomato and pepper. The adana was flavorful and juicy but not spicy and far from the best adana I've ever had. The salad was heavy on the onions, but the grilled tomato was tasty and the rice was good. We also had an order of borek which was just ok.
One of the reasons we had chosen to visit Uskudar is their online menu had kunefe, but unfortunately they didn't offer it for lunch so we were disappointed.
The service was quick and the staff was friendly. Not a bad stop for some Turkish food, although I'd probably try one of the other nearby Turkish restaurants next time in my search for the best!
We had a groupon, so we were given a different "groupon" menu. It seemed like most of the entrees on this menu were chicken-based. Despite this, we had a good time here.
One of the waitresses had a limited command of the English language, but tried her best to serve us and asked another waitress to explain things if she felt she was not getting her point across. I think she was also in training. Overall, the staff members were very nice.
The chicken al-kuresh was good.
We also got two glasses of wine and two different desserts. Flan was average. I liked the coconut pudding more. Creamy, with a light coconut taste.
I felt like I was in someone's home. Someone who was glad to see me and wanted nothing else but to make me happy. Someone who prepared and served wonderful authentic food. The bread served with olive oil was light and dangerous in that you could make a meal of just that. Lamb Adana Yougurt and Chicken Adana Yougurt were to moan over. The yogurt had a a great interplay of sweet/tart and the pita underneath soked in the yougurt was like cake. Thick, sweet Turkish coffee and Baklava for dessert. I will be back.
Came here with Family (4 adults and 1 child) as we did not want to venture out too far out of UES. Our party was seated promptly, since it was a Sunday night I guess. The place is tiny and can probably seat 25 people.
We did not get any appetizers and straight went for entrees as we were not that hungry. Good call, as the portions were very filling.
A warm bread basket was served with olives in olive oil. The bread was freshly baked as well :-). Two if us got the Ayran (a yoghurt drink) and it was alright.
Our entree orders: Chicken Adana Kebab (2x), combination meat platter and chicken with artichokes. To begin with all of us felt that all the dishes were highly under seasoned. My chicken Adana Kebab entree was not as flavorful and lacked some acidity. I tasted the ground lamb kebab from my SILs dish and it was far better that my dish. So definitely go for the ground lamb kebab (lamb dishes in general) instead of chicken. The chicken with artichoke was very very under seasoned and very bland. The consistency was that of a thick yoghurt based stew.
Dessert: we ordered baklava for dessert and were not happy with the portion size. 3 teeny pieces if Baklava definitely were not worth $7.00 in my opinion.
All in all not wowed by the food, but service was prompt. So the 3 stars . Will probably not be returning back!
The tables have turned.
Five years back, Uskudar used to be my favorite restaurant in the area. Now, I would be pleasantly surprised to see it survive the next 5! I have no idea what's happened to their customers. It's not as if the quality of the food has declined appreciably (though it has). But, on a night when nearby A La Turka is packed, the tiny Uskudar, with a fourth of the capacity, has customers occupying only a few tables. In the summer I thought it was due to the lack of foresight in not having outdoor tables, but even in colder weather, the problem persists.
They do have a more limited menu, but dishes are executed competently. I've liked the Tas Kebab (lamb simmered in tomato sauce) entree, the Su Boregi (filo dough pastry filled with cheese and parsley) appetizer, and the smoked eggplant puree, but the Tarator seems soupy in consistency, and the mixed grill platter has been bland and dry. I believe most of the desserts are homemade, though the Baklava is from Gulluoglu.
IF they survive, it would be Seamless. Yes, food delivery could save their customers, by preventing them from walking a few more steps to see why everyone seems to be having a lot more fun at A La Turka