Found this gem of a place on Happy Cow after spending a few days in Istanbul. Turkey is a pretty…read moremeat heavy culture, but you can seek out some good veggies places. This is one of them. It is a little hole in the wall place, but they serve up a traditional flavorful dish a bit like seitan basically. You can get it in a wrap and if you are staying somewhere can take a box home for fairly cheap. Also be sure to check out nearby Parsifal. This is a simple sit down affordable place that is 100 percent vegetarian and has many vegan options. The menu labels what is vegetarian and what is vegan making ordering easy.

Zencefil which means "ginger" in English is located Istiklal street area and it is one of the few…read morevegetarian restaurants in Istanbul. I have been going to Zencefil for years but last time I was there was about 4-5 years ago. The restaurants has been keeping its style, quality for many years. Even the menu looks like the same except for a few new dishes depending on the season. There are several kinds of vegetable quiches such as eggplant, spinach, etc. The nice think is that before the meal they serve butter mixed with herbs accompanied with bread. There were two kinds of bread; with corn flour and whole wheat. However, the bread could be better, I didn't like the whole wheat bread. I can make batter breads and I am wondering why they do not make their own bread adding different kinds of herbs and vegetables. Although it is a vegetarian restaurant, there one or two chicken dishes on the menu. Since there wasn't so much change on the menu for years, I have already tried most dishes which were OK. I mean the tastes are nice, not heavenly but you know that all of them are healthy. This time I had warm served Aegean stew made of artichokes, faba beans and black-eyed beans. It was so light and tasty, I really like it. I had homemade ginger ale for a drink but frankly saying I didn't like it maybe because I am used to Canadian dry or other brands. But I recommend its lemonade with ginger. I hope they add more experimental vegetable recipes on the menu next time. At the end of the meal they always serve coriander and some dry herb to refreshen the breath which I really like. Lastly, the ambiance is nice, bright, colorful and the place is mostly full of young people and tourists during lunch hours. The service is not bad but I wish they smile more...

This is for ever vegan looking for a place to eat in Istanbul. It's hard to tell from yelp if it's…read morestill open. It is OPEN. I tried every vegan option in Istanbul and I've come to the conclusion of this is the BEST vegan food you can get. Don't waist your time getting lost to find some over priced dish at a tOuriSt trap. This is the spot. It's cheap, cute and the food is so good! The lady who runs it is a sweetheart. It's also in a really cool area. No one's harassing you to ear in their restaurant. It's somewhat quiet. I walked all the way from old city and I'll do the same. Don't sleep on this place. It's so cheap you can order everything they have. Support this place. It's so worth it! Favorite vegan place over seas. :)

A very basic establishment but very good food and vegan food is hard to find Istanbul. Seems like…read moresome very honorable people working very hard. I took home chocolate cake, which was delicious.

This is a tiny shop that prepares all vegan food! The dining area is upstairs, and I believe they…read moremostly deliver food. I went two days in a row, and there was nobody there, but it seems like many orders were coming in on the phone. The first day I ordered the Turkish pizza, lahmacun, and I thought I was eating the real thing. Second time I went with my husband who is not vegan, and he ordered the kokorec rand I ordered the narcissist burger. Everything was very tasty, not too salty, may be a little bit heavy, but all in all it was very good. I was really happy with everything. I was a bit confused about the menu because on the breakfast they have eggs, and I thought maybe they had regular eggs, but the whole place is all dairy free! No eggs no dairy! No meat! Everything is vegan! Very friendly staff!

This isn't your standard vegan restaurant. There is a wide variety of Turkish vegan food which is…read moreall home made. I absolutely love the lahmacun and the manti. It's a tiny place so I hope they get a bigger location soon. Home delivery service is very fast.

This place was AMAZING…read more After a very long chill and drink sesh at another establishment in the area, bae and I were hungry and tryna chow down on some turkish grub. This place was in the vicinity and decent according to trip advisor AND open late. The restaurant is gigantic. I'm not an expert on average restaurant sizes in Turkey but this is one of the biggest restaurants I've ever seen. It has like 5 levels and is decorated impeccably. Impeccable as a synonym for weird. We were kindly seated in this, I'm not joking, like library on the roof. I literally took panoramic snapchats with the caption "this is literally where we are eating dinner". We sat on the couch in the library and the food was placed on a coffee-table like structure in front of us. We went with hookah of course, because 6 hours of hookah prior to our arrival was clearly inadequate. The staff were impressively attentive to our coals and came to check up on them every 30 min or so. If you know us, it won't be surprising that we literally ordered the entire menu. We got boreka-like spinach and cheese SPRING ROLLS (wtf?), spinach and cheese pastry thing, hummus (OBVIOUSLY), zucchini fritters, meat-ravioli in a cream sauce, and pita bread (OBVIOUSLY). Everything was absolutely spectacular. We ate way more food than is probably recommended for health/safety reasons but it was worth it. The staff was absolutely incredible with how much attention they gave us. Because we were off in a colony on mars practically, we had no idea that the restaurant had pretty much closed down in the floors below. This abruptly came to my attention when I drunkenly attempted to search for the bathroom. Our waiter additionally went out of his way to flag our cab down on our way out. Amazing hospitality in this place. Anyways, this was honestly one of my best experiences in a restaurant to date. Highly recommend.

Good food and service. On the pricier side. Great outdoor ambiance. Make sure to poke your head…read moreinside to see all of the lights. It's super cute inside.

Everything I ate here was utterly delicious and unique. The staff was lovely and so helpful. Their…read morerecommendation of what to order was spot on. I'm already craving a second visit.

Galata Kitchen is not a doner grill and it doesn't open onto a busy street with a big outdoor…read morepatio. After two days having some great meals in Istanbul of that type, we looked for something different. Not far from Galata Tower, GK is on a side street with little foot traffic. It has a big modern sign back off the street and one of the operators saw us hesitating where to enter and waved us in from the front entrance. Inside it has whimsical and funny decorations and serious books mounted on the wall, but is not atmospheric, more like a diner. BUT the food is displayed in a case, hot and cold entrees separated, so you can see what you are ordering. You pick what you want and they assemble your choices on a plate and bring it to the table. Hot entrees included chicken bites in a tomato sauce and chicken with onions, lamb stew and beef and plenty of salad and vegetable choices in the cold display case. The group of men running the place that night were low key but personable, answering our questions about food items and Turkish literature. Service was prompt but understated and helpful. Our group of four had a great time and the menu is diverse enough that everyone found choices that pleased them. But remember, we came in expecting something very good other than doner kebap and were not disappointed!

The Google reviews looked too good to be true, but we gave it a shoot. And it was great. Amazing…read moreview, great food, great host, great desert ! We dine here again with pleasure.

Outstanding food. Chef is amazing and worth the drive. Definitely get the wine parings.read more

They have very good food, even if you are not vegan like myself you'll love it. the service is…read moregreat and the staff is very friendly...

Has an amazing ambience and is located in a very posh part of Istanbul, far from the madding crowd…read more The food, however, is more western in its palette so do not expect veganized versions of Turkish cuisine. The dessert (Brownie with Coconut ice cream) is to die for, and their yogurt-like almond milk and mint drink is the best thing I've had in a long time. Highly commendable, especially in a city where veganism is not a popular lifestyle.

Had early dinner meal,had mixed grill and wraps,the chicken is really good ,lamb not…read morerecommended,the kefta is so,so and tiny.the garlic sauce is not good-just a hint of garlic. Hummus is okay,tabbouleh is good. Yogurt mint drink is good. Lemonade mint-will not order again. Area is clean,staffs were fast that one waiter asked at the end if we were done eating and grabbed our plates at the same time while my husband is finishing the hummus and meat. We were surprised and just laughed it off. I will only comeback for grilled chicken and yoghurt drink.

I ordered the plate that had chicken pulled off the skewer, 3 falafel patties, humus, tahini,…read moretabbouleh salad, pickles and pita bread. The chicken was perfectly cooked, with good flavor. Although the falafel patties were not as hot as I like them, they were still amazing. I'm not a fan of tabbouleh salad, so I can't really give an opinion on whether it was good. Given the quality of everything else, I'm guessing it was good. I did eat some of it. The people serving were very kind.

This was my first night in Istanbul and I eased tired from traveling from cappadocia earlier in the…read moreday. This restaurant was close to my hotel and had great reviews on Yelp. When I arrived there was only one other customer inside. The restaurant decor was cute and I very comfortable. The staff were friendly and welcoming. This spot was a bit pricey just like most of the restaurants in this touristy area. I had certain Turkish entrees i wanted to try during my vacation. I ordered the Iskender kebab which is beef and pita bread covered with tomato sauce with yogurt on the side. I ordered a side salad to go with it. The dish was very delicious as you can tell in one of my pics. I chatted with some of the staff about life in Istanbul. I was offered some complimentary pomegranate tea before I left and it hit the spot. This is definitely a place to check out when you're in the area.

A MUST TRY. As an American, I have been SO impressed with food here in Turkey and if you are in the…read morearea, this restaurant is an absolute MUST-TRY if you're looking for great food. I had some of THEE BEST chicken kebab I've ever had in this country here. The beef kebab was also tender and flavorful. You cannot go wrong with any of these! The service was quick and prompt, and the servers were great at making recommendations. I came here in the winter so we sat indoors which felt a bit cramped however, there is also outdoor seating during the nicer weather months. If I'm ever back here in Istanbul, I would definitely come back. And if you're reading this, you NEED to try the Old Ottoman!