Great tasting Turkish food, coffee and desserts. Great atmosphere-- makes you feel like you're in the famous city. The lamb shank is worth going back for sure. The kabobs are great as well. Attentive service to boot. read more

Great spot for authentic Turkish food! The dishes are fresh, flavorful, and everything taste homemade in well seasoned. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and the staff are super attentive and friendly. It's just the perfect place for a delicious and comforting Turkish meal. I absolutely will be coming back to dine at this wonderful establishment. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this restaurant is reasonably priced and definitely a bang for your buck! So definitely check out Istanbul Cafe and restaurant. Because you won't be disappointed. I hope you enjoy! read more

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Good ambience, great staff. The food was ok ish. It used to be much better a couple of years ago. We got the chicken adana and suc kavurma. Both were average read more

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The lamb gyro was phenomenal. The babaganoush has that delicious roasted flavor. Serving size was very kind and Boyle Soda is available! They don't have lattes to go - that was slightly off putting but you can have Turkish coffee (don't add milk to this). read more

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Went there for breakfast and ordered their "premium platter". Seemed like they grabbed any jar full of stuff they could find in their kitchen and filled the little cups. Most of which you couldn't eat( pepper sauce , mushed tomatoes, some bitter tasting paste) two boiled eggs, honey some jam and olives. The scrambled eggs were watery picture attached. They charged us $65 for it and 18 percent gratuity fee. What a rip off!! Never returning there again. We asked for water they brought us bottled instead of a glass of water. They don't care about customer satisfaction. read more

Nice and bright during lunch today. Very clean. Tastefully decorated, this might be a good date spot. The gyro platter was good. The meat tasted more like lamb than most, so it might be a good choice for lamb lovers. It was a nice portion to order for the table or for a single person that wants some protein. I didn't love the kibbeh. It didn't taste like any I've had before. My wife liked it, she said it tasted Puerto Rican. And after I took another bite, I have to agree, it tasted like it was made in PR. My wife really liked the red lentil soup. I didn't. It had a nice texture though. It just didn't have enough seasoning for me. We arrived a bit after noon and they had a breakfast menu and a lunch menu. But I didn't see the lunch items that were online. I'm not sure if there was a menu change. But most entrees during lunch today were over $20. read more

First to start there is ample parking. We came on a Sunday mid afternoon. Large dining area with tables spaced apart and not on top of each other. Very pleasant staff. Next up the food was awesome! Tasty, fresh and delicious! Started with red lentil soup (amazing), bread at the table was so good and fresh. Next we had hummus with pita chips (awesome) and then a large shepherd salad for the table! I could have one of those every day!! Also had the vegetable casserole; chicken sauté and chicken shish kebab. All extremely good and we will definitely be back. read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Red lentil soup. Delicious - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

Amazing meal, we ordered the chicken Adana with rice and it had so much flavor. The food was so fresh and the service was really great. The inside of the restaurant was also very clean. I love that there is a market right next door as well. We picked up some groceries and Dubai chocolate read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Chicken Adana and chicken cubes - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

Really enjoyed this well prepared Turkish food and comfortable ambiance. Came here with a party of 11 to celebrate Easter. Ordered a variety of apps and entrees, the most memorable and delicious being: assorted Turkish Pide, manti, Shepard's salad, mixed grill, lamb shank, lamb chops, Iskender, as well as Turkish coffee and milk pudding. The meat was super moist and flavored perfectly. Service was overall very friendly and good. Parking lot outside and large open space indoors to accommodate big parties were a plus. read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

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Amazing meal, decided to take the family to a Turkish restaurant during Thanksgiving. Doing something unique. 1) The sac kavurma with rice was amazing - 9/10 2) Istanbul Mixed Grill with rice was amazing - 9.5/10 3) Sarma Beyti kabab was amazing - 10/10 4) Iskendar was amazing - 9/10 5) Pode with diced beef and cheese was amazing - 9/10 6) Manti was good - 8.5/10 7) Lamb Lokum with rice and fries was amazing - 9.2/10 8) Lahmacun was amazing - 9/10 9) Lamb shank was amazing - 9.5/10 10) Get a side of their rice - 10/10 read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Istanbul breakfast plate and menemen with fresh hot bread and tea. - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

Excellent food and perfect for large groups. We tried their mixed grill, chicken mixed grill, mixed pide and hummus with bread. Everything was excellent and well cooked. Only feedback is that the platter did not come with enough rice so we had to order more , and they had no white sauce served with the platter so we had to request extra. The desserts are so gorgeous and delicious as well! read more

Awesome food Great experience awesome staff food was delicious looking forward to going back for more

The best Turkish restaurant! The food is ALWAYS fresh , portions are generous, the atmosphere is very pleasant . service and staff are very friendly and attentive. Deserts needs improvement. read more

The place has an amazing bakery and a relatively large seating on the other side The Turkish breakfast is full of options and very fresh! Definitely visit read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Breakfast - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

Lovely ambiance Mid Service Mid Food for a high price - mixed chicken grill was kinda dry, also had to pay for water read more

If you are looking for a casual place with outdoor options to have some good food, good service with your family, that's your place

This is a fantastic restaurant. The food is first class. Tasty. Well prepared. Service is always on point. Best around to be very honest.

Quick service, AMAZING food and the best baklavas I've had. We ordered hummus, falafel, lentil soup and a combination chicken and lamb kebab plate -- it was all delicious! Their dessert menu is HUGE. Highly recommend!! read more

Having a birthday during this pandemic forced me to change plans so looking for nearby places I saw this restaurant had fantastic reviews and a great menu so my mom and I got the following: Baba Ghanoush: Fantastic! Very smoky and silky smooth with lots of bread. Grape Leaves: 8 in the order. Great, well balanced flavor. Istanbul Mix Grill: Outstanding! Huge portion of Chicken Shish, Lamb Shish, Adana, Gyro and Meatball with rice, grilled tomatoes, onion and a super spicy long pepper. Delivery arrived 5 minutes early by a driver with mask and gloves and it was still hot. I definitely want to go to the restaurant and have some of their creative pide pizzas. Thank you for a great birthday meal. read more

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I was very impressed with this hidden gem. I might have to put there Cacik recipe up there as one of the best I have ever eaten. Also, the lamb kebab was perfect. I'll be back to try a few different dishes and see if I find anymore goodies... read more

Outstanding. I'm from a Turkish background. It was as though my mom was cooking .I enjoyed it completely. The place is pretty and the service was professional. read more

The food was good (actually average). Service staff was nice with courtesy. prices higher than expected. The good thing about this place is the clean setting (tables/chairs/restroom, entrance). It's unreasonable to include (actually impose) tipping with the check. I do not recommend this place, and will, most probably, not visit again. read more

We went in only be told there were no tables available as they were expecting a large crowd to come in shortly for dinner. It was empty. The young man was apologetic unlike the woman behind the front counter. It was a strange occurrence and not conducive to a return visit. Shame. read more

Great food! Tasty, moist grilled meats just delightful! We enjoyed our food until the end. Leaving the restaurant all was good for about 5 minutes and then, mayhem , who will get first to the bathroom .. don't know what went wrong , but I haven't experienced something like this in ages .. not just belly aches but pure diarrhea... don't know what happened.. I was about to give 5 stars and after the stomach issues I decided to give only 2.. thank god it was not stomach poisoning read more

From the hand crafted, warm and delicious baked bread to the eggs atop hand chopped beef, this is the BEST breakfast I've had in the 7 weeks I've been on the road and away from home! This breakfast entree is like steak and eggs but it's already cut for you! This is so superior to a standard American breakfast! I am glad that I am open to new food experiences and, when traveling, I always check YELP to find independent restaurants at which to eat. The stand out places for me during this trip have both been Turkish! The first was a small combination grocery and restaurant on Long Island and now this one in Clifton, NJ. Turkish is fast becoming my "go to" Mediterranean food! The service was great. Explanations of the menu items were patiently given. The space is large, with large windows and an inviting decor. If I return to this area, I will definitely return to this restaurant to sample other offerings. A most delightful meal! read more

First timer.. LOVEDDDD it.. very good food... Perfect turkish cuisine... We started off with hummus and bread.. hummus was so good.. never had such good hummus elsewhere.. I used to live in kuwait and got reminded of those days.. Bread was freshly baked.. was so good.. My friend ordered lamb gyro.. oh man.. it was so fresh and tasted unbelievable.. We had Shish Kebab & Chicken Adana.. Adana was the BEST.. kebab was ok.. was a bit dry.. thats why i gave a 4.. if not i would have given a 5 :) white rice and bulgur was good too.. After all, a perfect finish with a turkish tea ! i also got home some baklava and kadayif.. it was good .. overall a good experience.. read more

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I've ordered from this Turkish restaurant a few times and the food here is always fantastic. If people somehow have issues with the service, which is usually overwhelmed due to the sheer volume of people dining and ordering takeout, they can always also order takeout (directly as per usual ordering from Grubhub has bigger fees even with their discounts.) The service is still nice; just overwhelmed. The five stars for this place is for the food in short. From takeout, I've gotten the mixed appetizer (overall very good outside of the grape leaves which are alright,) the Alinazik (which was fantastic,) and the Kunefe (which is fine though I definitely prefer the Paterson versions) along with another dish that I cannot remember (I believe one of the shish but I am unsure.) They also included a piece of baklava once which was also very good and not too sweet. Anyway, I went here with two others for the first time dining in. They take Covid precautions, separating tables but also not serving tap water what was a bit unexpected but the water was cheap so it was fine and I didn't see any difference with the Turkish speaking tables. I got a Gazoz which was the original flavor (as it's not specified on the menu.) We started with the pomegranate salad and the beet salad (pancar Salatası I believe) in terms of appetizers. The pomegranate salad which was quite large with super fresh vegetables was essentially a fancier version of a shepherd salad/çoban salatası though the dressing was a bit different. The beet salad was excellent coming from someone who doesn't usually eat beets with a bunch of other flavors and a great texture. The bread that they serve is good though I prefer the flatter bread you find in other places. I personally ordered the Guvec/Kuzu güveç which is a lamb stew cooked in an earthenware pot (aka the guvec) and topped with cheese. It had a surprising kick to it and there was great flavor to soak the bread into. The flavor reminded me a bit of kavurma outside of the cheese. Some of the pieces of the lamb were a bit chewy but otherwise it was very tasty. My side was the pilaf which has a red color and a lot more spice and tomato flavor then I would usually expect from pilaf and I prefer it this way. I previously have gotten the alinazik which I preferred as the lamb was more succulent and they have excellent eggplant but both dishes are good. Another person had a grilled dorado which was perfectly cooked which came with a salad and some potatoes which was probably the weakest thing. The other person had chicken shish which was very juicy which came with rice which was the usual flavorful variant. We saved room for dessert as we knew that they are fantastic here and we went with two of them. Kabak tatlısı and Kadayıf. Kabak tatlısı, listed as pumpkin dessert on the menu, is something you don't find much outside of the more Turkish neighborhoods. The waitress asked if we wanted sesame (tahini) and walnuts on it and if we wanted it warm which we did. The pumpkin, which is essentially a custard, was very flavorful and there was a nice nut flavor from the sesame and walnuts though I would recommend getting a tea or coffee as your mouth can get dry from the tahini. A big piece of kadayıf; essentially filo dough with nuts topped with shredded filo, honey, and pistachio; was also excellent. It was topped with an ample amount of pistachios and there wasn't too much honey so it wasn't that overwhelmingly sweet. Unlike many other places as well, it was also still quite soft and fresh. The food overall here is excellent and if you're unable to go to Paterson, this is another fantastic option. The prices might be slightly higher which is probably partially the area as well as partially how massive this place is then some of those places but they make up for it with overall fantastic food. Good friendly overall service though slow as noted so if you're looking for quicker Turkish meal, I would recommend ordering take out directly from them instead. Mid 4. read more

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Went there today for lunch and we shared the grilled chicken mix platter. It was unbelievable! Great place with delicious dishes, and amazing customer service. When we are in the mood for Turkish food, this is the place to go to. I highly recommend it. read more

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Authentic Turkish restaurant, the ambiance and menu can speak for itself. The service was prompt and friendly. Tired falafel - hummus combo, tasted fresh and elegantly presented. Tried Chicken Adanna kebab platter also, chicken was moist, well seasoned and not chewy at all. Kids will enjoy it too. Coming to deserts, tried Kenafe - came freshly prepared, was little on higher sweetness side but overall good. read more

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This place was great! It was pretty crowded on a Saturday night, so we were glad we had made a reservation in advance. It took a little while for a waitress to come over to our table after we sat, but service was fine overall. The appetizers were great, and the main dishes were pretty good too. Good Turkish option in the area and will likely come back. read more

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The best casual restaurant in New Jersey , kids friendly , family gatherings friendly service, celebrating events is awesome, clean , food made fresh as you order !! read more

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The food is above average compared to other Turkish restaurants. I usually come here for the breakfast options, but also love the dinner options as well. If I'm not having a breakfast platter or gozleme, I'm having the lahmacun. The desserts are also tasty--try the custard! Overall, this place never fails me. read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Eating Ground Beef Gozleme and Potato Gozleme - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

Food and service was great ! The dessert showcase really was tempting, almost ordered one of everything! Definitely will be back, best Turkish good around read more

Great experience here! I went with my friend and the service was so fast and friendly they even gave us a dessert on the house. The chicken kebab was my favorite dish I highly recommend it. They have really strong Turkish coffee so if you get a dessert pair it with either the coffee or the tea. You really get the feeling that you're in Turkey if you sit down and enjoy the vibes of the restaurant. Definitely looking forward to going back the quality, amount, and price of the meal I had there were beyond what I expected it was a spontaneous pick for us and now it'll be a go to spot. read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Turkish Coffee, Bottled Water 0.5 lt, Honey Cake, Small Cake - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

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A real Turkish delight! This place is vast with several booths and tables that can accommodate groups of any size. I came here without a reservation on a Friday evening with 2 other people and we were seated right away. Service was fast and excellent. Parking was easy. We ordered the following: To drink, AYRAN (a yogurt and salt-based drink that almost tastes like kefir) topped with billowy foam was nice and tart. Yum! Then to start, their BABAGANOUSH (made from an eggplant and tahini base) was chunky and smoky AF. I felt like a stalker. I couldn't leave it alone! Then for entrées, we shared the YAĞLI PIDE (special and custom) which is considered to be Turkish pizza. Who can say no to pizza?! It was super good with cheese, ground beef, and 2 eggs (you can request as many as you want) on thin dough. It was even better the next day. We also shared the ISTANBUL KARIŞIK- a finely-prepared, grilled mixed meat platter of chicken shish, lamb shish, adana (minced meat), super thinly sliced gyro, meatball, rice, the thinnest pita which I love, and marinated veggies. I usually don't eat a lot of meat but this was damn worth it. Every meat was perfectly cooked, juicy, and delicious. These entrées were huge! We had leftovers of both and enjoyed the hell out of them the next day. Everything was scrumptious! What a feast! read more

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I have this place bookmarked from a friend's suggestion. Finally came here on sunday afternoon. It was not crowded as I was thinking of. Me with husband were seated very quickly. Their menu is huge with variety of breakfast, kebabs and dessert options. We decided to order one combo kebab platter and a meat(Soujouk) pide. We were served with their turkish bread and whipped butter. The bread was fresh but does not taste special as I was expecting. Chicken Kebab and Chicken Adana - 4/5 Both kebabs were delicious, the platter came with rice, carrot salad, a grilled pepper and tomato. Everything on the plate was delicious. my only complaint is with the quantity. The portion was less for the price it is of. Soujouk Pide - 2/5 It was like a calzone with literally 3-4 pieces of Soujouk(tasted like pepperoni) inside it. It does not even have cheese. The bread was bland, no spices but could taste butter. It was not worth the price. Baklava - 5/5 this was the best thing here, one portion came with 5 small piece of baklava. It wasn't too sweet and I really liked it. After getting disappointed with the Pide, baklava cheered me up. Service was okay, even though there were not too many people in the restaurant. we have to wait quite long to give order and then at the end we waited 10-15 extra mins to call for the bill. read more

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Came for dinner, service is friendly but not that attentive. There was only one other family in there dining so the servers seemed pre-occupied with their own duties like wrapping silverware, etc. Plenty of parking, I got the chicken shish....chicken was cooked well, seasoning was ok. We also got a appetizer sampler with hummus, eggplant with and without tomato sauce. It was ok, my fiancé didn't like it much, said it was ok the heavier side. Probably wouldn't come back unless I was in the area and hadn't had it in a long time. read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey

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I love the food and ambiance. Clean, spacious, and authentic! I like to get a mix of plates and have the table share. That way you can get a lil bit of everything;) Only suggestion would be to enhance the service. Servers take a while to check up on table:/ read more

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Excellent mixed platter with a ton of meat and rice. Extremely fresh the service was impeccable and friendly the atmosphere was authentic and a treat for anyone who goes here! read more

Ordered the lentil soup, lamb Adana and Lamb Stew. All really good. The complimentary Bread and butter isn't my taste at all, so didn't enjoy how dense the bread was. The bottom of the caldron and Turkish coffee was really good. I'll be back to try the other options on the menu. read more

Istanbul Cafe and Restaurant - Turkish Near Me - Clifton, New Jersey