A La Turka
“The other dish we got, which was my favorite, was off the chef's menu called hunkar begendi.”
“We ordered Turkish pide with ground lamb and Lahmacun which is called Turkish pizza.”
“I had recently been to Beyoglu with the same crowd and we ordered all of our standard Turkish plates so we had a ready comparison.”
A La Turka
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Had lunch with friends at A La Turka yesterday….here are my thoughts:
Ambiance: The restaurant was very quiet at 1:30 pm. The only other party was a party of one. Things picked up a bit around 3pm though, which made things a little less awkward.
Service: Excellent, which is why this restaurant gets 3 stars. Our server was very friendly and accommodating.
Food: Very average.
— Trout was full of bones, despite the waiter assuring me it was boneless. It wasn't too flavorful and I had to add lots of salt to it, and the accompanying vegetables. I don't recommend this dish at all.
— Husband and daughter had the chicken shish. They commented the meat quality was a bit suspect but that there was good flavor.
— Complimentary bread was dry and stale.
Overall: For the prices I would expect far better food quality. We won't be returning.
I came here with a friend on a Monday night and was pleasantly surprised by how trendy this place was. The staff here are very friendly and attentive. We were greeted by a smiling hostess and immediately shown to a cozy corner table by the window.
To start, we ordered our drinks, which came promptly. I ordered an apple martini, which tasted like straight vodka. Great bang for your buck, but the bartender clearly has no idea what they're doing. My friend had a glass of wine.
We were given some complimentary bread with red (spicy) and white (yogurt) dipping sauces; both were okay. We ordered the cacik appetizer (yogurt dip, which was very similar to the complimentary white sauce, but thicker), my friend had the lamb kofte, and I had the yogurt lamb kebab. Everything was okay, but everything was a little boring and of one note, flavor-wise. Towards the end of my meal, I picked up a forkful of lamb and saw a long, black hair hanging from my fork. I could've said something to the waiter, but I had eaten most of my food already, so I didn't bother.
Overall, hair-in-the-food aside, this is an okay place to check out if you're in the mood for some ethnic grub in UES that isn't Italian.
The place has a really cozy and comfortable feel to it. It can be fancy and casual whoever you choose to dine with there.
I had the mixed grill which had a solid variety. There wasn't much of unique taste but the serving was of good quality meats that had a great char and juice bite. The portion is certainly huge. I would have liked more of the sides–the rice and particularly the verges are a pittance when it comes to balancing out the dish. The dipping sauces for the bread (which is very good) are helpful with adding flavor.
Located along a several block run of Turkish, Burmese, Persian and other ethnic and mediterranean restaurants, A La Turk a is a warm lovely and friendly place offering delicious home cooked Turkish cuisine.
The House Pide (Turkish Pizza) with Turkish Sausage was excellent, as was the Okra, home made Manti and just about everything we ate. Indoor and outdoor seating. A big wall of windows, brick walls, chandeliers, white tablecloths make it a causal yet elegant dining experience.
I left my credit card at the restaurant, (long story as to why) and someone literally chased me for two blocks to return it and ran away refusing to take a small token of appreciation.
Been there before and I'll certainly be back.
I enjoyed the food here overall. It wasn't the best turkish that I've ever had though. This restaurant has some pretty fierce competition on the same block by other similar restaurants. If you have a large group of people, this is the one to go to.
There is some great music playing in the background and the small bar area seems like it could be fun if you're alone.
I consider myself a fan of trying "new" cuisine's but I'm somewhat late to the "Turkish food" party having only really discovered it in the last year or two. My girlfriend is from that general region and introduced me to A La Turka. We have been there twice and I really enjoyed it both times. The restaurant is large with a nice ambiance and extremely friendly service. I have had tried the yogurt chicken kebab, the zucchini pancakes (excellent), Mediterranean Salad (really fresh dressing), the chicken adana kabob (which is a ground chicken kabob) and my favorite ( A La Turka Special Pide) which is basically a Turkish pizza with meat, cheese and egg (highly recommend this one!)
The service was friendly and pretty good. That is about the only positive I can write.
The food was barely average. For Turkish food it was bland. The Manti ("dumplings") tasted horrible. Or to be more precise, had virtually no flavor except for the yucky sauce. It tasted as if it came from a can, except it had no flavor. Myself and the other person in our party that was at the other end of the table both sent it back. (I can count on one hand the number of times I have sent food back) The mixed grill I got was good, but relatively bland compared to other Turkish places I have gone to.
I would give this place four stars as long as you know what to order. For now, I'll give it three. The salads and appetizers are all excellent, but the main courses are nothing to write home about.
We started with the Shepard Salad, which was fresh, tasty and huge. We also ordered the Humus (some of the best I've had not in the Middle East), which came with some excellent pita (also unusually good for the USA).
Several chicken and fish dishes were ordered for the table, and they were all fine, but nothing stood out. If I were to return as two people, I would definitely order the salad and humus again followed by a hot appetizer.