Miss Istanbul

As New Yorkers who eat a lot of Mediterranean food, my husband and I were blown away by the lamb burger and fries! Truly so good. I got a pomegranate tea that was presented beautifully and tasted so sweet (but not overwhelming). My husband had a good Turkish coffee with great presentation.

Great food, tasty, good portion sizes, good prices. Burger is a bit messy to eat but that goes with the territory of a nice full burger. Wife was very impressed by her scrambled eggs dish (think it was the Menemen). Chips with my burger were perfectly cooked and the Pulled Lamb burger was excellent. Seating is somewhat limited but the staff were great at clearing the tables away quickly and also paid attention to spray cleaning the seats and tables between customers which was great to see.

Really friendly and helpful staff. We sat at the main bar/food/service area and the decor was so beautiful. The food is colourful, greatly presented and the taste is delicious and authentic. We were so full we couldn 't fit dessert in so we took some baklava home and it was amazing! Everyone has their preference for baklava but if you want it nutty chewy, a bit crispy and just the right amount of sweetness and not too 'syrupy ' Miss Istanbul is where it 's at.

This little Turkish restaurant located inside Ponsonby central is very nice. Things are tasty, and the staff are very friendly. It is not as busy as other restaurants, but I’d say it is actually very good and they have lots of seating inside. (They even have a top mounted heater at the bar by the sweet cabinet, which makes sitting at the bar feel warm and cosy. Ordered the Sigara Borek, Taramasalata Pide and the Istanbul Kebab. The Sigara Borek are like a filo pastry spring rolls, these were crunchy on the outside and tasty potatoes filling inside. A very nice appetizer for cold winter days. The Taramasalata is very interesting, it tasted somewhat like salmon pâté but more creamy and flavourful. It would be nicer if there were a little more Pide (bread to go with it. The Istanbul Kebab was really tasty, the lamb kebab was cooked perfectly. Everything else on the plate were good company to the kebab and things tasted so good, the whole plate of food was gone before I knew it. The array of Turkish sweets displayed in the cabinet are very tempting, and I ended up ordering the Baklava and Revani as dessert. The Baklava was divine, it is like a mini almond croissant with the flavour amplified up a few times. At $2.5 a piece, it is a bargain. Almost a no brainer to go for second or a third. One the other hand, the Revani (citrus cake was tasty but a bit too dry. In my opinion, the Baklava is a better option. Can have a dozen of the Baklava if I didn’t have dinner beforehand. All and all an interesting Turkish restaurant. Highly recommended it.

Just say “FEED ME CHEF!” And you will not be disappointed. We usually love meat but went with the veggie option and LOVED it. A bunch of different courses starting with dips and absolutely everything was incredible including the amazing pomegranate tea!!!