Turkish Kitchen

Not good, the food was dry and tasteless :( I wanted it to be so much better. It's definitely a college lunch spot

Turkish Kitchen is one of the best Mediterranean restaurants I've been to, and at an unbeatable price!

I recently was looking for Mediterranean food in the north Berkeley area and was between this nice restaurant and a very common Mediterranean food chain which is also good but will not be named. I remember thinking the trade-off will be that this restaurant is likely more expensive but will have better/more authentic food, but I hadn't checked the menu prices or portion sizes; I was just guessing based off the storefronts.

In reality, this restaurant has better/more authentic food, cheaper prices, and larger portion sizes. I got a lamb and beef plate as well as one of their appetizers. Everything was really good and I got the chance to try some dishes that I've never found at other Mediterranean places.

The staff were also very nice and the place was very clean. The restaurant is never too crowded, which is a shame, because it's definitely a local business that deserves more love. I'd recommend stopping by!

I got a lamb and chicken lavash wrap which was delicious. I'm hot and cold when it comes to tahini, but theirs was mellow and flaverfull. The place appears to be owned by a couple. The wife was funny and sweet.

Not much to say, seriously. If you want crouton pita under your Iskender, order from this restaurant.

It's so funny that I spent four years living in Berkeley, but never tried this place until five years after graduating from university. I came here for dinner with an acquaintance looking to talk healthcare and grad school one night, and started to wonder why I passed this restaurant so many times years before without ever trying it. The place was spacious, the staff were quick, and the food was delicious!

We had the chicken doner wrap, beyti, lentil soup, and Turkish Delight (totally inspired to get this because of The Chronicles of Narnia, haha). The lentil soup was smooth with a thick texture (great for a cold night). The chicken doner wrap was flavorful and filling. The beyti, which I have to say was my favorite of the line up, was also filling and kind of reminded me of a rolled up lasagna for some reason (it was saucy and savory). The Turkish Delight wasn't too sweet, and was nice and chewy. I've had Turkish food before, but never anything that tasted like this, which made me realize that I missed out for years on end without going into Turkish Kitchen. I encourage those who slip by the place to pay it a visit -- there's bound to be a good meal waiting for you!

I usually save ordering in for the weekend so I don't bust my waistline or my wallet. But this Saturday, I was really struggling to decide what to eat for dinner. Burritos? Bibimbap? Plant-based burger? As I was perusing the various restaurants on Uber Eats, I finally saw something that called to me: Turkish food.

I ordered a few items via Uber Eats and waited for my food to arrive. Keep in mind I have not eaten a lot of Turkish food, but I have eaten plenty of the dishes commonly available at "Mediterranean" places. Three of the four items I ordered were brand new to me, so I was excited to dig in.

My order:
Lahmacun
Manti
Beyti
Mediterranean Platter

From photos online, the lahmacun looked like a small pizza or flatbread with a thin layer of red sauce. I did a search online to see if I could learn more about it, and I stumbled across a YouTube video titled "How to Eat Lahmacun." I had assumed you just cut it into slices and eat it like pizza ... WRONG! More on this later ...

The lahmacun, which is indeed a thin bread with a topping of minced beef, spices, and sauce, comes with a wedge of lime and a variety of cut up veggies like raw onions, lettuce, and tomato. So when my order arrived, I wanted to try out what I had seen in the video: I squeezed the lime over the whole thing and scattered some of the veggies in a line down the middle. Then I rolled it like a taquito and ate it. Delicious! The bread was crisp but pliable enough to roll. The meat topping was seasoned and savory, and the citrus and veggies really brought it all together. You can, of course, eat lahmacun however you like, but I highly recommend trying it this way.

The manti -- little Turkish ravioli with meat filling under a blanket of warm, creamy, tangy yogurt sauce -- was surprisingly comforting; like eating a Mediterranean version of mac and cheese but with yogurt instead of cheese. I couldn't stop eating it.

The beyti was next. Based on the Yelp photos and reviews, this was a popular dish. The beyti is beautifully plated in most of the photos taken at the restaurant. But, as you can imagine, it's hard to plate it this way for takeout/delivery (that rice pyramid is not going to survive as a pyramid after the trip), so mine came in a rectangular foil tray with rice on one side and the lamb on the other side. Still, it was sooooo good. The flavorful lamb and the rich tomato and yogurt sauce hit all the right notes for me. I can't wait to order this in person at the restaurant. Note: The lamb flavor is pretty intense, so if you're not into that, I think you can ask for a different meat.

Finally, the Mediterranean platter, which consisted of all the usual suspects: hummus, babaganoush, tabouleh, falafel, dolma. These were all fine (I find that most of these taste very similar no matter the restaurant).

But the real revelation was the other three dishes, which I'm definitely looking forward to ordering again.

This place is supposed to be a Turkish kitchen but yet the food is way different, not anywhere close to!

I hope that owners of the restaurant will hire a Turkish chef or somebody who knows how to make. Turkish dishes! Hope the owner will renovate the restaurant!

Due to the pandemic, I will be removing criteria that I had added to my reviews, such as restaurant ambience, mood, and wait time. This review will only focus on the dish.

Quick Summary:
- Tender and juicy lamb and chicken
- Hefty dishes, ordered hungry and finished a on a full stomach
- If you are not able to eat lamb, chicken is a great option

We ordered this by delivery. We were familiar with the restaurant in Berkeley and I was curious to try it. I was particularly interested by the poster of the rice shaped like the pyramid, so I ordered it. I have a family member, who tried lamb once and couldn't eat it, so we ordered for a dish with the chicken option.

Both meats were very tender and juicy, and the rice was rich with flavor. It was also very hefty with volume, so while we received the dishes starving, we became 100% full when we finished the dishes.

We ordered two types of doner: one with lamb and the other is chicken (this was not constructed into a doner wrap however. We liked both options, but I believe that if you are planning to eat inside, I recommend the separated rice and meat. The other feels like one can eat and carry out.

This place used to be amazing but they recently made dramatic NEGATIVE changes. The food is extremely expensive for what you're getting. $20 will get you six yes SIX (small) pieces of chicken, a cup of rice and some salad. I understand inflation but there's no possible way they can't add more meat. It's not just the price but food quality has also went down. The meat is tougher than it used to be, very rough and lacks seasoning. But the biggest change is the rice. Previously, the rice was thick and tasted amazing. Currently it tastes like regular white rice. It's a shame, I don't know if the owners changed but this place lost its charm due to greed.

This Turkish cuisine used to be my go to place. However, noticed the owner has changed and so the food. Nice people but no more good Turkish food. Sad!