Smelt Co. - Fatih

I had very very high hopes for this place! The ambiance and vibe of the restaurant were great! The view was good and so were the drinks. But i was let down by the food, we were 5 people and we paid more than 13K tl which is almost a $100 each and i was hungry when i left. The bread was stale, nothing stood out in terms of flavor except for the octopus and maybe the filet. It wasn’t on par with my expectations and the portions are tiny and the sauces/ seasoning is lacking a bit.

Husband and I rated this as one of our top 10 restaurant experiences of all time! It’s considered pricey in local terms but was very affordable for the quality and ambience and service. The food was amazingly creative, but with a foundation of Turkish Mediterranean classics. Will be back any time we are in Istanbul again! Also curious where’s the Michelin stars?!

The food was great and it was a nice experience with an overall cozy and warm atmosphere. The appetizers we ordered, mackerel pate and lettuce salad were a fresh start to begin with. The sweet and savory combination was top notch. The only thing that detracted from the experience is that our lettuce salad seems to have been sized up. It would have been nice if we were informed about this because we only found out about the price discrepancy later. The earl grey creme brulee is a must try if you visit here.

Awesome food, great service, fair price, truly recommend!

I don’t review things very often and I don’t like to be harsh and negative, but I was so disappointed by our dinner. I came to this restaurant one year ago, and had an excellent experience–and have highly recommended it to many friends and my Instagram followers since. Tonight it wasn’t the same restaurant. First, the prices are three times higher than they were one year ago. I understand that the economy is in a tough place, but wow… three times higher in one year? I remembered everything here being so good, but tonight every single dish left us disappointed. We left food behind on nearly every (small) plate, and I hate wasting food. The octopus was rubbery and the flavors overall were intense and heavy and lacking any freshness. We had the dates, smoked eel, roast beef, shrimp, and octopus. Maybe we unknowingly chose all of the heavy, wintery dishes? My mom and I both had severe gastrointestinal problems 30 mins after this meal. My best guess is it was the shrimp, because we both had the shrimp while my sister did not (and she had no issues). I do not usually have a sensitive stomach. The service wasn’t very friendly and they never really checked in on us, just dropped off food. They did turn down the blasting Bonnie Raitt and Celine Dion on our request, which was nice of them to do (maybe they thought we were annoying for that request and didn’t come back much after).