Istanbul Kebab House

Great food and price too! The choice is really good, food lovely and fresh and very friendly staff. Definitely going back, highly recommended!

The place is tiny but looked promising. A big sign outside advertised a lunch special, however when we got inside, the server seemed confused when we asked about it, not seeing it on menu. Lentil soup was excellent, the rest just meh. They ran out of lavash bread, but one of the staff members (owner?) was willing to give up his. With all the middle eastern restaurants in the immediate area, I probably will choose another one next time…

Awesome food and service. This a mandatory visit when visiting NYC.
Love the doner kebabs. The lentil soup is amazing. Highly recommended

The meat are halal. Small restaurant and it close late which is 1 star for us. My wife like the soup and my daughter seem to like the chicken kabob. I order lamb gyro and lamb chops. The lamb chops are ok but not great. Too much of Gyro and very dry. I cannot finish the gyro and they could do better with it.

Terrible service with lots of attitude. Didn’t feel welcoming at all. The food was mediocre. Did not taste like Turkish food at all. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you are searching for real Turkish food.

That was pretty good. They provided both white and red sauces and yummy.
Lamb is alot better than Chicken

I’ve been eating lunch here for nearly five years and have always had consistently good food. It’s a small café (6 tables) run by a crew of friendly Turkish fellows. While most customers use it for take-​out (presumably they take food to their desk and further enjoy extending their work day) I try to find time to sit and enjoy my food.
THE INTERESTING PART OF MY REVIEW CAN BE SKIPPED. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RESTAURANT!
Interesting part starts here.
As it turns out, I have a little street cred when it comes to Turkish food. Several years ago, I went to visit my brother who was living in Turkey. I had become disillusioned with my career and decided to quit my job and re-​assess my future. I convinced my lady friend (we had been dating long distance for a few months) to join me. We spent two months with backpacks journeying through Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia (back-​in-​the-​day) and Italy. Four of those eight weeks were spent on Turkish soil.
We saw half the country and probably slept in 10 hotels, homes and campgrounds. Everywhere we went, we saw people transporting carts of fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, olives, fruit and nuts. The concept of farm-​to-​table is a way of life for most of Turkey including Istanbul and other large cities. At one point we became quite ill and (probably rightly) assigned the blame to a very tasty lamb sandwich in Adana. In spite of that «life event» I’ve never avoided this type of food.
Turkey is incredible as a tourist destination. Over those eight weeks and the four we spent crossing the USA, we never found a friendlier culture. My companion had to deal with the fact that answers to her questions were directed to me. A factor that changed merely by going to nearby Greek islands where women were running businesses and shouting at men!
In spite of this «slight nuance», we were confident that we could arrive in the center of a town, leave our backpacks in the middle of the dusty road and return four hours later to find that someone was protecting our goods — of course we never tried it but, it sure seemed that way. On the other hand, when shopping for hand-​made carpets, one can find oneself dealing with a professional sales person (ok, sales man) who is more than happy to ask you for three times the price he is willing to accept.
So, I am quite fond of Turkish things — caveat emptor. Interesting part ends here.
END OF THE INTERESTING PART
The bread served with the spreads is amazingly good. The spreads are amazingly good as well. I like the lamb shwarma platter or sandwich. The hot and white sauces are supreme.
Along with the 6 tables, the décor consists of a counter, cash register, small tapestries and a few framed pictures.
Another interesting part. While in Rome, while eating lunch in a much nicer restaurant than Istanbul Kebab House, we were robbed of our money, passports and flight tickets the day before we were due to return to NY. My lady friend became Mrs G shortly after our return to the USA. Still is. Always will.

A cozy, informal place to eat well. The staff was courteous and the food was delicious. If you’re catching a show or just hanging around, do yourself a favor.
You might miss this place if you are walking too fast. The gyro doner plate was cooked perfectly. The lavash was fluffy, crispy and perfectly complemented the baba ganoush appetizer.
Drinks come from a cooler and I would have enjoyed a fountain drink, but hakuna matata. The place was busy, but there was room for us.

Horrible lamb shish kabab. Was not at all soft. The quantity is not very big. Falafel wrap on the other hand was better.

I really wanted to like this place. Especially since it almost looks like a hole in the wall place — those are usually the places with the best food. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
I ordered the lamb adonis and the gyro, and both were dry. It tasted like burnt end bits. That, or it tasted like they microwaved the meat a few times before serving it.
Surprisingly, the chicken soup was pretty good. The one item out of everything I ordered, that I didn’t expect to be good, actually was. They use real chicken (not canned broth or bouillon cubes) because there are lots of shredded chicken bits at the bottom. So if you’re looking for chicken soup, this place is a pretty good option in this area. But if you’re looking for good Turkish food, you should probably search elsewhere.

Excellent food! Everything was freshly prepared. Lamb shish kabob was perfectly cooked and marinated. Grape leaves tasted homemade as did the boregi.
The restaurant is small but service is very good and kept the flow of tables moving along.
Will definitely be back!

I got chicken gyro and in fact always got the same. I love the red tomato sauce they got and the chicken tastes. It’s close to my work so I drop in for their lunch special. Recommend highly for gyro.
PS free desert!

Very good and inexpensive. Free dessert with Unilocal check-​in.
Tiny little place.
Service okay but a bit confused.
Grape leaves were bland. Bread is good. Sigara Boregi hot appetizer was delightful. Chicken kebob was good.

Small little place friendly greeter/​waiter. I opted to eat in so I took a seat at one of the 6 tables.
Service was fast and prompt.
Had the lamb and chicken plate (sliced)
Come with salad and rice and bread. And a cucumber sauce and. Hot sauce which the hot was great the cucumber was just ok
The bread was ok a bit dry but ok, salad rice nothing fantastic BUT over all price for what you get its well worth the visit.

What do you do when you’re in training up in the theatre district? It’s a no-man’s land of tourist traps, so I just walked until I saw food. Saw this place with some decent lunch specials and decided to give it a go.
I got a lamb doner kebab and some falafel — the lamb was juicy and the falafel was delicious and crispy, fried to order. The tzatsiki sauce was good, the hot sauce reminded me more of a salsa, but it was good too. In short, if you’re looking for a decent kebab, give this place a shot.

— Free dessert with Unilocal check in
— Gyros and schwarmas are great
— Service is fast
— they run out of certain things late at night

This place is amazing — got into Port Authority earlier this morning and wanted a nice lunch, so opted for Mediterranean. Having tried lots of Turkish places before, this was my first time sampling it here in NYC. Very positive experience.
The Mercimek Çorbasi was delicious as a starter. I went for the Lamb Shish-​Lamb Adana with the all-​important Uludag Gazoz as my beverage accompaniment. Service was friendly and prompt. And the food was delicious. I especially liked the sauces and the bread.
Definitely take advantage of the dessert deal in return for a Unilocal review promotion currently going on. This place will not disappoint. Afiyet olsun.

There are days when I need to escape my office for lunch and ignore the frozen temperatures, perpetual construction and thinning herds of tourists as I navigate three avenues over to 49^th and 9^th.
Istanbul Kebab House is the destination that houses the all important chicken doner /​shawarma. Every time I venture here I briefly consider ordering something else but always revert back to the known good: a platter of rice, chicken shawarma, bread and some vegetables that I never eat.
Add a tub of white sauce and I am one very happy eater.
You have a choice of one or two skewers but I always opt for two. The slices of chicken that are made from the rotating spit contain some of the most addictive flavors that result in an inevitable craving around 11am. By noon I am in full addict mode, thus beginning the long walk.
There are very few tables here so if arriving with a group of more than two people you may have to wait. Takeout is another option and the number of times I’d hear «new seamless order» announced in a robotic voice indicates this is a popular spot.
I prefer to sit and sip my Gazoz, slowly savor every bite of shawarma and briefly imagine I’ve slipped away from the grip of winter and will step outside to the streets of Istanbul.
$ 13 is the cost of my two skewer chicken shawarma platter escape from reality. You’ll find more than just shawarma on the menu as well. Don’t be like me and focus only one item. Consider lamb shish kebab or lamb adanda kebab or lamb chops.
A line from the 13^th century poet named Rumi best describes my state of mind after a shawarma from here:
«That which is false troubles the heart, but truth brings joyous tranquillity.»

I know some Unilocalers had some negative things to say about the SERVICE. I don’t. Everything from the moment I walked in until the moment I walked out was on point. The guys here are CORDIAL. I never felt rushed even though they were down to their last table and I took my time reading the menu.
The SPACE is a bit narrow but so are many other places in the city. This place can seat 16 people with the 4 tables that have 4 seats each. And it can also accommodate 4 other people with their 2 table 2 per seat set up. As I was eating, their Seamless ordering system were frequently yelling out «new Seamless order» that I can hear all the way in the back. What this tells me is that this place is a popular delivery order hotspot.
Always a good sign.
The bathroom is all the way in the back next to the drinks fridge.
As for the FOOD, I felt it was pretty good. I ordered the CHICKEN ADANA Large ($ 14.00). Portio wise was good with exception to the rice which I felt could have been given more since it was a large platter that came with 2 long chicken skewer without the skewer part. The chicken also had a gamey taste which I wasn’t sure if it was intentionally flavored that way or not. It kind of threw me off BUT the chicken was still DELICIOUS and very satisfying. The platter also came with a small basket of fresh bread. Always appreciates and 2 sauce (yogurt & hotsauce) that was for the platter or bread if you get down like that.
As a bonus, you can use your Unilocal MOBILE APP to check in and get a free dessert. However, you do have to write a review which I do anyway but for those who don’t, it is an extra incentive for you to write. The check-​in offer is good for ANY of the 4 desserts listed. The guys here will explain it to you either way.
I opted for the RICE PUDDING ($ 5.00) after asking for one of the guys recommendations. It was a solid choice. Not overly sweet. The rice flavor came through and the pudding melded well with it. It was very refreshing.
If you are in the area this would be a good place to grab a bite. Or if you live around here, they do have lunch specials and their delivery orders are abundant.
You are in good hands.

First, just wanted to say that the food here is great and I really wanted to give at least four stars because of the generous check in offer, but when I was there the service was lackluster and slow. Came here around 8 pm after a dance class and there just happened to be a seat open and noticed the check in offer, so I took advantage of that sat down and ordered. The place is a little cramped, but has around 7 tables that can fit twos and fours. The tables topped with the clear hard plastic cover, but the person who cleaned the table didn’t do a good job because of leftover scraps.
So I ordered a lamb shish kebab wrap and the lamb meat was very fresh and not too game-​y. Also, the check-​in offer is amazing because the dessert portion is huge and it’s pretty tasty. You can either get baklava, rice pudding, or almond pudding.
The reason why I’m only giving 3 stars was because service was way too slow. From getting my order, dessert, check, and food, everything was too slow. I had to be proactive is getting the things I need. Also, I finished half my wrap wondering why it wasn’t really flavored. Then, my waiter said he forgot to give me the sauces that came with it… He was nice, but he seemed to be dazing off or something. Literally asked for dessert and check, which could have definitely been done at least within 3 minutes (considering there weren’t any other customers he needed to tend), but it took more than 10.