The Istanbul, Wellington
Review date: 24 October 2006
Having visited Te Papa, we walked up Cuba Street which is littered with restaurant, cafes and bars. We settled on the Istanbul on the basis that it was there.
The Chicken Shish was OK, if nothing special. No spices. No herbs. Just chicken breasts with a stick shoved through them and some brown-coloured sauce which tasted of nothing in particular poured over it. The chicken shish can with some rice which happened to rather well done and some hummus, a bit of bread and a side serving of salad. The Lamb Shanks, on the other hand, were actually rather nice. The meat was tender and the serving of spubs basically well done. And the Baklava was for sure out of a box. Overall, though a below average performance.
We did get there early, at at 18:30ish, and we were the first people in, alhtough the place did fill up with a young crowd after 19:00. We have the distinct impression that we halved the average age on our departure.
The selection of beverages on offer is somewhat poor, although mitigated by the BYO license, which at least means you can bring what you want.
The other gripe I do have is that the service was rather shoddy and rough round the edges. Repeated requests for the desert menu were forgetten/ignored in spite of staff standing around idle in spite of the people. No smiles. No pleases. No thank yous. None of the basic politeness one would expect from people in the hospitality industry.
Was that worth 87NZD including one beer and no coffee? Bollocks!
Istanbul
Istanbul
156 Cuba Street, Wellington
http://www.istanbul.co.nz/
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