Istanbul Lounge & Gourmet

have moved to Victoria/​40^th, smaller but just as cozy as ever

It is a great place that you can check out with anyone you would like. The staff is extremely friendly and it is a huge plus that they also have plenty of little Turkish snacks or souvenirs to go.

This curiousity of a restaurant/​store is definitely something different.
Parking is available along Hastings.
The music here really is something — I’m sure it’s quite traditional, but yes it is a bit irritating. It doesn’t help that it’s played on crappy computer speakers.
The owner is quite friendly. Chatted with him for a bit.
As the store name suggests, you can buy all your Turkish goodies here. I had no idea what half the items were. Looks pretty authentic to me.
The restaurant is a little on the tacky side, with bright orange chairs. But it’s kinda cool. Special mention goes to the steak meal ($ 10). Generous portions, and the seasoning is great. This makes for a good dinner, or can be split between 2 people if you’re looking for a late night snack. Delicious.
If you don’t mind the colourful interior, the food here is definitely something. Recommended.

My spouse loves to travel but we have children. Thus, we must travel mainly to work and the occasional foreign dining experience. It was with a hope of experiencing the exotic that we attended at the Istanbul Lounge & Gourmet.
The décor is simple but clean and welcoming. There is a bistro feel that reminded me of Europe when long ago I was able to go.
The service was great and our server was pleasant and attentive. She brought in excess of 10 different dishes to our table and at one point I was not sure I could eat again, I was so full.
The food was fantastic. We ate a combination of exotic dishes, appetisers and main dishes, which I had never sampled before. Our main dishes were all priced less than $ 10.00, an unbelievable value.
We ended our dinning experience with a Turkish Coffee. It was late and I feared that sleep would elude me after but I took the chance. The Turkish Coffee was a delight, as smooth as it was strong. The biggest treat was the fortune telling by Fikret, the restaurant owner. It turns out that Fikret can tell one’s fortune from the grounds at the bottom of the coffee cup.
Overall, my evening at this restaurant was an enjoyable and unique experience made all the more special by Fikret’s fortune telling. My children and my spouse were equally delighted by the experience.
I look forward to going again. I wonder what Fikret will see in my coffee grounds on my next visit.

* Filling Overcooked Turkish *
This grocery store/​counter offers up Turkish food that is mostly pre-​prepared. I wandered by and the Sunday special was a very reasonable $ 9.95 and included soup, steak platter, garlic bread, and housemade orange juice. I figured what the heck and ordered it.
The soup was a richly flavoured tomato based broth with a very large amount of small overcooked noodles that made the broth starchy. The soup had clearly been heated way too long as the noodles were soaking up the broth excessively. The dried mint sprinkled on top gave an interesting flavour twist. The soup was served with garlic bread on the side. While not gourmet at all it was oddly comforting overall. Photo:
The main plate came out and had a generously portioned steak which was very tough and slightly overcooked. It was well seasoned though. The rice was overcooked as well to the point of being mushy. The hummus was well made and tasty, and the fresh tomato slices were refreshing. The yogurt sauce was severely under-​seasoned and tasted like opening up a pack of yogurt from the supermarket without adding much flavour at all. Photo:
An additional slice of garlic bread was served with the main course:
It was fine.
The «housemade orange juice» confused me. It tasted like a version of Orangina. I didn’t sense any freshly squeezed juice flavour at all. So I’m guessing housemade either means poured from the bottle into the glass «in house» or mixed from a concentrate with soda water in house. In any case it was excessively sweetened beyond my preference. Photo:
While the overall meal was very reasonably priced and very filling I don’t forsee myself returning anytime soon.

Very good meals for under $ 10. They have daily specials and are open until at least midnight seven days a week I believe. I’ve had their BBQ Salmon special which was delicious. The Lentil soup is also very good for $ 5. But for a little more you can get a good cooked meal which comes with Rice and salad. The rice is cooked very interestingly enough in some stock that provides a nice flavor. Some meals come with crème caramel. It’s very sweet and I ask for some boiling water to dilute it. Very good place for food, very late hours and for not much money. Good value