Pasha

Pasha is a great restaurant in Rice village. Their food is delicious, the staff is very nice, and they have a great quiet ambiance.
I eat here often for work lunches and have also been very happy picking up dinner to go.

Pasha was the first restaurant I ever went to in Houston, when I was visiting in 2011, I came in for dinner with family. I think I was a novice when it came to Turkish food at the time because what I ordered didn’t have much flavor.
Fast forward 5 years, I came to Pasha with a big group of friends. I ordered the chicken adana kabob plate. The food was delicious. I thought it was a tad on the salty side. The staff was good, some of them were a little rough around the edges, but that could also be their frustration with a party of 16.
I think given the other options in the area, I wouldn’t necessarily pick this as one of my go to spots for dinner, but its decent.

I’m extremely picky when it comes to food. Food either is fresh and full of flavor or just plain isn’t. The babaganoush was excellent the chicken donar was good. I’ve had better though. I’d suggest adding falafel to the menu.

I came here for lunch. The place was quite cosy but with limited parking, so I would probably recommend parking by the shopping center in Rice Village and walking over unless you have crazy good luck with getting great parking spots.
Compared with Istanbul Grill, this place seems a little less authentic, but I only came here once, so don’t take my word for it. Plus, there aren’t as many evil eyes talismans at this restaurant. I’m not Turkish but I know some Turkish people who stated this in regards to their food and not my comment on their choice of decorations so take it up with them, and looking through their menu, I am inclined to agree.
I’m vegetarian (no onion, garlic, leeks, or chives) so when I go to a Turkish restaurant, I’m usually limited to a pide. It was the same here. I got their veggie pide. Not very traditional (at Istanbul Grill, I would be having their cheese pide), or so I’ve been told, but good to have something more substantial and to give the impression of a healthy-​ish meal. The pide was pretty good, but then again, all you have is dough (not thin though — I prefer my dough on the thin/​crispy side, but I only ever got this thin, crispy dough pide at a Turkish restaurant up in Indiana) topped with cheese and veggies. There’s not much that can go wrong.
In the end, nothing spectacular, but nothing to scoff at either.

Yes, I do like this place. I’ve only been twice, but will certainly be back. I have only been for lunch. The restaurant appears to be in what was formerly a house. Not much parking in front but there may be parking in the rear, not certain. The food has always been fresh and tastes good and they serve you quickly for lunch (there is a lunch menu). Bread is delicious along with olive oil based dipping sauce (with oregano and sesame seeds). Wait staff has always been attentive and friendly. Lebni and Cacik are delicious!

The most surprising this happened when I walked through the unimpressive doors of Pasha. It’s a place you’ll love or hate, and what I found most surprising was that I loved the food, and wasn’t a fan of the location/​décor/​presentation.
Fortunately, I’m a easy person to please as long as the FOOD is good, and it was fantastic. The fresh (complementary) bread was a highlight, served with a fresh oil dip.
As far as décor, it’s strange to say the least. The restaurant is a converted house, and much of the architectural aspects are still that of a house; just not appetizing for a restaurant. There were (no joke) old travel agency posters on the walls, but to be fair, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.
Some of my food (egg plant salad) was obviously prepared beforehand and refrigerated, and I am not a fan (at all) of paying for pre-​made food. If it was amazingly delicious, I could deal with it, bit it wasn’t great…
My lamb kabob entrée was absolutely incredible. Best lamb I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of it as of recent. I wish there had been more on the plate, but for a lunch special it was plenty (for me, more food is ALWAYS a good thing).
I will be coming back with my wife, and this time by choice. I will admit, I was «forced» to try this place after consistent pressure from my more adventurous other half who insisted I would like it. Indeed I did, bit it’s not a favorite spot by any means. We will be coming back for more bread and lamb, and that should be enough to get you through their unimpressive doors as well.

I came here for lunch with coworkers and we really liked the ambient and the service.
The restaurant is quite small and quiet, in a very nice area.
I had ground beef/​lamb kebab and babaganoush (lunch special made of 2 courses).
The service was wonderful, the waitresses were very attentive and I got plenty of drink refills.
I definitely recommend this place.

I shared a wonderful lunch with my daughter here. From the moment we entered, I was impressed. The atmosphere was perfectly quaint and we were greeted by genuinely friendly staff.
The meal was delicious and fresh. I left there knowing I will never get the yogurt dip out of my head. Living about 100 miles from the Houston area, I will be returning to repeat this most enjoyable and flavorful adventure.

VERY DELISH!
Über traditional, so be prepared!
We had the Hummus, cucumber salad, Chicken kabob, and lamb kabob… ALL WERE MOUTH WATERINGLY DELISH!
Very small restaurant and seems to get packed very quickly.
Be prepared to sit and socialize, there are only two waiters so sometimes there is a wait, but not a worry… talk to the people around your table!
Can’t wait to go back.

Not bad. Tried Doner and it’s not that outstanding lol… idk why many friends recommended this restaurant. I may not a fan of Turkish dishes lol…

This is not authentic Mediterranean food don’t waste your time or money!
We have the yogurt kebab that was full of bread awing was totally strange. The mix grill was ok very little flavor.
Cannot recommend this place

After our beginning Chinese class last night we decided to continue the multi-​cultural experience at Pasha. We started with the Pasha Meze Appetizer, which is plenty of food for 2 – 4 people. It is a selection of their dips and pita bread — all of it is very fresh! We then split the Kofte Sandwich with fries — this is definitely big enough for 2 people! It was tasty, but I would skip the fries. My husband was ‘blown away’, but I thought it was okay — then again I am biased, since I work for a well-​known Mediterranean food company. If you haven’t tried Pasha, I was definitely give it a try — next time I want to try their Ali Nazik — it looks fantastic.

Gluten-​Free Review
Excellent Turkish/​Mediterranean restaurant, however they do not offer a gluten-​free menu but the waitress was very informative of what options are gluten-​free and the shish ka bobs are, and not marinated in soy sauce. The entrance and parking is very small and the inside is decorated sort of like your actually in Turkey, but clean and smells pleasant.
We got an appetizer of hummus which was excellent and some of the best I’ve ever had and I used some lettuce to nom it down since they do not offer gluten-​free bread or chips. Had some Turkish coffee to drink and that stuff will give you that BAM you need and it’s very excellent. For entrée got the mixed kabob plate with chicken and beef medium rare. The chicken was okay but the beef is what had all the flavor and stood out to me, especially when you take that perfect bite mixed with pickled lettuce, rice and some hummus.
Dessert was another Turkish coffee and a pistachio rice pudding which was gluten-​free and let me tell you excellent! I had it at like midnight in my fridge and it was so tasty and deliciouso! If your in the area and gluten-​free check out Pasha this place is legit.

Must try: Beef and lamb kabobs, the sampler plate of food and bread, baklava
When you walk into this Rice Village restaurant, you feel transported to an elegant Turkish restaurant. Rich red interior and great service. We came on a Thursday evening and it quickly filled up around 7pm. We ordered a sampler plate of the dips, a really great way to try all of their delicious dips. It comes with a basket of flat bread, which are warm and fresh. I could eat the Bread alone, but the dips are very good. My favorite was the ezme and the yogurt with walnuts. We ordered a grilled salmon dish, very tasty and moist; a gyro plate, well seasoned; and a grilled Beef and lamb with eggplant dish, very good as well. The flavors are definitely more smoky, and has more depth than your typical Mediterranean food. Their grilled Beef and lamb dishes really shine, as well as their vegetarian dips. Finish your meal with the wonderful baklava (lots of pistachio and crispy flaky layers with syrup) and some Turkish tea :)

Pasha was an interesting cultural endeavor. It served as my first time with Turkish food where I really didn’t know what to expect. My general consensus of Turkish food is that it consists of very simple menu of meat and vegetables such as kebabs or sizzling meat on a skillet serving dish, which is what my friends and I inevitably ordered.
I ate a dish called «meat sautee» with a choice of chicken, beef, or lamb. Feeling especially adventurous that day, I went all in with the lamb. The dish came out piping hot and noisy as it sizzled over to my table. The food was very rich and was not served with any side carb to absorb the thickness of the sauce. However, pasha does give you unlimited pita bread which is pretty delicious by itself. The lamb was decently flavorful, but very heavy and on the greasy side. Perhaps a bit one-​dimensional unless you’re characteristically a meat and potatoes kind of person, but I tend to like my food to have a few more bells and whistles.
However, the star of the meal were the complimentary Turkish tea and sugar cubes to finish the dinner. It was warm, fragrant, and in a super cute tea set with small stirring spoon. I’m a sucker for these kinds of details so that impressed me enough.
Overall, the entire experience was a 4 star (also factoring in the service and the not very crowded restaurant), but the food itself did not leave a lasting impression so a 3 star (but really 3.5 star) was awarded. Definitely recommend as a place that everyone should try at least once, but not really any more than that.

I went there for lunch on a Sunday with a friend. I got the only vegetarian lunch combo available — the red lentil soup to start with and the menemen, a traditional Turkish scrambled eggs, bell peppers, and onions dish. The soup was fine, but nothing to really write home about. The menemen wasn’t exciting either — the bell peppers were too simple, as if they were just taken from the chopped bell peppers you might find at the nearby Kroger salad line. Also, the eggs were nonexistent — the entire dish maybe used half an egg. I just googled menemen and what I ate at Pasha looks entirely different.
I looked over at another table and saw the different beef, lamb, etc. dishes that people were eating and made a mental note that those dishes look much more inspired and fulfilling. But as someone eating vegetarian, this isn’t a place I’d come back to.

came here on a tuesday night. it was gorg out and this place was pretty empty so scored a patio table, they only have like 3 so don’t get too excited. Service was quick and nice.
highly recommend anything donor. for those of you not turkish like me, the donor is similar to your normal gyro meat. at least I thought so… sorry turks if I’m getting that wrong. portions are big, had the chicken pita sandwich as well. the small meze platter gives you are good sample of everything. my favorite pita bread is still from fadi’s though. they serve an olive oil/​spice mixture dipping sauce which you can pretty much smother on anything and it makes it even better.
baklava was ok. would skip that. if your in rice village check it out.

Its a small quiet place that is great for dates. It was clean as well. We ordered some yogurt chicken dish with tofu. That was alright, nothing special. Also had traditional kebab platter that was shredded lamb with white rice and small yogurt with it. That was a pretty decent meal.
Overall great experience in service and food.

Dinner last night at Pasha. I had never been before and it turned out to be a very cute little place! The interior is more upscale than Istanbul grill. Maybe it was decked out for valentine’s day but there were some red drapey fabrics around, flowers on the table, etc.
We started with the mezze platter which was pretty good. The eggplant, tabuli, and yogurt were standouts while the hummus fell a bit flat.
I had the adana kebab and my husband had the iskender kebab. Since he ordered both I’m not sure I get to gloat about this but I thought mine was better :-) The kebab was very flavorful with tons of spice and depth and just a hint of heat. I wasn’t sure about the pickled cabbage on the plate but when rolled into some bread with kebab and yogurt sauce (stolen off my husband’s plate) it made a delicious kebab «sandwich» bite.
The portions are pretty large. With the mezze plate I was only able to eat half my plate. The the other half was equally delicious for breakfast this morning.
Service was very good throughout and water was refilled frequently.
Will definitely return!

After going to Istanbul grill for years, i have discovered that there is a similar but far superior restaurant mere steps away. I only wish i discovered it sooner.
I recently went with a couple other people for lunch after hearing positive reviews from friends and was very pleasantly surprised. The interior of the restaurant seems quite authentic, although is rather small.
After being seated we were welcomed with fresh bread and dipping sauce. The bread is as fresh as can be and was quite good.
We started with the meze sampler which was quite good. Every item was quite good and portions were fairly large.
I then had the mixed grill which came with ample portions of expertly prepared meats. Definitely the best adana I’ve had since my trip to Turkey. The red lentil soup was also quite good.
While it may be slightly more expensive than Istanbul grill, it is well worth it and i dare say I’ll never go to Istanbul grill again.
The only downside is lack of parking, but given the quality of the food, who cares?

este restaurante es muy caro cuando tiene su comida pesima ordene pechuga en trosos y paresian piedras y sin sabor y sus trastes sucios el plato tenia comida pegada y pelos y las meseras andan despeinadas y los pelos caen a la mesa. no importa el presio lo que importa que este limpio y que den buen servisio y comida fresca.