Come join us!

About Harem 

Hoşgeldiniz as we would say in Turkish, which means welcome! Come experience exotic and colorful Turkish food to excite your taste buds. At Harem Istanbul Cafe & Restaurant fresh, local ingredients are combined into dishes fit for an Ottoman sultan.

But why choose us, out of the over 12,000 restaurants in all of Istanbul? Well, we are proudly ranked in the top 10 restaurants in all of Istanbul on TripAdvisor and we were recently selected as one of the Five Best Restaurants in Istanbul for Families.  

And we were recently given the honor of included in the The 5 Best Seafood Restaurants in Istanbul list. So take it from customers like you, Harem Istanbul is one of the best choices out there.

We’ve been in the service industry for many yeas in Istanbul. We truly love meeting new people from different parts of the world (it’s not for show!). Our desire is for you to have a positive experience, which is why the number one comment from our customers focuses on the friendliness of the staff and the quality of the food. Unlike most restaurants in Sultanahmet, our owner is a former chef, so he truly cares about the quality of ingredients and knows what a classic world cuisine should really taste like. 

Our convenience is another reason to stop by. The hub bub of Sultanahmet can be overwhelming. We are just steps from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia — right in the heart of Old Town — yet it is like going back in time to a traditional Turkish neighborhood. It is close to everything, yet we are in a little oasis from all the shops, noise, foot traffic, and of course, Turkish men trying to sell you something. We know, it can be overwhelming! But don’t blame us, we come from centuries of merchants, it runs in our blood!

What really matters most of all in any restaurant, is the food, let’s face it. All of our dishes are made by hand from scratch, with fresh, local ingredients. There are no shortcuts at Harem Istanbul! What you see is what you get. It’s important to us that you have a positive impression of the food culture of Turkey. It has been said that if New York is the city that never sleeps, Istanbul is the city that never stops eating. Few other cuisines in the world have kept in use century old traditions that make Turkish food so delicious and long lasting. Some of the most popular dishes at Harem Istanbul Cafe & Restaurant date as far back as the 11th century. Check out our mouth watering Menu to see what’s in store for you.

There are the restaurants you go to,
and the restaurants you go back to.