Isokyo

My daughter and her husband invited us to have dinner at this very elegant and upscale Japanese restaurant. It’s located inside Raffles Istanbul Hotel. They ordered so much food and all of it tasted very good. Beside the Sushi, most of the orders were appetizers and not main dishes. At the end, I had a surprise late birthday cake.

I went to Isokoyo at Raffles Istanbul not knowing what to expect, and I was completely blown away. It’s a Japanese restaurant with a creative twist, and every single dish we ordered was fantastic. The chefs were amazing and the whole experience far exceeded my expectations. Some standout dishes were the calamari, the bone marrow and beef tartare, and for dessert, the baklava with matcha – all absolutely unforgettable. Honestly though, every plate was executed perfectly. From start to finish, everything was flawless, and I can easily say this is one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in Istanbul. Highly recommend!

Our server Ali was fantastic. He walked us through the menu and was very helpful and informative. The drinks were good and the food delicious. I recommend the scallop and chicken and rice!

This restaurant is located under the Raffles Hotel. We had the tasting menu and the whole experience was amazing. The starters were incredibly flavorful and really opened up our appetite. The portions were generous—actually more than enough for two people. By the end of the meal, we were so full we couldn’t even fully enjoy the final beef dish. At the time we went, the tasting menu was priced around $100 for two people, which felt like a great deal considering the quality and experience. Due to changes in currency value, I’d recommend checking with the hotel for the latest price. It’s definitely a perfect spot if you’re planning a date or celebrating something special.

The food was wonderful, and thankfully, the hotel was also very luxurious. We'd like to thank the chef and all the staff for their professional service, and the warm welcome extended to the staff member on the front desk of the restaurant Ms Ace . Thank you, Raffles Hotel team.

Unfortunately, I found the food overall to be mediocre for the price and location. We ordered a variety of dishes including scallops, lobster and cod dim sum, calamari, duck salad, chicken and rice, king prawn, and sea bass and none of them did it. The dim sum: could barely taste the fillings and the wrapper was too thick. The king prawn and sea bass dishes: overall both sauces were a tad too sweet and dishes weren't very hot on arrival. Calamari and duck salad were okay but not memorable -- I've had better calamari for half the price. The chicken and rice dish: very poor fried rice and the outer skin of the chicken were half burnt (also too sweet). The service on the other hand was excellent so kudos to the service team. The other thing to note which is a bit shocking to me for a hotel like the Raffles is that smoking is allowed within the restaurant. Understandably this is a cultural difference. Calling a mostly enclosed space with glass windows a terrace doesn't help with smoke clearing out at all. This should be noted for non-smokers, otherwise you could be in for an unpleasant meal. Overall, I really could not recommend dining here. Perhaps only if you are stuck at the hotel and you're really craving "Asian" food.

Very average food - by average, I mean high school canteen level (had the chicken, terrible sauce, below par cooking). Decent ambience, ok service.

I went on a Sunday, there weren’t a lot of Customers. On that particular day, it opened at 5pm so I’d say check before leaving home. Service was great, they were attentive and patient. We got the Tempura Prawn Tacos, Cumin Lamb Rib Lamb tacos for starters and for the main dish, we had the Soy glazed beef tenderloin w/ miso roasted potatoes and the Tom yum braised lamb shank w/ Asian mushrooms. Price was average for that location. Cozy ambiance, great for first dates and any special occasion Picture perfect too Only downside for me, I was expected proper Asian cuisine but didn’t get that.