Stanbuli

So... I suggested this as a place to go with my Turkish girlfriend and her family. Definitely a gamble for me. The good news is that they loved it. I loved it. It was loved all around. The meal was reasonably priced and we were incredibly full at the end. Would highly recommend if you were in the mood for a Turkish feast.

The food is stunning here and service is wonderful. Amazing share plates, highly recommended! The charcoal chicken is delicious, bread is amazing with the smoked butter, salad with pomegranate and pistachio was my absolute favourite!!! Olives were so good along with kofta. We had a fantastic night, thanks guys!

I chose to have my birthday dinner at Stanbulli and I was not disappointed. The banquet menu was wonderfully varied and enough to feed a small village. We were so engrossed in our experience and bustling atmosphere which was complimented by the attentive servers who made the night even more special. Stanbulli.... You have my stomach so you may as well have my heart.

Had the chef's menu here and was blown away by the flavour, service and portion size. Started off with a table full of Mezze dishes and Turkish bread, followed by grilled meats and dessert. The food was full of flavour. Service was personalised, the waitress even shared the recipe for a salad we really enjoyed. Serving portion was generous, we were stuffed by the end of it. Had a great night here, will be back.

Absolutely amazing menu, everything we ordered tasted wonderful!! Really great service and conveniently located in the heart of Enmore. Thought I’d never say this but music was abit loud, really love the music selection tho. ❤️

I liked stanbuli for the meza they had a good spread with some tasty dishes, we had 5 meza and arak was really nice. The mains had been a let down having basic flavour and costing to much, comparable to other Turkish restaurant a mix plate will cost about $30 here it was $45. The staff are friendly and provide good service. My biggest issue was with the seating as it was only bar stools so we left with sore backs.

Got takeout at this place during the current Sydney lockout. We got 2 meat dishes, fritta and 2 vege/salad dishes for $38 - good value for money! Food was tasty and fresh.

Stanbuli has so much character. The outside facade is fun and quirky (the owners) keeping an older storefront of a salon. However, it can get really noisy as there is alot of hard surfaces. We all enjoyed our meals and the service was good. Recommended for dates and catch ups. We ordered Manti (Turkish dumplings), Tavuk (paprika and garlic chicken), fish of the day and one more dish I cant remember to share in a group of 3.

Yes, you found it, even though there is no sign other than the defunct cheesy Hair Salon and after dropping $400 on Mezze I certainly felt like I'd been clipped. This is a sliver of a place downstairs. You'll have to turn sideways to slide past the Bar and then hike up steep stairs to the Dining Room. If you've had a knee replacement or want one this spot may not be for you. The alternative is to squeeze up to the Bar and holler for your Kofte. The Dining Room on the second floor feels like some Turkish Tax Collector's home all done up in dark wood, print wall paper, soft lighting and room is louder than Turkey's last coup. Limber up for mad texting to your dinner companions or bring a megaphone. The Staff: As efficient as Turkish Civil Servants despite their youth. It has to be tiring running up and down the stairs all night although the servers all gave up going to the gym. The kitchen is floors below, so you'll have to be quick to snag a server when they do appear. The Bar: Turkish Wines (might as well have been from Kansas), some other eclectica, and a signature cocktail or two. The Raki Sour will put you between a Raki and a hard place. Raki is the National pastime of Anise flavored liquor with Lemon and a bit of Simple Syrup with muddled Mint. I wanted to be all muddled after one but that was tough as the drink comes in a pregnant thimble. You'll have to have five of them if you want this Turk to work. The Vibe: Enmore Means Enmore for me. It's a hood in transition as Paddington prices have pushed the population here. Stanbuli is for those bored with Boreks and done with Doner and passe Pizza. The Food: Here, it's divided into small and not so small share plates. (Not good for only children.) Some plates come with two tiny bites, some come in a pile requiring a crew and a construction permit. True, man can't live by bread alone unless it's the Ekmek served here. Baked in house daily with a slight tang of fermentation it shows up oven hot with a solid crust wrapped around a soft crumb waiting to be slathered with Smoked Butter. I could easily live on this alone. It's fabulous. The Mezze mostly have something to do with mashed Eggplant and Lemony Dressing to the point where dishes lose their individual identity. For example, the Patlican Salada and the Coban Salada were interchangeable parts and basically Tabouli 1.0 and 2.0. The Scallops came at room temperature. (Where were they hiding, what were they doing and why?) These Scallops were leaning against more mashed Eggplant and seemed tired with the effort. The Cauliflower was Sumac-y and settled in a pool of Olive Oil. (thankfully devoid of Eggplant). This basically belonged in the "Eat Your Vegetables" column. The Octopus arms were all curled up around each other like the morning after the Swinger's Party. They were boiled, then broiled, and pushed into a mound of Tarama (Smoked Fish Roe mashed into mashed Potatoes). No complaints about this one. If you like Octopus, you're gonna be sad when you say farewell to these arms. The Lamb Kofte came one to an order and no bigger than a cocktail weenie. Need five? That's $90 for party food. Was it magic? Only insofar as the $90 disappeared in a blink. Tasty? It was MEH-zze. The Sardines had a quick broil in Lemony Olive Oil. Want some head? They are all looking at you mournfully and giving you the Sardine Stink Eye. All the scratchy little bones will brush down the roof of your mouth like a Chimney Sweep. Deboning them will require a Jeweler's Loop and a pair of miniature tweezers. Better to just lick one once and take the rest home to Tabbitha the Cat. Rice Pilav came late to the party and was nutty and buttery although it paled compare to that terrific Ekmek. The rice was nice but unnecessary by the time it arrived. The Lamb Chops were stacked up like the ruins at Ephesus. They were thin but worth a good gnaw. Acting like a pack of wolves on a fresh kill is encouraged. Your companions will be joyfully yipping as grease rolls down their chins. Stanbuli did not make me hanker, ah, for Ankara but I did leave as full as Kapalicarsi Market in Istanbul.

Mixed feelings about this place,my partner and I had conflicting views about the dishes Service was high quality,fitting for a fine dining restaurant I will rate this by whether we would order it again Me/partner Cuttlefish: no/yes Bread yes/yes Eggplant only with the bread otherwise no/yes Cauliflower yes/no Octopus yes/yes Overall I found some of the dishes, the taste too strong,like a overpowering vinegar taste,my partner enjoyed it more than myself but what we both said yes too,the flavours you won't get at other restaurants

We were unsure of this place, hadn't read any reviews or much at all - just got told about it by a friend. Turns out the staff are reliably informed about the menu, accommodating and just all round lovely to deal with. The food itself isn't too flash - we had some patchy meals. I expect a lot from my Turkish meals so perhaps we just chose some not great dishes.

We had an absolute feast here. Such delicious food. We primarily ordered seafood and vege dishes, the stand outs included the eggplant entree (smokey and garlic flavoured mashed eggplant), the pomegranate salad, stuffed mussels and the chicken. But everything was delicious. The octopus dish was delicious too... Seriously, everything was great. Traditional Turkish-Mediterranean flavours, with a modern, fine dining polish. So good. The staff were also super gracious and nice and very knowledgeable about all the food and very happy to make recommendations and explain what everything is and how it is prepared. Pretty much a flawless experience. Will be itching to come back any time.

This place has a stack of hype and I think it's gone to the front of house staff's head. I don't know if it's just arrogance or a 'computer says no' culture, but we found staff so rude and void of any common sense. We left with a bad taste in our mouth.

I have seen negative reviews on other sites and not sure where those comments have come from... we came here as a group of 6 for my husbands birthday. So. Delicious. We ordered the banquet ($65pp). Two of us are vegetarian and the staff/kitchen were accommodating for this, mixing the dishes up so there was more to share so we didn't miss out. All dishes came with their own sauces or accompaniments with left them full of flavour and well balanced, with your traditional garlicky, lemony, sumac accents. - Cold meze with house made bread, light flavourful and crunchy crust. About 7 different dishes (e.g pickled roasted beetroot with olive oil and parsley; smoky eggplant with garlic and lemon; olives; whipped butter; stuffed mussels)... see the menu! - hot meze: cauliflower with tahini sauce; zucchini fritters with soft curd; Haloumi with fried egg. - Charcoal: market fish was swordfish with stewed minted peas; paprika and garlic marinated chicken on rice pilaf; lamb (not sure how it was cooked). To be honest we had too much food, a bold statement when at a table with 3 grown men who put away a lot! We opted not to have dessert due to this, but it looked good on he menu. I would definitely go back, however it is a tad pricey. I think if you stick to water and shared amongst 4, you could try a lot without it costing too much. The staff were professional, friendly and helpful. They helped to make a great birthday night out with family, thanks Stanbuli.

As a group of six, we had the chef's banquet and did not regret it! I will confess off the bat that my dad kindly picked up the cheque, and I would shudder to know what the final tally was, but given that we were all stuffed and slightly liquored up, it was well worth it. The drinks were strong, the music wasn't too loud, and if it weren't for the fact that my parents and most of their friends are leaning towards hard of hearing (sorry, mom!), the overall volume in the upstairs dining area would have been spot on. Lighting was a little dim--phone were brought out to illuminate the menu--but the atmosphere was great! Reservations, however, are definitely essential, and they will confirm with you by phone before the day of. Chef's dishes included rack of lamb (more fat than meat, so maybe skip it), quail (delicious!), mussels (did not partake, but my partner loved them), prosciutto (get in my belly!), four kinds of tabbouleh style grains and four stunning desserts--plus a few other dishes that I'm sure I'm forgetting. I had one of the night's special mixed drinks, which arrived with alcohol vapors so strong they nearly knocked out the other side of the table, so afterwards, I switched to beer. Many of the other mixed drinks seemed a bit milder, however. Special shout out to the server tasked with repeatedly warning my dad after the fact that dishes he had consumed might contain nuts impacted by his allergy--I'm very glad his is not severe or we might have been in trouble. Overall, still a great meal, but might be better suited to a younger crowd.

Horrible experience - the rudest staff in Sydney. Food was good but being treated like children in a restaurant is just unacceptable. No apology offered even though we highlighted the issue with waiter Phil.

Since I visited Istanbul a decade ago I've been looking for a place like this. Amazing food that transported me back there. Also, a friendly and attentive staff. We will be taking friends here in the future. Be sure to have the kabab plate and the cauliflower, both were amazing.

My wife and I ate at Stanbuli for the first time last Saturday night. It was fantastic. We had the smaller banquet menu, and all of the dishes were amazing. The style of food is almost degustation like, a large number of small dishes. The octopus, prawns, and lamb were our favourites. It was a very generous amount of food, and reasonably priced for what you get. The wait staff were attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. The wine list had some really nice Turkish wine at a reasonable price. There was a really good Bordeaux style from Suvla. We will definitely be back.

What a restaurant should be: Beautiful food, very friendly and knowledge staff, great interior and music and close to home. I'd eat there every weekend if I could.