The Iskele

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#993 of 21,674 Restaurants in LondonTurkish, Vegetarian friendly, ££ - £££

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The Iskele

Review

At a glance

Opens in 12 min

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Website

+44 20 7490 0082Improve this listing

About

Friendly Mediterranean restaurant close to the Barbican. A hint of Mediterranean spice and Turkish hospitality with authentic Ottoman decor. Winner 2017 Best Value at British Kebab Awards.

Features

CUISINES

Turkish

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, After-hours

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Halal, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

Delivery

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Highchairs Available

Outdoor Seating

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Takeout

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

179-181 Whitecross Street, London EC1Y 8QP England

Is this restaurant good for brunch?

Yes

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Hours

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Opens in 12 min

Sunday

12:00 - 22:00

Monday

12:00 - 22:00

Tuesday

12:00 - 22:00

Wednesday

12:00 - 22:00

Thursday

12:00 - 23:00

Friday

12:00 - 23:00

Saturday

12:00 - 23:00

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4.3

403 reviews

Excellent

219

Very good

129

Average

Poor

Terrible

joaniebinedinburgh

728 contributions

Delicious!

Mar 2024 • solo

I picked this restaurant as it was close to my hotel, but was pleased to see even on an early Monday evening there were a few other diners. Being able to pick between Italian and Middle Eastern is not something I’ve ever seen before, but imagine it would be quite helpful if out with mixed tastes. I went straight for the “Healthy meal” which was a mix of 9 meze, and some kebabs. It was an amazing selection, the only downside was that it’s a huge amount of food for one person and somehow I still managed to eat most of it. The food is deliciously fresh, my favourites were the cheese pastry which literally melted in your mouth and the lamb skewer - neither of which I would have picked as a standard choice. Service is friendly and efficient. I dislike the 12.5% service charge being added automatically to the meal, but this seems to be a common thing to happen in London these days.

Written 11 March 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Melodee

100 contributions

Our usual

Aug 2024 • friends

Each time we've visited Iskele, the service has been quick, and the staff attentive and friendly. It has become "our usual" spot, as we've always found it to be great value for delicious food. The atmosphere is inviting, making every meal enjoyable. We keep saying we'll have desserts but still have yet to try them. I guess we'll save that for the next time we meet.

Written 28 October 2024

45deborahsmith

Bognor Regis78 contributions

Very welcoming and food is delicious!

Feb 2025 • couples

This was a great find. You get such a warm welcome, staff were all really lovely and made it a really enjoyable experience, service was excellent and very efficient. We had great, and very reasonably priced cocktails, and the food was delicious - hot mezzo were especially good. We enjoyed it so much we went straight back the following evening! Wish we lived nearer - but we'll certainly go back next time we're up there.

Written 10 February 2025

kentlovesfood

Bath44 contributions

Service charge rip off check your bill

May 2023 • couples

Real shame today. We love this place. The food and service has always been great. We’re told today the place had changed hands last week.Main problem was with a service charge added to the bill. We’ve no problem with that as we always tip. So we’d left a good tip on the table and walked out to see a service charge on the bill too. There was only 2 of us. Menu states a service charge will be added to tables over 6 people. No problem with that. Went back to talk with the team to be told the new owners have decided to add service charge to everything and they hadn’t updated the menus to reflect this. The food was ok. Service just ok as we had to ask for most things. Staff didn’t look as happy as usual. Staff decided to argue back and forth with us that they hadn’t added a service repeating this over and over again. !! Eventually saying the owners had put the service charge on. Real shame. It was our favourite however we know things change.I’ve given a one star review based on the attitude of the staff. Real shame - we won’t return.

Written 18 May 2023

Amanda

3 contributions

Fab lunch with friends

Dec 2023 • friends

10 of us went here for a late lunch before going onto the Barbican. A few of us had been a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it so booked again, it didn't disappoint. The service was great, food was delicious and seeing as it was Christmas we tried the cocktails which we can recommend. Will definitely be booking for next year before going onto the Barbican again.

Written 18 December 2023

Cruiser10604640490

4 contributions

Great night, excellent food and service.

Jan 2024 • family

Large party over 30 celebrating a birthday. Staff were very accomodating, excellent communication leading upto event and on the day we're friendly. Food was excellent, service was excellent. Would recommend for parties of all sizes. Thanks to Kadir who we dealt with on the day. He was very professional and accommodating, all food came out roughly at the same time which is amazing considering the size of the group. A good time had by all

Written 14 February 2024

Cody Hewson

Spokane61 contributions

Amazing food, and service.

Aug 2023 • couples

We stumbled upon the Iskele as we were staying near by in an Airbnb. We wanted some food and it was getting a little late in the evening. We walked by a few spots and walked up to The Iskele and asked if they were still serving food, with a happy greeting, and quick "Yes, let me check with the kitchen to see what they can still serve." As our waitress/host sat us, she came back out and provided great news from the kitchen. We truly loved this place, and did something we don't tend to do on a vacation.. went back for another meal. It might be the ambiance, the food or the service alone that made us want to return. The food was top notch quality, and a variety options to pick from. We even had the opportunity to try some new dishes and Turkish style cocktails. Zeyna, provided great service and made us feel like we were visiting a restaurant as a local. She provided recommendations, and did so based on what she enjoyed or thought we should try. Oktay was also fantastic. I'd highly recommend making the trip to The Iskele and enjoying some food, and maybe even some Yeni Raki.

Written 2 September 2023

RichardOldfield

Clerkenwell2950 contributions

Good food

Nov 2023 • couples

Enjoyed the prawns and other starters. Mains of lamb skewer, chicken skewer and other dishes - all ok but the sauce was HOT! We are local to this restaurant - it does feel expensive for what it was and we are used to London prices Restaurant was also very noisy

Written 8 November 2023

George P

London176 contributions

Fantastic value and delicious food

Mar 2023 • none

My friend and I came here as a quick dinner before a performance at The Barbican. Lively atmosphere, nice cosy decor, and fantastic value - we each had the meze platter which was £15 and very filling, packed with flavour. We also had a glass of the Turkish red wine, also good value. In total we paid £25 each with service - and very friendly service it was. Would recommend.

Written 11 March 2023

Ciara D

14 contributions

Nice restaurant

Feb 2023 • couples

Nice little Mediterranean restaurant near our hotel. Very friendly staff, it wasn't too cold outside and the restaurant looked very busy inside so we sat outside with no problems. Quick service, I had a chicken shish pitta while my partner had the chicken spicy pot. We had some calamari as well on the side. Calamari was lovely, my partner enjoyed the chicken pot and was struggling with the size of the portion by the end! My chicken was nice enough, a bit dry but tasty marinade. The pitta was disappointing, looked and tasted like a store bought one and was dry so I didnt eat most of it. £55 for two cokes, 2 mains and a starter as a side. A price we'd expect but I was hoping for more wow with my chicken pitta.

Written 12 February 2023

RedDraw

Edinburgh56 contributions

Friendly welcome, delicious food

Feb 2023 • none

We chanced upon this place when others nearby that had been recommended were full up. Our seeming bad luck turned out to be extremely good luck, as this was great fun - and great food. Starter mezes were decent hummus, delicious and very smoky baba ghanoush and cheese-oozing boreks. Our only slight reservation of the whole meal was about the slightly dry pitta we got at this stage. The main courses were extremely generous in size: if we went again we would do without the meze. Lamb tagine was enormous, flavoursome and tender. Chicken shish pitta was perfectly grilled. The highlight was the amazingly succulent mixed shish kebab. This is not fine dining; the food is served simply and without ceremony. More importantly, it's served with friendliness and generosity. It's a neighbourhood eatery rather than a destination restaurant. If I lived in the neighbourhood I would come here every week! Also worth mentioning that the mocktails were excellent and the wine list is full of good value, decent quality wines - just what you want.

Written 6 February 2023

Lee M

Lancing146 contributions

Simply excellent tasty cooking

Dec 2024 • business

Many times I’ve been here. Attended again on the evening of 19th Dec for do with 39 of my colleagues. Can I just say the service and quality of the cooking was excellent… full marks to the staff and chefs. I had the sirloin steak for the main, medium to well done … and it was so tasty & tender… and the peppercorn sauce I could have had on its own. I haven’t had steak like that for a long time. Finished with Baklava and a flat white.

Written 20 December 2024

Sophie B

Chatham82 contributions

Feb 2022 • friends

The pieces of Chicken were delicious but rest of plate was let it down for the cost. £15 for some chicken in pitta with some frozen flat cut supermarket chips on the side...that was one of the cheaper meals on the menu aswell. The rest of the food friends had looked nice but were very pricey. Some of the staff seemed a little frosty aswell.

Written 8 February 2022

Tina B

Bedford106 contributions

Anniversary

Sept 2021 • none

Lovely restaurant, really lovely authentic homely feel Decor and good service. We really enjoyed our visit. Ordered olives to start and very generous portion! So we shared the olives as initially ordered two portions (one each) as wasn’t sure how big the portion would be. Ordered one mocktail and one cocktail I had the mocktail which was nice and refreshing. Ordered chicken pitta as main came with salad and chips, again good food and generous portion. My other half ordered the lamb kofta he thoroughly enjoyed his too. Waiters didn’t linger and left you to it which I really liked as you don’t feel pressured to quickly eat and leave! Overall was a good experience and glad we went!

Written 1 September 2021

Getsaround

London17 contributions

Great for the Barbican

Oct 2023 • family

As someone who regularly used to eat at the Whitecross St during the day, I was a bit nervous about finding somewhere to go in the evening as this area is pretty dead. This place was brilliant! The food was really fresh,really well balalanced, very unpretentoius genuine place, with an amazing dessert menu (or mayne not amazing, maybe just my taste). If you have a barbocan booking, I'd mug off the more well-known places, come here and go for their healthy menu - you'll dream about it for weeks.

Written 15 October 2023

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THE ISKELE, London - Updated 2025 Restaurant Reviews, Menu, Prices, & Reservations - Tripadvisor