Restaurant Review: Konyali Restaurant Cafe

The Konyali Restaurant is located inside Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey.  It is a very high-end restaurant that aims to showcase the best of Ottoman Cuisine.  My travel budget is not so high-end so I opted to go for the informal cafe right outside the restaurant entrance.  From the terrace of the cafe, you have beautiful panoramic views of the Bosphorus and the Asian side of Istanbul.

It is a cafeteria-style cafe.  I ate an OK kebab accompanied by ayran (a Turkish yogurt drink) and a bowl of cherries.  Let's be clear.  You would not eat at the cafe for the food, but rather for the amazing views.  My meal was only OK and it cost me about 30 New Turkish Liras (which is a lot for kebab).  However, you can't beat the views and its convenient location within Topkapi Palace. For higher quality food, you just may have to shell out for the Konyali Restaurant.