Bi Nevi Deli

5 stars for food and 3 stars for prices. So avrage 4!

Doesn't exist at this address

I visited Bi Nevi with two friends, and have been looking forward to eating there for along time, becuase I liked their self-promoted approach to raw, healthy, whole foods.
It seems to me that the menu changes quite often. I chose zucchini spaghetti with pesto. Unfortunately, the zucchini spaghetti were not raw at all, but cooked. The whole dish was pretty tasteless and oily. I paid 20 TL for a small portion (and it was a very small portion, indeed).
I also had a tumeric/ginger tea for 7 TL, which is a fair rice - but again, the tea was pretty tasteless and did not taste like ginger at all, to be honest.
One of my friends ordered a salad bowl (I think it was 30 TL), which I would recommend: The portion size was okayish, and I really liked the mixture of tastes.

Overall, Bi Nevi Deli is a very stylish Deli - but it is very expensive for Istanbul, and not really worth the price.

99% of the menu was vegan, there was only one dairy dessert item which was highlighted in capitals and bold text. There is quite a bit of variety on the menu, they have a breakfast and lunch/dinner menu. Heaps of raw food, with ingredients like quinoa and raw zucchini. I had the hummus with lavosh chips first - the serving of hummus was huge! For the main meal, I had the raw pad Thai which was raw zucchini noodles in what I believe was coconut milk, tofu, mango and other vegetables. The bill was 44 lira. It's tucked away in an alleyway with outdoor and indoor seating. Definitely give it a go if you prefer raw vegan food - they have gluten free options too.

Like most tucked away delights in Istanbul, this place is not easy to find for someone new to the city. I must have circled the block 6 times before finding it. But it was worth the find. Delicious fresh food, 98% vegan. The Happy Cow description says there is homemade vegan feta, but there was not any on the menu when I visited. According to the friendly server they change the menu often and run out of things. They were out of all vegan desserts when I went. (They had one non-vegan dessert left.) I had an amazing fennel soup (I don't even usually like fennel but it was great.) and kale salad with fresh iced tea. No alcohol. Possibly pricey for Istanbul, but not unreasonable. Will return to try more things, like the seitan bolognese or the tagine. Lentil salad and avocado tartine also sounded good.

I love Bi Nevi. I live in New York City but spend a good amount of time in Istanbul. Having an authentic vegan joint that serves mexican food, avocado toast on thick german seed bread, zucchini pesto pasta, delicious lasagna, desserts, and a full-fledged vegan brunch on Sundays. The brunch features tofu scramble, menemen 'sauce', homemade almond cheese, breads, banana breads, olives, cukes etc. Chia seed water and homemade unsweetened delicious ice tea varieties. It is tiny so you might have to wait for a table unless you make a reservation. Friendly staff and very cute decor.
Note: Some people have mentioned the prices- if veggies and fruits were subsidized the way meat is they wouldn't be so expensive! Of course avocado toast will not be as cheap as a 'kebap' in Istanbul; you pay for the quality ingredients!
Updated from previous review on Monday January 12, 2015

good ambience. Price are very expensive for vegan foods.

I ordered the lasagne and my companion ordered the burger. We both thought the taste was okay, but compared to the price, the portions were really small. There was nothing special to justify the high prices. Go and eat there if you are in the neighbourhood and do not mind paying 30+ liras for half a meal, otherwise stick to other alternatives.

If you look at my other reviews you'll see I'm usually very easily pleased when it comes to restaurants or eating in general (as long as its vegan). This restaurant however, got it quite wrong if you ask me. The looks of the restaurant (including the place-mats, the lighting, the furniture) and its prices make you think its very exquisite. After I tasted the food I started wondering why the prices would be so high, maybe I read it wrong. I ordered tagliatelle with pesto sauce (expecting a dish full of veggies, pasta and sauce). They brought me exactly that: pasta (they didn't have tagliatelle, so I got penne, which was fine) and sauce (no veggies). Besides the fact that that this was a very unimaginative dish, it also was WAY too salty. I told the cook and he was very surprised, but wow was that salty. I love salt, but this was overdone. The dish my girlfriend had was reasonable, but rather small. All in all: you can get MUCH better food for less than half the price.
Updated from previous review on Monday October 06, 2014