Community Kitchen

This place is a little jewel: the atmosphere is very cozy and home-like; the owner very friendly; the food tasty and prepared with love, at a very reasonable price.
I will definitely eat here as often as I can during my visit. Highly recommended.

Fantastic food at a good price. If you need some inspiration to walk down the vegan path, you should try it. The "kebap" is amazing. Also try the baklava, and ask what makes it sweet ;) the space, a well-maintained ancient Beyoğlu brick structure, feels secure and spacious. Most of all, the host was absolutely warm and friendly. Join the community!

The place is very small but nice... street cats are hosted there, sometimes they can be interested in your food :)
the menu changes daily but they have some staple items such as vegan iskender and meze. The owner is very nice!
One of my favourite in istanbul

Where to start! There are so many... Owner is so friendly, nice and helpful. Foods are so delicious and you will be totally full. There are also so many herbal teas. Owner is helping to street cats. I enjoyed with vegan roll on (vegan dürüm) by seitan. You can find also vegan kebabs and vegan cheeses. Do yourself a favor and visit Community Kitchen!!!

When there and it wasn't open, I was told they move sometimes to different address: İstiklal, İstiklal Cad. No:116, Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey (Hazzopulo Pasaji) there is a caffeine in the Pasaz it says Vegan on the window
They had only vegan kebab this evening it was nice.
I want to go there next time and try some traditional turkish dishes

If you're fit. young and healthy, slog it up the steepest hill in Istanbul, and half-way up, on the left, you'll find Oya's Community Kitchen. There'll be a cat or two outside, so you can't miss it. Oya is very kind and forgiving; I was knackered by the time I got there, but she didn't turn a hair. Even though the gradient tested my heart medicine to the limit, it was worth it. A delicious vegan version of a Turkish dona, with hibiscus tea to cool me down; delicious pizza, and carrot cake and banana-sweetened cookies to take away- what more could you want? Oya even made up some sunflower milk for me to try.

Istanbul's street food appears to be mainly vegan, with corn on the cob, pretzels and chestnuts available at every public square, but if you want to treat yourself, AND be treated well, get down to the Community Kitchen- and I do mean down; go up to Taksim Square, and then go DOWN the hill and save yourself a coronary!

Its a small but really lovely restaurant. In one week we ate there two times! The food is very delicious. The effort she put in the vegan Iskender was worth it, even my meat eating boyfriend said: WOW! Its better than the "normal" one. YAMMY!

Lovely welcoming restaurant in Beyoglu district.The soups are delicious and my pumpkin soup was so tasty.The home made seitan is superb.A great option for vegans in Istanbul

Oya serves up homemade food on two long tables that foster the feeling of dining at home among friends (both human and feline). Hearty meals take their inspiration from non-vegan Turkish favorites. Location is just a short walk down the hill from Istakal Caddesi, Istanbul's famous avenue teeming with shopping and dining options.

Excellent meal and homey atmosphere at this vegan cafe. We had amazing Bosnian koftes (made of white bean) and Iskender (doner with tomato) - Oya the chef/owner makes her own fantastic seitan from gluten & rice. She brought us a borek stuffed with spinach to try - also delicious. Vegan desserts, too -- baklava and chocolate cake. Good sage tea. Oh, and sweet cats to keep you company. Highly recommend!
Updated from previous review on Monday March 14, 2016

Hello dear cows!

Last week, my wife and I went to Istanbul for a 5-day trip. This place, the "community kitchen" is a must visit! Of the 5 days, we ate here, twice, since we liked the good food, the ridiculously low price and the kind owner.

Just ask her what you should eat (that's what we did) and I promise you it will be superb. Don't forget to give a tip, since the owner is too friendly and in my opinion could ask her visitors to pay more for the food. (When we gave a tip, we even got more food from her, to take with us to our Guesthouse. Too kind!)

For those interested: we had Vegan Kebab, Köfte, Ayran, Vegan powerballs and Apfelstrudle and Beetroot/lemon-pizza.

One more advice, pay close attention to the housenumber, since the "Community Kitchen" doesn't have a very obvious sign hanging outside, so you can easily miss it.

Went here with two friends last night, had such a lovely experience. The atmosphere was warm, the food was incredible and abundant, and the price was quite reasonable. We essentially had a feast with 6 or 7 large dishes for us to share and hibiscus tea for only 99 TL. The owner/cook was super helpful when we told her that one of our party was gluten free, and she chatted with us throughout the meal. We will definitely be back the next time we are in Istanbul!

We were surprised to find this lovely all vegan place in Istanbul. The owner is a warm hearted lady with a chilly cat.
In the community kitchen is space for about 40 people, so it's pretty small which made us feel like home :)

We ordered a mixed plate and a seitan kebab, brownies and a power ball for desert and everything was super delicious.

We went to Community Kitchen our first night in Istanbul. We had meze and seitan Iskender Kebab. Everything tasted really good and it was a very cozy place. Perfect first night out!

I'm very happy that Community Kitchen has re-opened. I've discovered Oya's restaurant a few years ago while visiting Istanbul, and it was a great experience. She was very friendly, her menu was always from fresh, local ingredients and the dishes were great. Every time I come back, I go to her place.

Since then she moved to a new place and it just even made her restaurant more amazing. Her food is really good, it's made with care and love. I really appriciate that she plays with colors and temperature, it's a great experience to eat at her place. Her shop welcomes LGBTQ folks.
Updated from previous review on Saturday November 28, 2015

This is a great opportunity for vegans to sample traditional turkish food. The chef/ owner Oya makes vegan versions of dishes such as Iskander out of her home made seitan. It is delicious. She also makes Turkish "mezze" appetizers like grape leaves stuffed w quinuoa, and olive oil vegetable dishes. The atmosphere is beautiful and warm and prices are surprisingly low. Highly recommended!

This place is cozy and serves very different but nice food. If you get tired ot the typical mezzes of the area, this is the place to have some particular turkish vegan cuisine.

Service is amazing and desserts are worth a try.

Community kitchen is a warm and cosy shelter close to Istiklal caddesi. The interior is really nice, and so is the staff.
I had the vegan Iskender plate, which was sauteed seitan with a sprinkle of tomato sauce and some homemade almond yoghurt.
I have to say that I would not return there for culinary reasons - the food was okay, but slightly overpriced, a bit cold and flat in terms of taste.
If you are looking for a calm, LGBTQI*-friendly place to hang out, go there.