Colorful vegean cafe opened in mid-2014 in the Yeldegirmeni quarter of Kadikoy. Opens out to the street with indoor/outdoor dining. Serves Turkish, Mediterranean/Middle Eastern foods such as pilaf, baked beans, falafel, bulghur, mashed potatoes, dolma, lentil soup, eggplant stews. Open Tue-Sun 9:00am-1:00am.
Categories: Vegan, Western, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Turkish
44 Reviews
First Review by kmanchester306
Contributions +26
Great Food ! Great People ! - Edit
Well what can I say, their “Mahatma” soup is delicious and their mixed plate is amazing ! Recommended for sure, you’ll enjoy i’m sure of it.
Pros: Soup, Mixed Plate, Homemade goods that you can buy !
Contributions +40
Loved this cafe - Edit
We visited this cafe regularly during our week stay in Istanbul - for breakfast and dinner a few times. The owner is lovely and the food is delicious.
Contributions +336
Great restaurant - Edit
I visited this place twice during my stay in Istanbul. Each time both the atmosphere and food was excellent. In addition, the menu was full of traditional dishes to try. Prices were pretty normal for Istanbul.
Pros: Fully vegan, friendly service, tasty
Contributions +549
My favorite place in Istanbul - Edit
A very cozy place with a nice vibe. Spacious, nice interior. There also are tables to sit outside. Some of the dishes seemed to be very authentic.
The cakes were amazing and very affordable. The baklava was the best I have ever had (though it was not cheap, it was worth the price).
Easy to reach from the metro.
Updated from previous review on 2018-02-26
Pros: Best cakes in Istanbul, Nice food, Fair prices that are clearly marked on the menu, Friendly owner, Good atmosphere
Contributions +28
Good for breakfasts. - Edit
This place is perfect for breakfast. Variety of traditional Turkish dishes like börek. Clean, calm, not that far from the center of Kadıköy.
Pros: Close to the center of Kadıköy , Cheap, Vegan Turkish food
Contributions +352
Cozy and cute - Edit
Very nice and cute little restaurant. Owner puts love in the place.
Nice atmosphere and cats hanging around.
Menu is small but good if you like falafel etc.
I was honestly a bit dissapointed by the food: I was SO excited for falafel but our dishes came with lots of oil (very common in Turkey). I had to order new food because I couldn't eat it.
If you prefer a healthier version ask her not to add extra oil on top.
Pros: Cute restaurant
Cons: Oil
Contributions +74
yum yum - Edit
We had a breakfast plate and it was delicious. Also location is nice.
Contributions +40
friendly atmosphere and owner, good food - Edit
Very nice atmosphere and a friendly owner. :)
I had the mixed plate and I liked everything. The Falafel are also really good, my boyfriend took a falafel plate.
Pros: delicious, cute and colourful, friendly owner
Contributions +40
Lovely neighbourhood cafe - Edit
This is located in a laid-back and friendly neighbourhood on the Asian side of Istanbul, easy to access even as a clueless tourist. Its little corner position is really delightful and has a Parisian romantic charm about it. It's however uniquely Istanbul with languid street cats, street art and the cafe's hip playlist to accompany your meal. The food is not what I would call spectacular but it's lovingly made, some things feel overpriced and some are just right. Support this place and Istanbul's growing embrace of veganism.
Contributions +78
Good Turkish Food - Edit
The staff helped me to create a great turkish vegan meze dish, which was tasty. Nothing on the menu was expensive. It's a cool, small cafe, and perfect if you're looking for some Anatolian food.
A critic: A few times I ate there turkish dolmas, and they always were too salty and tasted boring.
They also serve yummy cakes.
The location is perfect, you can also sit outside of the cafe during winter.
Updated from previous review on 2017-09-03
Pros: Good value, Friendly and Helpul Staff, Nice vibe
Cons: Some dishes are too salty
Contributions +24
simply wonderful - Edit
Lovely people, great ambiance, really tasty nourishing food. In our short trip to the Asia side we just kept going back. I wish I lived round the corner, those who do are privileged.
Pros: choice of dishes, ginger tea perfect, the authenticity of the people
Contributions +245
everything is said - Edit
I cannot add anything else to the other reviews.
We went there after reading them and we are glad we did it.
The food is very nice and tasty. The prices are good and the owner is really helpful and kind. The atmosfere is really calm. No rush in here.
It's a pity we went there just for one day. We would repeat for sure!!!
Pros: Food, Price, the owner
Cons: nothing
Contributions +16
Fantastic - Edit
This place was brilliant, really cute cafe , good atmosphere, arty area and great food. Very good value.
Pros: Great food, Good value , Good choice
Cons: Nothing
Contributions +8
Delicious Vegan Food - Edit
Friendly staff, welcoming people and tasty recipes, fair price. I suggest you to try Falafel Plate, it's the best!
Pros: All of the products are organic, They always give you free vegan cookies, You can meet very nice people
Cons: You can't order from home
Contributions +328
Eat and rest - Edit
Various types of food, full vegan choices, acceptable prices, good service, nice and cute owner
Contributions +28
Friendly atmosphere, good food - Edit
Colorful tables, good music, and friendly staff made this a worthwhile visit. I was staying on the European side and took the ferry to Karakoy to enjoy this place. It was time well spent. I had the mixed plate (highlight was a neat lentil ball) and orange tiramisu. Wish I had room for a borek....
Pros: outdoor seating, reasonably priced
Contributions +91
Cool place, good food - Edit
We visited for breakfast, had two different kinds of vegan börek (well, everything is vegan), and both were splendid. So were the tea, coffee, atmosphere, service, and the friendly street cats around (when they wanted to join our breakfast the owner got them chairs with cushions to sit on next to us).
I'm only sorry we didn't get the chance to come back to taste more.
Pros: Good food, beautiful place, friendly street cats
Cons: None!
Contributions +1204
Great Vegan Breakfast! - Edit
I tried the vegan breakfast of this cafe, and I just loved it. It's not a traditional breakfast, it has different editions like beetroot hummus and poppy seeds paste (which I love the most for the breakfast). I haven't tried the other food options of the venue.
Pros: Breakfast
Cons: Service Gets Slowly When It's Crowded
Contributions +22
Super tranquil - Edit
Good reggae, you know, it's magic. Especially in Istanbul since you are mainly plunged in different Turkish or western tunes.
You are swayed by it's flow, sipping Turkish tea from a sand glass shaped cup.
Plants are real, colors are vivid, it's an atmospheric cafe, quiet at this time of the year, gives you plenty of time for reflection.
Hummus and pepper bread are super tasty.
Highly recommended ,)
Updated from previous review on 2017-01-12
Pros: Prices are adorable, Tasty, Nice view from the window
Contributions +21
relaxed and blissful vegan happiness - Edit
Try to keep your cool. Easy veganism. Mahatma is parked on a peaceful Kadıköy corner, perfect for al fresco conversations about how good and real the food is. It's all vegan, but there's not one drop of pretentiousness in it. The host conveys surprise at your surprise that it's all vegan. Look again and realize it's all quite normal food. Turkish cuisine, with gentle adjustments, exploits no sentient being. Mahatma is proof that veganism doesn't have to be a spectacle. It can just be delicious banality.
Pros: Satyagraha
Contributions +74
good choice - Edit
I have been here many times... the food is good, you can have some traditional turkish food , in a vegan twist! Worth trying... not my favorite in Istanbul though :)
Pros: vegan 100%, turkish food
Cons: very oily
Contributions +13
Great place, great owners, great food.... perfect - Edit
I went to Mahatma cafe last September with my girlfriend.
We were very enjoyed by the tasty meal (all it's home made), the good vibration of the place and you can have good discussion with the owners.
It was a definitely great experience, we hope we'll can come back one day.
Pros: Tasty food, Good ambiance, Nice owners
Contributions +55
Nice place - Edit
I found this place a year a go and it seemed really cute and colourful. And than saw the ' go vegan' writing on the wall. The owners were really cute and helpful couple. Everything was fresh and tasty. Especially humus was delicious.
Contributions +34
Great food - Edit
We took the ferry over specifically to try this place out and we were not disappointed. Very friendly owner. Delicious food and great ambiance. We had trouble deciding what to try because it all looked so good and so we eventually decided on two different platters. Everything we tried was great.
Contributions +36
Friendly Staff! Beautiful Tea! Yummy Cake! - Edit
I went to Mahatma Cafe last week with my boyfriend. I am doing Erasmus in Istanbul and he visited me, so we were both hungry after wandering around the city. The place is really easy to find and in a nice area with colourful streetart.
Since all seats were taken (it is rather small) we sat outside on one of the multicoloured tables.
We had tea with real flowers in it and shared a piece of tiramisu cake. let me tell you...it was delicious!
The owner came to talk to us and was really friendly! =D
He also offered us some tiny sesame treats as we left.
I will definitely go there again and I am also thinking of bringing my whole familiy for breakfast when they come to visit.
Pros: homie, very friendly staff, yummy tea and cakes
Cons: too far away from my place ;)
Contributions +17
Really tasty - Edit
Pros: Food tastes amazing , Good service , Nice place
Cons: Bit expensive, but worth it
Contributions +135
You must visit! - Edit
If you are vegan and you want to eat some authentic Turkish food, this is the best place in Istanbul for you! You can enjoy every single meal guilt free :) All the meals are made by a kind old Turkish woman and they are just soooo delicious! I can't recommend this place enough. The prices are a bit high but for the quality and service you get it is totally worth it.
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