Sahara's Turkish Cuisine Reviews

I recommend this restaurant to everyone, where we had a great dinner. Everything was beautiful, but I liked the kebab on the island most. I recommend it!

I had a Mezze craving and found this place on Trip Advisor when searching for Middle Eastern Food near Murray Hill. The venue is nothing special, located on the sidewalk along 2nd Ave, just past 29th St, next to an Italian joint. But the cold Mezze platter we ordered cake with many kite samples of dishes than any place else I've tried in NYC, and the Lamb Shish kebab platter was delicious. The lamb was succulent and cooked medium rare, as I had ordered it. The platter also included a huge serving of al dented steamed broccoli, a grilled jalapeño, half a baked tomato and a generous portion of rice. In fact, after the Mezze and mains no one at the table had room for any of their desserts so nothing to review for the sweet tooth crowd:(

[Copy of MY OWN review from Google] SUMMARY: Restaurant was under renovation when I arrived for my reservation. Restaurant never contacted me to tell me they could not fulfill my reservation. Go to Turkish Kitchen instead, they're the best. I really hate giving one star reviews, but come on guys. I made a reservation on August 17th to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday. A sign on the front of the restaurant noted that it was closed for renovations until the 17th. This was corroborated by their OpenTable page, showing the earliest availability being the 17th. When I arrived to the restaurant for my reservation, I was met by four construction workers and a restaurant nowhere near fully renovated. Giving Sahara's the benefit of the doubt, I figured that it was probably just the front that was still having renovations and that there was a location in the back that was free. With not a SINGLE restaurant employee in sight, I had to ask one of these construction workers what the deal was. He told me they were not taking any dine ins and were only open for takeout. The fact that someone who doesn't even work at the restaurant was more informative and professional than any of its workers speaks volumes. My biggest source of frustration during this whole ordeal was that I was NEVER contacted with an update regarding this. If Sahara would have simply reached out to me to inform me the restaurant was still under renovation, I would have understood. What makes this even more frustrating is that Sahara's is always empty. The most groups I have ever seen there at once where only two. I must have been one of the only reservations, if not the only, for that entire day. The point I'm trying to make is that there is no way the restaurant was so flooded with reservations that mine somehow slipped under the cracks. To somehow forget to reach out to one of your only reservations of the entire day takes a level of incompetence I did not know was possible. Anyways, we ended up going to Turkish Kitchen a couple blocks away on 3rd Avenue. The food there was amazing and the service was impeccable. If you're in the mood for some delicious (and halal!) Turkish food, I would suggest you skip Sahara's with their garbage service and head over to Turkish Kitchen.

I live in an area with Turkish restaurants almost back-to-back. But today I discovered a new one that will be worth walking the extra mile in the future, in order to enjoy better quality food in a cosy and inviting ambiance, all at a lower cost. I had a rich lentil soup and a generous portion of Iskander kebab which were both finger-licking. I will be back!

We went to this restaurant on advice from our friends. It was a place they loved and insisted that we always try. We were happy to have it because the food at this restaurant was really great and the employees were very friendly and nice people. I’ve been living in America for ⁇ 10 years, and this was the best rotates I’ve had during my stay. It was incredibly delicious. For a true rotating experience, you must dine at this restaurant.

This review applies to the cluster that is Sahara's brunch and the server that looks like Mr. Bean. The food is 3.5, but I have never experienced such rude service since living in NYC. If you don't read the rest of this post, know this--Turkish Kitchen is a block away and serves an equally delicious brunch BUFFET without the associated angst. The brunch is all you can eat for $16.95. The kick is, you have to order off a menu and they bring it to you. We heard the waitress tell the other table that anything they don't eat, she'd box up. So we went ahead and ordered the dips, an appetizer and an entree. Instead of bringing us a lunch sized dips and appetizers, they brought us the full serving. It was more than I ever would have served myself at a normal buffet. I asked one of the servers to bring me a box, so we could start putting it away. Mr. Bean came over and said pointedly, "What did you say to my friend?" We repeated our request and he snidely reminded us how a buffet worked. I reminded him that this wasn't a real buffet b/c they were bringing it out to us. He told me to eat it or he'd throw it away. The female server came back over and I asked her to cancel my entree b/c I wouldn't be able to finish it. She said she understood and that this time she would wrap up the entree for us. She hid the bag under our table, ostensibly to avoid the wrath of Mr. Bean. When Mr. Bean realized what had happened, he yelled at her in front of everyone and sneered at us. My sister, who had been excited to try Turkish food for the first time, said that she felt like he was going to frisk her on the way out. I have never sat through a more tense and uncomfortable lunch in my life. TURKISH KITCHEN, here we come!

I used to love this place. Very nice atmosphere, nice staff, excellent food at very reasonable prices. Last Thursday of each month they have live Turkish music that is excellent. Except that the last time I ate there the food was really not up to par. I heard rumors it was under new management. No restaurant is excellent all the time, so maybe it was an off night. I hope not.

I had a wonderful mezze platter to start, with so many delicious bites. Then I enjoyed the perfectly cooked calf liver and some crispy and succulent calamari. Of course, an Efes was the perfect drink, and I still appreciate their wine selection. The atmosphere is veryy cool and cozzy, and the service was lovely. It's become a definite favorite in my book!

Sahara's Turkish Cuisine was by far one of the best experiences I've had in New York...not just meal experiences, of ALL experiences. I ate here once 11 months ago and just ordered delivery last night--the food was still amazing, and the delivery man (staff) was still incredibly sweet. Of all things, quality and tastiness of the food wins all. Their beef--in all of its forms--is just incredible, I had to close my eyes in between bites. Their BAKLAVA is a MUST, you will not regret it! All in all, very, very sweet staff, great atmosphere (I went with a friend but the restaurant had romantic vibes), and INCREDIBLE food. 100% recommend.

Delicious flavors, generous portions and prompt delivery - what else do you need? Our office has ordered from here 3 times in the past month, and everything has been very good. TIP: Order early for timely delivery.

Excellent Turkish cuisine, ambiance and service. Everything was charming. Fine menu with good choices including vegetarian. We had the cold mixed appetizer all of which was copious and very tasty. Baba ganouj, taboulé, hummus (better than mine and mine is rather good), eggplant vegs and tomato, labneh. We were going to take the large size but they suggested that the small size was more than enough for two. They were right. We had the shrimp casserole and lamb dumplings dishes. Both fine though, in our view, not salty enough. Bread was home- made (pide) and outstanding. Mint tea had fresh mint leaves. Also excellent. Baklava also delicious. A delightful evening. Soup to nuts, so to speak, terrific.

I recently had my Birthday Party for 32 people at Sahara Restaurant and couldn't be more pleased. The experience was incredible. The food was as fantastic as always. The portions are very good and the service is always great. It's my favorite restaurant in NYC. There is something on the menu for everyone and my guests were extremely pleased. You will never make a mistake when you eat at Sahara. You'll be glad you did.

I concur with those who stressed the superb, authentic Turkish menu offered at a reasonable price. So, I will merely say, "Don't forget the desserts, especially the 'künefe.'" It's related to the Greek kadaif, which shredded wheat soaked in sweet syrup, treated to sweet cheese, and a pistachio filling. If you find baklava, you might like this.

Great lunch deal--$17 for a wonderful (and nice sized portion) of red lentil soup (other choices of appetizers too) followed by Iskender Kabob--finely sliced lamb on top of a delicious sauce and pita chunks. Loved it! The restaurant is clean and spacious and the staff was so friendly and sweet--made me feel at home. They also have a fabulous catering menu which I happened upon when I was looking at their menu, online, at home. Made me want to invite guests over, just to try it out.

Disappointed. Felafel appetizer was tasty but overly fried. Fork couldn’t penetrate the very hard surface of each felafel without holding it down. My lamb stew was heavily tomatoed with thin undercooked sauce and minimal lamb. Red lentil soup was Ok but under spiced. Lamb kebab was dry and overcooked but tasty. Pleasant ambience and service. Perhaps just a bad night.

Visited this place, but also ordered in recently. High quality food. The bread is amazing. You can't stop eating it. Chicken and Lambs kabobs were cooked perfectly. Loved the crispy char on the chicken. The lamb was excellent, but unfortunately lacked the char of the chicken. That would have made it special. Broccoli was cooked al dente, but the rice was a bit sticky and clumpy..

My partner loves Turkish food and he often orders take-out food from Sahara's. Food is beautifully cooked and tasty. We recommend the grilled chicken with rice and vegetables, the falafels and the rice pudding. Excellent value for money.

Sahara's Turkish Cuisine is hands down the best Turkish restaurant I’ve tried. The Iskender Kebab was heavenly, and the Lentil Soup was so comforting. The atmosphere is cozy, and the prices are very reasonable for the quality. I can’t wait to bring my friends here!

I have been going to this place for several years now. I absolutely love it. I have been to Instanbul and their food is very similar to that in Instanbul which means it's great and authentic. I love their Okra dish, if you like Mediterranean food this is a great spot!

Amazing food, perfect atmosphere and the best service. Finding all this three together in NYC is impossible but this place really has it. The food taste sooooooo good. And it’s always so fresh. I love this restaurant. It’s the best Turkish restaurant in NYC

This cozy, warm and welcoming restaurant makes you feel like you're eating a friend's home. The food is prepared beautifully, and there is plenty of it. We enjoyed zucchini pancakes (mucver) and ezme with lots of bread and olives. Delicious. This place is a treasure.

I used to have an apartment in NYC around the corner and this was literally my diner. I went twice on my last trip to NYC this January and Sahara never disappoints me - absolutely the freshest tastiest cuisine, the most attentive and sweet waiters that make you feel like it's a dinner at home and nice drinks. Make no mistake - this is not a gourmet restaurant, but the ingredients are so fresh that you can feel you are eating something that's healthy and good for you. Somehow they have a great chef that knows what he is doing. Love the place and highly recommend!

Order in tonight. The small cold mezz plate (hummus, baba, etc.) was a winner, as was the delicious bread. That could have been the whole meal. However, the chicken kabobs with rice and broccoli were disappointing. While the chicken was tasty, it was dry. The rice was sticky and lumpy. The broccoli was just steamed al dente.

Here you are offered a wonderful caloric all you can eat brunch for a $17.00. Otherwise, if you order of the menu you are served mini sized portions for full prices. Because of the inflexibility of the kitchen your best not to order from the menu but rather the brunch. Beware of ordering Felafel. Here, for $5.00 you get five naked chickpea balls on a plate with a dipping dish of tahini. A sad plating of a wonderful standard. . The photo tells all,

Just ate here on my visit to New York a few weeks ago. The food was very good, but you better like lamb. Almost everything on the menu is Lamb. I had a Lamb Shank wrapped in eggplant served over some sort of Turkish rice, which was very good. My brother had some sort of Ravioli with ground lamb, which I stole some of, also very good. The only complaint I had was the service was not the best. All of the servers seemed to be genuine Turkish, but some didn't seem to speak the best English. We ordered desert (it was my sisters birthday) but it took a very long time. Granted it is a hot dessert, so they have to 'cook' it, but still... Anyway, I would recommend this place if you're up for something different.

This was my first time in a 'Turkish' restaurant, although I've had similar food items in other ethnic restaurants. All threes of us had the pris fixe buffet (which is not really a buffet. one picks from a menu and keeps on choosing) and so we had a medley of the different items. Everything I tasted was good specifically the zucchini pancakes with yogurt (if I had tasted them before picking out food, I would have eaten them for the entire meal.). Service was fast, pleasant and very civil. Hasim, who took our orders, took time to explain how Turkish coffee is made. The single non high note for me was the rice pudding, which was differently made than I'm used to and not as much to my taste. I had a bite of baklava which was good.

We were joyfully welcomed each time we visited over a two week period. Food was excellent. Nice variety. Terrific staff.

I have eaten here several times and have never been disappointed. Last week I strayed away from the typical kabob and had a vegetarian dish, the okra stew. It was outstanding. I also had a couple of Efes pilseners with it and they were also a perfect match. I topped that off with a baklava and had a great meal. Additionally, the service staff is outstanding.

Nice place, nice waiters, abundant portions, freshly cooked food at very reasonable prices. Definitely worth a visit if looking for some middle eastern food

I make better falafel and I'm Irish! Bland and uninspired and no mint tea? It was overpriced for the amount of food and not tasty at all.

Grate food and rely nice stuff. I took my coworkers to this Turkish restaurant and we all enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere. Everything was so delicious and prices were so reasonable. Highly recommend to Turkish food lovers.

Sahara's Turkish Cuisine is a very good restaurant serving standard Turkish fare. The food is flavorful, the portions are generous, and I have ordered take-out several times. The hummus is rich and earthy, the kebabs are tender, and the sauces in which the meals are cooked are flavorful if not a tad overly rich and filling, leaving a bit more to be desired from the meat itself. I would not travel far for the cuisine of this restaurant, but if you are in the neighborhood, it is an easy decision to sit down and enjoy a hearty Turkish meal at Sahara's.

Sahara’s Turkish Cuisine is an absolute gem! We love this restaurant and visit almost every time we visit the city. The food is flavorful, fresh, and authentic. I love their gyro and the lamb shank. The gyro is perfectly seasoned and tender, and the lamb shank just fellas off the bone — so rich and delicious. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, and the service is always great. You can tell they put a lot of care into every dish. Highly recommend if you’re craving real Turkish food. You will love this place.

Pleasant solid place. Friendly but slow service on a Sat evening with a lot of take out orders which seemed to slow the service. Excellent red lentil soup. Zucchini pancakes ok but bland. Didn't have the stuffed burgher my wife had wanted. Falafel appetizer fine. Aegean salad unextraordinary and had to ask for more dressing. Excellent bread/pita. Lofte meatballs were tasty (a tad dry) but fine. Roasted veggies and side of rice fine. Fair prices and excellent portions. Worth the visit but order judiciously. Will go back.

Good quality meat, nicely cooked, tasty food and friendly service in a local neighbourhood restaurant. We are lucky to have had amazing turkish food in London and Turkey so we are perhaps spoilt! Full tummies without emptying the wallet :) you could do a lot worse.

Superb, authentic Turkish menu & reasonably priced; gracious service, too, but lacks an aesthetic identity in terms of the overall atmosphere. Still, if you ignore that & focus on the food, it's a perfectly fine choice. Excellent appetizers, too--particularly anything yogurt-based.

My fiance and I visited New York City June 4 - 7, 2012. The first night we were there our night cruise was cancelled due to the weather so we walked back to our hotel and passed by Sahara's Turkish restaurant. We had a look at the menu and decided to see if they would do take out as we were tired and wanted to go back to the hotel. They were terrific and very friendly. We ordered our take-out food, sat at a table, and shortly after we were provided with a nice turkish tea to enjoy while we waited - what a nice added touch. Our food came out in a timely manner and I must say it was delicious and the portions were very good. We shared the chicken kabob dinner and tabouli salad, both were excellent with the tabouli being the best I've had ... nice mild flavour. The bread that came with the meal was also very good. While waiting I watched the other customers and they were waited on very quickly and all seemed to be enjoying their food and their time there. This restaurant does have delivery, which is done by a guy on an electric scooter and he was seemed constantly busy. I say give this place a try, we certainly liked it and would go back the next time we are in town :)

We have been going to Sahara’s restaurant since they first opened about 20 years ago. We had always enjoyed the food and atmosphere. I had my husband’s birthday party there and we also celebrated my birthday. We often took friends from out of town, and also had good dining experiences. There are now new owners who apparently don’t know how to run a restaurant. My friends and I ordered 4 wraps to take out and a few appetizers also. My husband did not get the wrap he ordered. Also one of our favorite dishes was the Shepherds salad which was always fresh and tasty. Unfortunately this was not the case on our last order. Salad was vinegary and cucumbers and tomatoes were mushy. It was a freezing night so we didn’t want to walk back to correct my husband’s order or return the salad. I called the next day to inform the manager of the problem and his response was to hang up on me. I thought it was an error and called back, but manager would not come to the phone. I could not believe how rude this person was. In addition, the food is not the same quality that we had always enjoyed. WE WILL NOT BE GOING BACK AS SAHARAS IS NO LONGER A VERY GOOD RESTAURANT.

We went for dinner last night to Sahara. We were told that the hummus was very good. So we ordered a portion of hummus - was average. For mains we ordered a portion of Chicken Shish Kabab and a Gyro. The Gyro was good but the chicked shish kabab was nu as tender as I expected. Both dishes came with a portion of rice and grilled vegetables (broccoli & tomato). The service was average.

It was the best turquoise dish I’ve had in New York. Plus, the staff were very polite and helpful. They showed us many places to visit and offered us tea. We had a really nice and good dinner.

We stopped in just by chance, we happened to be walking around in that area and hungry. We had a wonderful lunch and i ended up having great brunch menu. Unlimited food for only $20. Everything we had was great I would definitely go back.

Food is delicious 🤤 Atmosphere is great. The owner is so nice and smiling person. Everybody is so kind. I highly recommend their ezmeli kebab

I go here all the time. There's the trendier spot Turkish Kitchen on 3rd Ave, but this is the neighborhood gem, a quieter spot on 2nd Ave that few but locals will know about (and even some locals forget it's there). I often order a soup, Mediterranean salad and some kind of entree (zucchini pancakes, kebabs, etc). Their cheese cigars are a little heavy but a delicious first course. Once in awhile a dish is a bit dry, but that's not the norm. Their Turkish pita is a treat and perfect with the thick spreads, and the rice pudding may be the best I've had. Also, for weekend brunch, they have a $20 all you can eat special with many of their best dishes available. It's incredible value.

Ordered the mixed grill kebab and was surprised when it arrived coz the serving was pretty big (probably good enough for 2). Enjoyed our tasty Turkish meal and can't wait to come back.

Standard menu carefully prepared. Not quite as tasty as Turkish Kitchen but Sahara delivers and Turkish Kitchen does not.

Met my Aunt and her boyfriend here while visiting NY. It was in her neighborhood and she had eaten here before. The atmosphere was nice and the restaurant was clean. My Aunt ordered for us and the appetizer was very interesting. I'm not sure what we ate, but we enjoyed it. I ordered salmon for my entree and found it a bit overdone but very eatable. The desert was different too, it included maple syrup and we all tasted it and thought it was unique and fun.

This was the best Turkish cuisine in New York. I have been in so many Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant and so far this was THE BEST. Everyone was so nice and friendly. Food was super delicious. Atmosphere was super cool. We ordered falafel, Chicken Adana, mix cold appetizers, Hunkar begendi, manti . Every thing was very fresh. 10/10

Great experience, beautiful atmosphere. I love the decoration. Highly recommended if you like to visit local restaurants.

Tasty food nicely served. The three course weekdday lunch menu is a good deal. Especially like the light crispy falafel and tbe Shepard salad.

It’s a great Turkish/Mediterranean restaurant, atmosphere is nice, foods are delicious, everyone at the restaurant was so welcoming and friendly. Iskender kebab is my favorite one. You should give it a try :)

Good local restaurant. Good options for vegetarians or vegans. More expensive than a mom and pop diner, but still on the lower cost end of things. Seemed to do a good delivery business while we were there.

We stopped by this restaurant just because of the Google reviews. While visiting NYC, our plan was to try different cuisines and avoid Turkish food — but the great reviews made us curious. And guess what? It was absolutely worth it! Everything was incredibly delicious. The flavors were slightly Americanized, which was interesting, but overall, it was perfect.

I been a few times in New York and me and my friends always enjoy this restaurant by their food and the service. They know how to be there with you always to attend you. Exellent!

Wow! The food Heee us extremely carped and exquisite. The owner us very welcoming and fosters a communal atmosphere. The ambiance ıs suitable for both date nights and casual outings. The branzino was my favorite. Will definitely be coming back.