MenuPages

My husband and I spontaneously popped into Dardanel. It was very quiet in the restaurant at an early hour, which we loved, so we sat at the bar and had dinner. The experience overall was super. I loved the vibe of the restaurant, it was clean, had instrumental relaxing music, great Turkish red wine, and, most important, really fresh seafood, which we were told was flown in from the Mediterranean. My husband had the Branzini and I had fresh, not farmed, grilled Tilapia and both were perfectly grilled. The eggplant appetizer was excellent, the Turkish tea and milk custard was delicious, and we really enjoyed the friendly neighborhood atmosphere and will certainly be regulars here in the future.

I live a few blocks from this place and I'd only been once before. It seems they've renovated and the fish display in the window caught my eye, so I decided to give it a try. All of the food was very fresh and extremely tasty! I'm surprised to see a few poor reviews, but I honestly had a great experience and highly recommend it.

The place really doesn't smell good, just some of the reviews state. The food is greasy and packed with salt. And of course not fresh. Very poor service. Considerably overpriced. Tasteless decor along with weird music selection that is far from mediterranean. They are only a few blocks away from my place but I'll never go there again.

For a $5.00 side of grilled vegetables I got slices of carrot, 2 slices of zucchini, 2 quarter wedges out of season tomatoes (why do restaurants serve tomatoes out of season?), and 2 pieces of broccoli. Had they been outstanding then I would happily pay for it, but they just weren't. Ditto for everything else I ordered, expensive for so-so food.

We went to Dardanel when our favorite kebab restaurant was too crowded and had no more tables avail. Restaurant was essentially empty and we wondered why, at first since the restaurant was very pretty. ..The servers were very friendly but did not follow requests put in with the order, such as veggies instead of rice which they said was no problem when requested. The chicken was undercooked and sparse in quantity. Both my husband and I were hungry afterwards despite ordering two appetizers with our lunch specials.Overall, a disappointment. Will not go back. Would rather get take out from elsewhere.

We chose this restaurant based on the previous reviews, unfortunately we did not have the best experience this past Saturday nite. Staff seemed friendly enough but service was poor. The apps arrived very quickly and then we had to wait 30+ minutes for your entrees. Also, no one asked if we wanted dessert or coffee, we had to ask for it. And then we had to wait some more and finally ask for our check. Our server seemed to be busy dishing out the Red Snapper for 2 at another table and we were left to suffer. Food was ok, but pricey.

The food at Dardanel was exceptionally great! I had the zucchini pancakes (which are to die for!) and the Sultan's Delight. They have an extensive variety of wines and the service was definitely above average. I am absolutely going back there....worth the travel to 1st Ave!!