• Helvetia

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  • White Veg-options
Buffet
Take-out
Middle Eastern
Turkish, Arabic
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Offers platters that come with several dishes from its buffet. Menu changes daily and includes vegan dishes, soups, and sides like zucchini fritters and stewed veggies. Open kitchen, laid-back atmosphere, free Wi-Fi. Near Istiklal Caddesi. Open Mon-Sat 12:00pm-8:00pm.


Venue map for Helvetia
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19 Reviews

First Review by bisousb

soymilkpeanutsauce

Points +87

Vegan
12 Sep 2024

Half were vegan options

Tasty and affordable price. We spent 550 TLA (around 20 euros) as two people for one 4 options and one 5 options meal.

Pros: Affordable price, Nice area, Free basket of bread

Cons: Not so many vegan options

Jasper_

Points +89

Vegan
07 Dec 2023

My favorite in istanbul

Daily changing dishes, rich flavors, economical.

HeatherDonaldson

Points +306

Vegan
14 Feb 2023

Great homemade food

Perfect place to escape the crowds and eat some delicious homemade food. The staff are friendly and can help you select vegan dishes, the food itself is full of flavour and really great value. They also do takeout. Locals eat here too and it felt like the real Istanbul.

Pros: Vegan options , Value for money

KoshaShah

Points +15

Vegetarian
23 Sep 2022

Local gem

A great find to have a very local yet fully vegetarian meal. Very cheap. It's on a per plate basis, in which you can choose 5 items from their menu.

Pros: Fully vegetarian, Value for money

Cons: Limited drinks

Jimmy&Mack

Points +545

Vegan
22 Mar 2022

Buffet of Options

This is a great little spot and incredible value. There were a ton of vegetarian and vegan options available, and the staff was great about helping us avoid the meat dishes. We picked five items each and the portions were pretty generous. It's a fairly small place, with tables inside and out. Everyone seemed to eat fairly quickly and clear out, maybe because the seating is limited and it was busy.

Sushinina

Points +2541

Vegan
15 Aug 2021

Healthy lunch

Delicious and inexpensive, Helvetia is one of my favourite restaurants for a quick meal in Istanbul. Staff speaks english. Just note to specify you’re vegan, otherwise they will put yogurt on top.

Pros: fresh food, wifi

Walterwide

Points +1959

Vegan
22 Jun 2021

Healthy and delicious!

One of the best place in Istanbul, beautiful location, tasty food, fantastic staff. A ver clean and traditional place to have great quality food and very affordable.

MervePınar

Points +41

Vegan
30 May 2021

One of the best in Taksim!

One of the best place that I love to go for years. Small place but service is quite fast. Even it's full you don't wait too long to sit. I feel like I am home when I eat there and this is so precious ✨

Simon7

Points +18

Vegan
28 Aug 2020

Tasty and Great Value For Money

Although not fully vegan this place does very delicious food at a low cost. Choose from a range of precooked dishes which many are vegan. It's quick, cheap, healthy and tasty, great option if you are in the area

elien25

Points +261

Vegan
28 Feb 2020

Home cooked food for good price

You can choose 5 dishes from the bar for 23 lira. There are a few meat options, some dairy, but most of it is vegan! Free water and nice atmosphere. Can get busy!

Indigiveg

Points +82

Vegan
01 Jun 2019

Delicious and healthy

Amazing little place frequented by young locals. The serving sizes are huge and the food is tasty. A relief after struggling to find food like this in turkey! They speak good English but you basically just point to what you like. Everything was vegetarian/vegan except for 2 dishes.

maidentr

Points +42

Mostly Veg
13 May 2019

Wonderful little place with outdoor seating

I go here very often. You can choose 5 different options ( and they are generous ) from a variety of daily cooked fresh foods and salads. Homemade !

Pros: Mostly vegetarian and vegan options , Cheap for its location , Free water and bread !

maynard7

Points +5200

Mostly Veg
27 Apr 2019

Great food

As of April 2019, the lunch here costs 19.5 lira, and you get to choose five items from the 20 choices in the buffet display. Almost everything is vegetarian. I put together a great lunch at a great price. I definitely want to return here while I'm in Turkey. Quite honestly, the food here is better and cheaper than at similar vegetarian and vegan places. It gets extremely crowded at lunch time. By 12:10 all the tables were taken. But at 12:30 several tables opened up but not for long. Monday through Friday it's best to get there at 5 minutes before 12 so you can get the table of your choice away from the line that sometimes goes all the way out the door. Saturday I got here at 1:30 in the afternoon and only two tables were occupied. I went here 3 times in a week for lunch. The food doesn't vary much from day-to-day but they have over 20 choices.

Pros: Nearly everything is vegetarian, Good flavors

Cons: Packed with customers

BuketK

Points +22

Vegan
17 Apr 2019

Amazing

Healthy, delicious and fresh!
And also cheap

Pros: Lots of vegan options , Healthy

Cons: Small Restaurant

ciko

Points +22

Vegan
20 Nov 2017

Delicious and cheap

There are vide variety of vegan and vegetarian options in the menu and the possibility to order a mixed plate is great. All the options I tried so far were delicious.
The place where the restaurant is located (Tünel) is a very hip area and it is very convenient to go there during a day out.
Only con is the place is small and you may have to wait outside a bit to find a table.

Pros: mixed plate , price, location

Cons: place too small

KelseyHudspeth

Points +675

Vegan
31 Mar 2017

amazing selection, huge portions

Super filling lunch, you get to choose up to 5 options in a plate, but 4 was even too much for me!

Traditional Turkish food, can't go wrong!

SG213

Points +859

Vegetarian
02 Oct 2015

Lots of options, surprisingly inexpensive

I've passed by this place a lot of times but it always seemed too busy to ask them what the veg options are.

How it works is, you order a plate and then choose 5 of the 12 or so options, then they'll bring it to your table.

As it turns out, pretty much everything is vegetarian apart from one item (meatballs), and most look like they're vegan.

There's quite a good selection including lentil balls, various bean dishes, rice, bulghur wheat, mung beans, and types of garnished carrot, potato, celery etc.

For 13TL for the dish it's very good value.

They have some communal style tables inside and a small number of places outside. The place can get very busy, but the staff are friendly & helpful.

Pros: Good selection, Location, Inexpensive

Cons: Quite a cramped space indoors, busy

Kimxula

Points +1185

Vegetarian
29 Aug 2015

Nice veg pick & mix lunch in central location

Went to Helvetia for lunch twice on my trip to Istanbul; it's a hipstery kind of place, really popular with locals, conveniently located in the Beyoglu area. You can choose up to 5 (I think) options to make a lunch plate and there's usually a lot of veg choices with various bean, rice, couscous and veggie dishes on offer. They give you quite a generous portion, so you feel nice and full and prices are decent too.

Pros: Convenient location, Not too expensive, Veg choices

bisousb

Points +49

Vegan
16 Jan 2015

Pocket Friendly, Delicious Turkish Home Cooking

The best olive oil braised dishes, a selection of beans, greens and soups. The owners are familiar with a vegan diet and are very helpful if you have any questions.

Pros: good value for money, filling, quick lunch

Cons: it can be hard to find a table!




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