Dervish

After late night show our group decided to show up around 11 pm on a Saturday night. The was live music and décor was good. The manager said restaurant is open until 12:30 am. We started ordering and once we got the food; the restaurant trickery unfolded.
A bunch of us ordered yogurt /​orzo soup and waiter brought some other vegetable soup. Then 4 of us ordered Skender kebab and what came was completely different. I know Turkish food and few people in our group were Turkish. We brought this up to there attention and then they admitted that they ran out of gyro so they made skendar kebab with some other meat … Ahmmmm.
Decision made never to come back again!

Good food, nice menu selection but slow service. We went there with a group of 6 and were seated promptly by the manager. It took awhile for our waiter to get to our table and give us service so that started putting a bitter taste in our mouth. However, once the food was ordered, it all came out rapidly. We were pretty happy with our selections. It was very tasty. They also have a live band performing in the front just in case you are interested in checking out the music while you’re enjoying your meal.

One of the worst dining experiences I have ever had in New York. Service was good, no real complaints. The food, however, was another thing. There were four of us and we all tried each others meal to see if maybe I just ordered a bad dish… they were all horrible. SO bland, no salt and seasoning, and such dry meat. The lamb wrap was seriously just lettuce, tomato, lamb and wrap. No sauce or anything. For $ 20 a person, I expected much better. I’m not hard to please; i think cart food is amazing and I eat McDonald’s more than I should. This was terrible.

A really nice place to go for a pre-​theatre meal. It was located only a few blocks away from most of the major theaters and tucked away from the jam packed mess that is broadway.
The restaurant itself was clean and very elegant. The staff were courteous and attentive, without being over bearing or making you feel rushed.
The food was great. We ordered a lamb dish, chicken dish, and the organic salad, and they were all fantastic!
The best part had to be capping off the meal with some Turkish coffee and Turkish delight to fight off the food coma. It was successful, as I didn’t fall asleep in my show.
Highly recommended!

After I picked up my BBF from JFK for a 4 day visit, we were strolling around Time Square to see where we wanted to eat dinner. We wanted something ‘off the beaten path’ so that’s how we came across Dervish Mediterranean Rest. We liked the prefixe Meal deal so we went in.
The staff was very attentive and nice. The food we was very good…
The Mihrap Borek (Stuffed Phyllo with Mediterranean Feta Cheese & Spinach with Aromatic Herbs) was delicious, flaky and warm. It hit the spot.
The Sultan’s Delight (Hunkar Begendi-​Tender Braised Lamb Cubes, Over Eggplant Purée and Roasted Tomato Sauce). — I loved this dish, the lamb cubes were savory and tender. The eggplant purée was wonderful, silky and tasty.
The Vanilla Cheese Cake was good, just you typical cheesecake.
The Homemade Almond Pudding — My bbf loved her dessert, she was raving about it days after she ate it… lol

Do not recommend it. Place is old, has weird smell in it, not authentic. Ap
petizers
were bland, no spice or flavor. Desert came to the table still half frozen.

Dervish is yum-​o which is surprising since it’s located in Times Square, a virtual wasteland when it comes to food. We’ve eaten in once and décor and service were decent, but, what’s really memorable is the food.
Food selection and flavors are spot on here. Dervish is definitely one of our go-​to restaurants when using Seamless Web to order take-​out.
You cannot go wrong with the Dervish Modern Mezze Platter and the Sultan’s Delight. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

Love this place!
We stopped here because it was close to our hotel while visiting Times Square.
Easily some of the best Middle Eastern/​Turkish food I’ve had.
Very reasonable prices and the restaurant itself is very cute.
The lamb and okra are the best!
Definitely recommend :)

I’m still whirling after back to back dinners from Dervish…
The first was delivery via Seamless, an order of iskender kabab that was the perfect sustenance for a late night at the office. Like an alchemist seeking out the Philosopher’s Stone, I mixed garlic yogurt sauce and tomato sauce before dipping the thinly sliced lamb and smiling at my results.
Fast delivery and a respectably good lamb made me realize that for a dinner with a friend the following day, why not visit the actual site for in person dining?
So it was Dervish round 2 last night and I was not disappointed.
From 4−8pm the restaurant offers a pre theatre dinner menu. You may view the current incarnation of Broadway as crass mass entertainment, a far cry from the glory days of Al Jolson. Regardless of if you are seeing a show or want nothing to do with shows, the Dervish pre-​theater price of 27.75 is attention grabbing.
But does it execute like a well choreographed number or fall flat like a rural amateur theater group?
I started with the Mihrap Borek, a glorious name to pronounce that seems fitting of a Klingon or Cardassian ambassador, if only Gene Roddenberry was familiar with Turkish cuisine.
Two pillars of phyllo filled with feta and spinach, these tubes were not overly greasy and quite easy to down. A bucket of these tubular delights would rival KFC.
There are 8 appetizers and 7 main courses to choose from among the pre theater menu. (Unlike some restaurants that limit you to 3 or 4)
However tempting it was to order the Sultan’s Delight (which I envision as an exotic harem that does one’s bidding but in reality consists of braised lamb cubes), I opted for the grilled lamb adana.
Named after the fifth largest city in Turkey, the mix of lamb meat and spices was just right. A side of wheat pilaf helped me feel healthier than I really am.
3 dessert choices round up the menu and a coffee or tea. My almond pudding was the least noteworthy dinner item, hardly offensive but fairly standard.
So for 27.75 I felt as if I dined like a Sultan, a thrifty sultan who has to enact austerity measures and cut back on his expenses. Service was attentive, the interior a cut above a kebab house and the value present in every bite.

I hate to give 2 stars, but when comparing all things Turkish, this place didn’t make the cut. Salad, really??? Any one can throw some tomatoes and cucumbers together. Flavorless. Nothing about our meal was popping with flavor. For the location and cost… Mr. Dervish, you can do better… I know I sure can!

Good food, good service and reasonable prices…
This was our first time here. We decided to have lunch before a matinée, instead of dinner afterwards. I’m glad we stopped in!
The service was excellent with the waiters were pleasant and attentive. There is a large bar in the front of the restaurant, with some booths. There are additional tables in the rear of the restaurant.
The meal started with a breadbasket and some olives in a rich, delicious olive oil. I had the traditional red lentil soup, which was a creamy variety. I actually had hoped I could see the lentils, but this soup was creamy, not chunky. This is not my favorite type of soup, but delicious just the same. With that I had the hot appetizer, Mihrap Borek, which is stuffed phyllo with feta cheese & spinach. This came with a delicious yogurt sauce. Both items along with some bread, was more than enough for lunch.
My husband had the Chicken wrap and some french fries, which were pretty ordinary and he could have gotten that anywhere. He enjoyed the meal but in my opinion, he would have been happier ordering something more ethnic, with the herbs and flavors of the Mediterranean.
We did not have coffee or dessert but will return to try their other menu items.

We came here for a pre-​show dinner. We made reservations online, allowing ourselves enough time to eat and then walk from the restaurant to the theater.
Though we showed up a bit early, they had no problems seating us right away. The service, initially, was very fast and friendly. Our waiter went over all the specials, gave us his recommendations, asked if we had questions, and then left us to peruse the menu.
Dervish has a pretty good three-​course meal option, in which you can get an appetizer, entrée and dessert for a reasonable price. I thought I was going to go with that, but ended up getting the branzino (grilled whole and served with roasted vegetables and a side of greens). My husband ordered the Sultan’s Delight (braised lamb over pureed eggplant) and a plate of stuffed vine leaves to start.
They certainly don’t skimp on the portion sizes. Of course, I wasn’t exactly starving when we showed up, but between the appetizer and the whole fish, I was stuffed. I must admit, too, that I grew a little tired of fighting with the fish to get to the meat. I knew going in that I’d have to pull the meat from the bones, but once it got down to it… Not to say the fish wasn’t tasty, because it was. There was some good flavor there, and I happen to love branzino (it’s not readily available on my coast).
My husband loved the vine leaves and the Sultan’s Delight, which he had been looking forward to having again since he first had it two years ago. He did say that the meat was a little more tough than it should have been, but he still enjoyed it.
The only thing that grated on us was that, as soon as the plates were cleared away, our waiter — who’d been fairly attentive till then — just disappeared. We sat around for a good 25 minutes, waiting for him to come back to give us our check. It’s a very good thing we had time to spare, before needing to get to the theater.

Came here for a late dinner and the food was fine. Had an Efes beer with my lamb burger. The burger was good, but not extraordinary. The service was good.

My birthday is coming up next week and my birthday presents are arriving early this year (Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me!). My Turkish friend brought me to Dervish yesterday for the first time and it may very well be my favorite Turkish restaurant in NYC. Traditional doner and lamb adana were grilled to perfection, charred on the outside and chewy in the inside and perfectly seasoned to boot. The $ 27.75 (that’s a weird amount, what ever happened to $ 27.99? Next thing you know I’ll see $ 27.86 plus a euro on the menu) pre theatre dinner menu includes a three course meal. Lentil soup is a delicious winter option, thick and hearty. Borek was crispy and fresh tasting and contained a tasty dipping sauce. The mezze platter is a bit pricey for the portions given but some of the dips were outstanding, marrying a variety of flavors and textures. The almond pudding was just the right amount of sweet, containing pistachios and a nice blend of spices. Aside from the pre-​fixe menu, prices are a bit high but the setting is classic and high end, so it’s to be expected. Service is attentive and accommodating, my leftover soup was put in a plastic container and wrapped in saran wrap. How’s that for attention to detail?! And to quote the loudmouth seated in a table near us, «I’ve come here a few times and I’ve always had a good meal». With that said, I’ll be back.
PS: If anyone reading this enjoys Turkish football (soccer), games are regularly televised in Dervish’s bar.

Great evening at Dervish. My girlfriend and I were in the city for the weekend Nd found it on open
and decided to try it. We were new to Turkish food and went in for a meal that turned into an AMAZING MEAL! My girl had red wine, I decided to try the Turkish tea. It was a frigid night and the tea was wonderful. We ordered humus for our appetizer and it was delicious and plenty for two to share. The excellent
waiter brought us fresh warm bread and herbed olive oil with a few Greek olives… Tasty! We order the braised lamb with puréed egg plant infused with some kind of amazing cheese served with carrots and roasted onion. FABULOUS! She had stuffed cabbage leaves which were equally amazing. No room for dessert so we moved to the bar for an after dinner drink and enjoyed the excellent band. We know exactly where we’ll eat next trip to New York city. Loved it! A word about the wait staff … These guys were incredible. It’s so refreshing to be served by professional, world class waiters. They make a great meal an especially wonderful experience. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Nothing special with the food, was good but not great, the service is V.E.R.Y S.L.O.W…
We must have been seated there for 2 hours. The food came fast, but than we had to wait a lot so the waiter could get our food and put in a container to go, and the check took another while. I had the 2 meal courses for $ 15+taxes. The apetizer was the House salad, that was pretty good, as the main dish was the Chiken in skewers, that was okay, but not great. I dont think this is a place i would come back to.

I was hesitating between 2 and 3 stars, but went up because the service was quite good.
Perhaps I’m just spoiled when it comes to Turkish food. I HAVE actually had Turkish food in Turkey (which was some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, actually). And my boyfriend lives a mere block away from an excellent turkish restaurant in queens. So maybe my hopes were just too high.
That said, the food was ok. Nothing special, nothing amazing. And definitely not inspiring, given the Midtown pricing. But it was fine. I wasn’t offended by it. I was just disappointed in it.
Service, however, was excellent. Ambience was quiet and pleasant.
The turkish tea was excellent, though. Reminded me of being in Turkey. The crab cake was also good, but that’s not really very turkish…

I’ve never been to Turkey but I’m ready to go if Dervish’s food is any indication.
The service was fast for our group of seven during our hour lunch break from work; we had a reservation. The server was friendly and attentive.
–Mihrap borek (stuffed phyllo with feta, spinach and herbs fried): So very delicious and crisp
–Humus: Some of the best I’ve ever had
–Salmon fillet w/​roasted potato cubes, vegetables and frisee salad: Light and yet filling. Everything on that plate was divine. The vegetables were seasoned perfectly.
Others at the table ordered the Cappadocia salad, which looked beautiful and they loved it. They also ordered thinly sliced lamb and loved it.
The only down side was the dining area smelled a little off, but I suspect that’s because the floor is carpeted, which holds smells over time.

Went here with my old man one day for lunch … you know — talking baseball, back pain, and business. He suggested it because he has an affinity for all things Turkish.
We both opted for the Dervish salad, or whatever it’s called, and the Adana Kebabs as part of the lunch special. They were tasty, I suppose. Unremarkable kebabs should be their official name. The salad was fine, nothing I’d write home about, but I’ll write about it here, for you, so that you can read it.
There wasn’t anything markedly bad about this place, it was just pretty expensive for some kebab and rice with a lean salad on the side. My dad was pumped, though, so if his palette is pleased then I guess I’m satisfied.
I won’t come back, but not because of service or anything like that. Mostly because $ 16 kebabs are generally outside my lunchtime wheelhouse maaaaaaaaaan.

I had lunch here on Wednesday. I was alone before I was going to see West Side Story a very very short walk away. It was honestly one of the best kebab places I have ever been to.
I had the lunch special for 15.95 (somehow it came out to 30– be prepared but it shouldnt matter bc the food is sooo worth it) I chose walnut hummus as an appetizer and the doner kebab as my entrée. The hummus was decent and it was served with traditional Turkish bread. The Doner Kebab was the best part of my meal though. It was really tasty and shaved very thin. It was served with veggies including a roasted tomato (my favorite) and some rice. The meat serving was generous and I had enough to bring home for my husband to have from dinner! It was also served with a mint yogurt sauce which was also great. I ended with baklava which was average… not bad at all but not extraordinary.
I loved this place minus the creepy hostess who was just peering at the patrons and basically watching us… she was strange but the food made up for it.