The Best Sushi In Istanbul: Inari Sushi & Omakase

When you’re trying to have a conversation with the Japanese you just met, if you mention “sushi”, probably they will begin to roll their eyes.

 

As we wince at the foreigners mentioning “Kebab, kebab!” when they’re talking about our culture, the same is true for the Japanese cuisine as well.

 

Having chosen to promote itself with sushi like the Italian has done with the pizza, the Japanese cuisine is ultimately reduced to only one element that is sushi because of the lazy consumerism, despite the fact that it actually harbors a lot bigger world of flavors… Without sacrificing the quality, the Japanese blend their cultural ethos like truism, discipline and pride with their culinary values and manage to create basic and wonderful tastes sometimes using only 2 or 3 ingredients.

 

Every taste is best consumed in its original region. For that matter, it would be ridiculous to compare the sushi made by the 86 years-old legendary Chef Sukuyabashi Jiro who started to make sushi almost in his childhood, or Saito, Sawada and Araki, with the ones made in the United States. When a sushi goes European, it comes with all the make-up enhancements that do not exist in its original recipe. Most of the Japanese restaurants in Europe brings a transformative interpretation to their sushi with their sauces that I didn’t see anywhere in Tokyo.

                                            

Although I haven’t seen any sushi in Europe on a par with the ones made in Japan, one of them excites me in terms of the New Japanese Cuisine: Inari Sushi Omakase.

 

A Talented Chef: Barlas Günebak

 

Named after the famous Japanese rice god, Inari Sushi Omakase is located on the ground floor of the renowned fish restaurant run by Cemal Ülman, Arşipel which was first opened in Bodrum and then expanded by opening a headquarter in Istanbul. While on the upper floor of the building in Kuruçeşme offers the classical Aegean region, on the lower floor, you will be surfing through the Japanese flavors made with the local ingredients.

 

With a capacity of 50 people, The Japanese restaurant Inari has a rather minimal concept, furnished with bamboo and wooden items.  The Chef Barlas Günebak is the one in charge of the flavors.

 

The Chef Günebak immediately draws your attention with his marginal look and positive energy on the right of the restaurant when you step right in. As his passion for sushi started with Benihana in Çırağan Palace which has a more teppanyaki-based kitchen, it has grown on him over time and he educated himself in the Japanese cuisine with a great deal of perseverance. Eventually, he opened his own restaurant with his unique personal interpretations.

 

As he chose to open his restaurant close to one of the famous Istanbul fish restaurants so as to be able to source fresh and various fish for the kitchen, the mission of the restaurant is offering Japanese dishes made with the local ingredients the way the customers never tasted before.

 

In addition to two other people in the kitchen, with the help of the Chef Özlem at the sushi bar, Barlas Günebak creates authentic tastes using interesting ingredients such as red mullet, bluefish, bonito, orange oil and green tea oil.

 

Since the restaurant has a clear, informative menu covering the pictures of every dish, it may be a nice guide for those who are not experienced in the Japanese cuisine, as such having a hard time finding what they want.

 

If you get baffled by the numerous dishes in the menu with selections from otoshi, sashimi, noodle, nigiri to maki rolls, yaki mono, age mono; you also leave it to Barlas Günebakan. Because you can also order “omakase” which means “I’ll leave it to the chef!” in Japanese. So you can totally trust the chef in selecting the dishes for you.

 

When it comes to the content of the menu, the dishes that surprise me every time with the creativity and the unique interpretation of the chef are as follows:

 

Shake and tuna pizza which had a crispy thin bread like lavash, satisfactory for the Turkish palates as opposed to the soft bread of Napoli pizza that bends when held.

 

Kajiki sashimi which was a fantastic interpretation of the sword fish as I already think the type of sword fish native to Turkey is better tasting than the others.

 

Unagi nigiri, already one of my favorite kinds of sushi, had a delight taste in Inari’s version.

 

Bonito/katsuo sashimi was placed in a pool of ponzu sauce pool boosted with moss and scallion shreds; it was as delightful to my eyes as to my palate

 

Usuzukuri, which is my most favorite Japanese flavor as a person who’s in love with the Japanese cuisine, surprised me as the chef made it with red mullet.

 

Another successful dish was ebi chili, which is a different version of rocket shrimp; although not on a par with nobu, we can call it the popcorn of the New Japanese cuisine;

 

Mono nake roll, a delightful tempura shrimp interpretation which was rolled in dough of rice and sprinkled with slices of grapes on the top.

 

Fois gras nigiri, the masterpiece of the night, which was composed of duck liver grilled like tataki with an accompaniment of caramel sauce.

 

And the last one, bluefish sashimi which was made with slices of bluefish and boosted with ponzu sauce and ginger slices. It even put Inari in a higher place than the Japanese restaurant of Mandarin Oriental Bodrum, Kurochan.

 

As I mentioned at the beginning, no sushi made in Turkey can be comparable to those in Japan. Even though it reminds of a more classical cuisines and does not duly represent the kaiseki culture, I can hold Miyako in Swiss Hotel Bosphorus as one of the better examples of the Japanese cuisine with its teppanyaki and sushi.

 

 

It gives me hope for the New Japanese Cuisine to see there are such young chefs like Barlas Günebak who are creative and passionate about knowledge.

 

Inari Sushi Omakase is highly recommended for those who hesitate to have a try at the Japanese cuisine and those who seek a satisfactory sushi that will put a smile on their faces.

 

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…

 

Inari Sushi&Omakase

www.inarisushiomakase.com

Kuruçeşme Mh., Kuruçeşme Cd No:11

34345, istanbul

+90 212 265 9600