Top 10 Istanbul Restaurants – 2014

In the last day of 2014, to keep up with the trends, I’d like to share with you the top-10 restaurants I visited during this year and enjoyed a lot.

 

Despite that fact I named the list as “top 10”, I should say that their order is not deliberate because they all belong to a different category.

 

In case you haven’t tried yet, I recommend you to consider the list of restaurants which is as follows:

 

NEOLOKAL

 

Having recently begun to serve, the brand-new restaurant offers its visitors the traditional Turkish cuisine with quite fancy and modern touches. And of course, the tastes are just as wonderful as they look! The restaurant can reach out to a more international platform if we get more restaurants with the same mentality. But for now, dear Maksut Aşkar and his team deserves a congratulation note.

 

SALT Galata Bankalar Caddesi

Karaköy 34420 İstanbul

+90 212 334 22 00

www.neolokal.com

 

GİLE

 

Run by the two creative chefs Cihan Kıpçak and Uryan Doğmuş, Gile is one of those restaurants where the local ingredients are transformed into fancy dishes and arrive your table. As both the interpretation of the dishes and their tastes are top notch, the restaurant is the only place Massimo Bottura prefers to dine in Istanbul!

 

Şair Nedim Cad., Akaretler Sıra Evleri, E-Blok No:14

Akaretler/Beşiktaş 34353 İstanbul

+90 212 327 11 66

www.gilerestaurant.com

 

FUMEE

 

Fümee is another restaurant that, I think, can be a fine alternative and complement the previously listed ones. Fümee presents its tastes with delectable and colorful presentations created by the creative Chef Pınar Taşdemir.

 

Muallim Naci Cad. No:64/D

Kuruçeşme İstanbul

+90 212 257 02 93

www.fumeerestaurant.com

 

YENİ LOKANTA

 

One of the coolest restaurant chefs, Civan Er presents the ingredients we’re familiar with in different and delicious forms at his restaurant Yeni Lokanta located at the start of Kumbaracı Yokuşu. The place is tinted with nostalgia. The only problem is the difficulty of creating a sustainable standard, as it is the case with many restaurants.

 

İstiklal Cad./kumbaracı Yokuşu Sk No:66,

Tünel İstanbul

+90 212 292 25 50

www.lokantayeni.com

 

KARAKÖY RESTAURANT

 

While the restaurant, mostly visited by tourists, offers Aegean dishes with olive-oil during the lunchtime, it turns into a tavern appealing both to the eyes and the ears.

 

Kemankeş Karamustafa Paşa Mh. Kemankeş Cd No:37/A

Karaköy İstanbul

+90 212 292 44 55

www.karakoylokantasi.com

 

RISTORANTE ITALIA di MASSIMO BOTTURA

 

Voted “The Third Best Restaurant in the World”, Ristorante Italia di Massimo Bottura is the first venture of the crazy Chef Osteria Francescana, Massimo Bottura outside his hometown Modena. I think it is one of the best restaurants which gives the concept “fine dining” its due! Since I have the chance of visiting both the one in Modena and the other one in Istanbul, I have to say that when the one is Istanbul achieves a sustainable standard, it may attain the quality of its Italian counterpart. The two best things about the restaurant is the distance between the tables on its wonderful terrace is quite good and hence one can enjoy his/her cigar without disturbing anyone.

 

EATALY Istanbul Zorlu Center

Levazım Mahellesi Koru Sokak no.2, 34340

Besiktaş  İstanbul

+90 212 366 66 66

www.ristoranteitalia.com.tr

 

NICOLE

 

Located on the top floor of Tomtom Suits on Italyan Konsolosluğu Street, Nicole is another great example of “fine dining” concept that the city should be proud of. Dear Kaan Sakarya and his wife Aylin offer star-awarded dishes to their foreign customers who comprise the largest portion of the visitors. You will feel at home as the menu is packed with delicious familiar tastes almost dancing on the palate and crowned with 100% local wines.

 

Boğazkesen Cad. Tomtom Kaptan Sok.

No: 18 Beyoğlu  İstanbul

+90 212 292 44 67

www.nicole.com.tr

 

FLAMINGO

 

Run by Emre Şen, Flamingo is a restaurant where you can find, again, almost extinct tastes made with thoroughly local ingredients as well as beautiful Italian dishes. The restaurant offers a fine experience by also appealing to the ears with quality “deep house” music. The bar is quite spacious which is appealing to the cigar lovers as their cigars won’t disturb anyone.

 

Asker Ocağı Cad. No:1

Taksim 34435 İstanbul

+90 212 232 68 68

www.flamingoist.com

 

CAN OBA

 

The Chef Can Oba creates top-notch dishes in his tiny restaurant in Sirkeci that no one can believe his/her eyes when they see it. I’ll be waiting for the times when his tiny kitchen will start to serve in a different location and his unique menu will be crowned with fine wine-pairings. Until that day, it’s still one of the best restaurants that you should follow.

 

Hoca Paşa Mh., Hocapaşa Hamamı Sk

No:10, 34112 Sirkeci İstanbul

+90 212 522 1215

www.canobarestaurant.com

 

INARI SUSHI & OMAKASE

 

When it comes to the list of my favorites, the Japanese restaurant leaves its place to no other restaurants. In fact it already beat the pants off the other ones with its additional Spanish and Italian cuisines. As such, it is one of the rare culinary gems that put a smile on my face. The sympathetic Chef Barlas Günebak blend those very interesting ingredients with his creativity and almost transforms the sushi dishes into “umami”. In fact it’d be even better if he threw off the menu and invited the customers into his culinary world giving into his personal choices. This way it would be more suitable to its title “omakase”, and this would help the restaurant to be more successful and increase its income. But again, it is still fine the way it is. So it is unto us to say “Congrats and arigatou gozaimasu!”

 

Kuruçeşme Mh., Kuruçeşme Cd No:11

34345, istanbul

+90 212 265 9600

www.inarisushiomakase.com

 

Although it is traditional to count only ten names for the popular top-lists, I highly recommend you to give the chic restaurant Mikla a try which has a sweeping view of Istanbul and is run by Mehmet Gürs who is the first chef to interpret the traditional Turkish cuisine with modern touches, as well as La Torre, the chef of which is Tarkan Özdemir who creates quite artistic dishes in a modern style with a performance that suits the fame of his hometown, Bolu.

 

I hope you will explore new places and new tastes in the New Year…

 

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…