GALLADA

Chef Fatih Tutak of two Michelin-star TURK FATiH TUTAK is the creative force behind Gallada, a Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant located in the Peninsula Istanbul hotel’s 1937 heritage building.

This Turk-Asian restaurant’s stunning décor mirrors the picturesque views of the Bosphorus and Turkish skyline while its menu draws inspiration from the culinary traditions, cooking techniques and flavours of the ancient Silk Road.

Must-try dishes include the tender adana kebab dumplings (lamb dumplings), the smoky wood-fired monkfish with creamy yoghurt, the crispy Cajun-spiced fried chicken with Japanese mayonnaise, the soya, yuzu and ginger-marinated tuna with creamy tahini and yoghurt, and the unmissable kuzu shashlik, 25 layers of melt-in-your-mouth slices of lamb, onions, mushrooms and lamb fat.

NEOLOKAL

Helmed by chef Maksut Aşkar, this one MICHELIN Star and MICHELIN Green Star restaurant celebrates locally grown seasonal produce.

The ‘neolokal tasting menu’ features amuse-bouches like cucumber blossoms with yoghurt, deep-fried octopus with spicy mayo and crispy squid with walnut purée. A colourful medley of grilled asparagus, fresh cherries, mulberries, fennel and beetroot on a pool of vegetable juice and tahini is served next, alongside tomato-stuffed grilled octopus with clarified tomato broth, and neolokal’s signature dish, moreish morel-stuffed dumplings encased in mushroom skin with a mushroom emulsion and chilli oil.

The main courses honour the sea and land with dishes such as olive oil-poached monkfish on a bed of potato purée with crispy potato, and tender slow-cooked lamb shoulder and lamb belly meatballs with piyaz (tahini purée). The gastronomic journey concludes with fragrant olive oil and sage ice cream accompanied by crispy baklava pastry and hazelnut cream.

Neolokal also offers vegetarian and gluten-free tasting menus as well as à la carte dining.

TUĞRA

Located in the historic Cirağan Palace at the Kempinski Hotel, Tuğra is an award-winning restaurant where patrons dine like royalty.

Head chef Emre İnanir infuses global influence from his travels into his traditional menu, creating a confluence of flavours and textures that bridges Ottoman heritage with modern culinary techniques.

The chef’s spin on Ottoman food shines in dishes like the hand-made beetroot dumplings stuffed with fresh basil cottage cheese, pickled kohlrabi and yellow pepper purée, the slow-cooked battered potato mash with beef marrow sauce and the Boza sorbet, a dessert inspired by a traditional autumnal Ottoman drink made from fermented corn and wheat. But the real showstopper is the Mediterranean grouper fillet with fresh fennel, sweet potato and spicy cherry purée, topped with crispy chard flakes, tahini sauce and courgette blossoms.