Inari Omakase Kuruçeşme

Twenty courses at the counter

The tasting sequence moves in small cuts, ponzu, rice, and heat. Inari Omakase Kuruçeşme in Kuruçeşme, Istanbul works inside a Japanese omakase format shaped for close attention rather than distance. The house was founded by Aycan Akdağ after years of eating across Asian restaurants in the United States, then building his first Istanbul projects through Arşipel Fish Restaurant in 2011 and Arşipel Sushi in 2012, before opening this room in 2016.

Omakase was close to unknown in Turkey at that point, so part of the early work was teaching the format itself: a chef’s recommendation instead of a list, a sequence instead of a set of choices. The counter still carries that brief. The name comes from Japanese mythology, where Inari is tied to rice, tea and fertility and is depicted sometimes as a white fox and sometimes as a woman, a reference that sits in the room rather than on the plate. From this address the group grew, adding Inari Vadistanbul in 2018 and Inari Piku Etiler in 2022, and by 2020 the name had reached Turkey’s top ten in 50 Best Discovery.

A menu renewed every two months

The house runs two lines at once: a chef’s-table omakase and an à la carte menu of sushi rolls, cold and hot appetisers, maki, tempura, and composed plates. The 20-course tasting menu is the centre of the program, changing seasonally and according to the chef’s preference. That structure matters. It lets the kitchen hold a guest in a sequence, moving from cold acidity to fried heat, from sashimi to rice, without making every plate carry the whole argument.

Several dishes make the method plain. Ponzu-marinated salmon sashimi works through citrus, salt, and clean knife work. Duck tataki comes with tofu purée, crispy garlic, and onion, a plate built on contrast rather than decoration. Corn tempura asks for timing at the fryer and restraint at the pass; the Kirohana Roll sits in the house’s more inventive sushi register. The bar follows the same seasonal habit, with cocktails renewed around local ingredients, while the sake program gives the tasting menu another line of pacing. Inari also holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and two current guide recognitions, but the craft here is easier to read in the repetition: menu revision every two months, a counter sequence, and dishes that rely on balance struck in the moment.

The room by the Bosphorus

The room is bright, modern, and small enough for the bench-side work to remain legible. After the renovation completed in November 2023, Inari Omakase Kuruçeşme became a private space for up to 70 guests, with the chef’s table, a large bar, and the Bosphorus close enough to shape the light in the room. Retro 1950s diner-style seating sits beneath parasol- and rose-shaped pendant lights; a central female silhouette refers back to Inari, the Japanese figure of rice, tea, and fertility that gives the restaurant its name.

Afternoon service carries a quieter register, with conversation held at the counter and the bar. Later, the room gathers more energy, but the work still depends on proximity: the cut of salmon, the set of the tofu purée, the first crackle from Corn tempura. The view is not what holds the room together. The 20-course sequence keeps returning attention to the chef’s table at Inari Omakase Kuruçeşme.