Boutique Istanbul hotel Sumahan on the Water has launched a new restaurant.
The Bosphorous-front Tapasuma was named to reflect the hotel’s beginnings as a 19th-century Ottoman distillery.
Tapa means cork while suma is the first distillation when producing raki, Turkey’s traditional aniseed-flavoured spirit.
The restaurant serves up Gokay Cakiroglu’s Turkish dishes with a contemporary twist.
Alongside freshly caught seasonal fish from the Bosphorus, Cakiroglu presents a menu of lesser-known dishes from modern Turkish and Mediterranean cuisines.
The chef also puts out a selection of bite-sized Turkish mezzes lined up tapas-style at the restaurant’s 8-metre long “verde calacatta” marble food & drinks bar.
The hotel’s own launch, Sumahan I, transports guests not staying at the hotel from across the Bosphorus directly to the restaurant which is in the village of Cengelkoy on the Asian shore.