On November 9, 2023, the famous Michelin Awards were announced. The Michelin Award is awarded to restaurants that are considered the very best in a specific city and is one of the distinctive awards for the culinary world. The title of “very best” is often based on the customer reviews for other culinary awards. However, for the Michelin Awards, the quality of food service is assessed by undercover and anonymous food experts. The reason for the inspectors’ anonymity is to avoid preferential treatment and they are trained by fellow food experts in Michelin Guide located in France. What made Michelin Awards special this year was the Awards’ introduction of Istanbul. With that being said, let’s take a look at the 2023 Michelin Star restaurants of Istanbul.
Regardless of being located in various locations of Istanbul, Michelin restaurants serve global cuisine, ranging from Modern Japanese to Italian. In 2023 alone, five different restaurants in Istanbul received up to two stars for their service. An additional number of 48 restaurants were included in the list of Michelin. Even though the common perception is that Michelin Star restaurants are inclined to overprice their services, these restaurants include a wide range of pricing. For every type of budget, one can easily dine in a Michelin Star restaurant, depending on their diet preference. For instance, in İstanbul, Mürver and Eleos Beyoğlu are at different price levels, both serving grilled foods. Hence, while rating the restaurants, connoisseurs of Michelin follow an inclusive demeanor to best detect the exclusive restaurants in the city.
The Michelin Guide Emblem
The Michelin Star ratings have a three-star system, making the awards much more interesting. For any restaurant with a Michelin star rating, one star indicates a restaurant that is considered “very good” by the connoisseurs, meanwhile a two-star restaurant signalizes “excellent cooking that is worth a detour”. On the other hand, a three-star rating, which is quite rare, is considered an “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey”. Unfortunately, there are currently no three-star restaurants in Istanbul, including the 2023 awards. Furthermore, apart from a star-based ranking system, there are specific criteria such as Bib Gourmand, specifically to draw attention to affordable restaurants with exceptional taste. This year, 10 different restaurants received this recognition, meanwhile, only 5 restaurants were able to receive star ratings. The fellow restaurants are, Neolokal, Araka, Nicole, Micla, and TURK Fatih Tutak, which are all restaurants located in various locations in Istanbul. Neolokal, a restaurant located in Galata, received Bib Gourmand and was also recognized for its price-performance ability. Lastly, one of the crucial aspects considered by inspectors of Michelin is the restaurants’ contribution to sustainability. For the restaurants that include and integrate sustainability into their methodologies, Michelin recognizes their efforts to make contributions to a better world of tomorrow.
TURK Fatih Tutak
Altogether, the Michelin Awards of 2023 were concluded approximately two weeks ago, recognizing various restaurants with high-quality service, creating a diverse budget catalog for the same cuisines, and contributing to sustainability and renewable methods of high-quality food production. For anyone who is interested in tasting delicious food in any cuisine of your preference, the guide to Michelin Star restaurants and their locations is available on their official website. To get a better taste of Istanbul, don’t forget to consider the Michelin ratings and awards!
Works Cited
Editorial Staff, editor. "What Is a Michelin Star and How Do You Get One?" Finedining Lovers, S. Pellegrini and Acqua Panna, 8 Nov. 2020, Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.
"Istanbul." Michelin Guide, Michelin, 9 Nov. 2023, Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.
"İstanbul'da 5 restorana Michelin yıldızı" ["Michelin stars to 5 restaurants in İstanbul"]. Bloomberg HT, Bloomberg, Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.