A short round-up of what I published on the site this week, plus a few notes from the week. They go out in my newsletter first (in Turkish) and land here a few days later.
This week on the site
The Japan guide. Between May 2023 and April 2026 I spent more than 500 days in Japan, and this is where all of it ends up: more than 430 restaurants, bars and shops across Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, what and where to eat in Japan, and what to sort out before you go, from visas and Suica to getting online and paying.
I don’t know of another Turkish-language Japan food guide of this depth, address by address, and it is now in English too. Tokyo’s most talked-about sushi restaurants are in there, from Sukiyabashi Jiro and Sushi Saito to Harutaka and Sushi Sugita, along with the answer to how to book them. Sushi and ramen, kaiseki and izakaya, Tokyo restaurants and the tables of Kyoto and Osaka, all on one page.
This week I added five new pieces: What is omakase? · What is an izakaya? · Eating alone in Tokyo · What to eat at Tsukiji · Where to drink in Tokyo
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026, and my take. Asador Etxebarri at No. 1. Alongside the full list: Neolokal for Turkey, why Etxebarri came first, the ten restaurants on the list where I have eaten, and a last word on lists and the work behind them.
Garlic confit. Garlic as soft as butter that finds its way into everything from pasta to meatballs, with a chilli version and the safe way to keep it in the fridge.
The first night of the season at Karma Bodrum. In a historic olive-oil mill in Bodrum, Ayça Budak and I talked anise, and the kitchen told the story of the Aegean in thirteen plates.
Coming up: Spain
My Spain lists go live on the site next week.
In brief
- Vol-au-vent at Cafe Marmara. The new menu at Cafe Marmara, on the ground floor of The Marmara Taksim, brings back a chicken vol-au-vent in creamy mushroom sauce, and with so few places in the city doing this classic properly, I’m glad to see it return.
- Michelin Guide Türkiye 2027. The new selection will be announced in Istanbul on 3 December and, for the first time, will cover the whole country.
- Harem’s new-year collection. Harem, where I take visitors from abroad and whose Turkish delight I carry all over the world, has built its 2027 new-year collection around the theme “A Winter Tale”.
- Clinique × Magnolia Bakery. Creativity knows no limits: until the end of the year, Magnolia Bakery is selling a cupcake inspired by a Clinique moisturiser.
These notes go out in my newsletter first (in Turkish). Subscribe and you’ll get them a few days early: sinanhamamsarilar.substack.com.
Advertising and partnerships. There is no advertising in this post. I advised Karma Bodrum on its opening in 2025 through Anaterranean; I no longer do. I have no commercial relationship with the brands in the In brief section. All opinions are my own. My editorial principles →
