Cemile Sultan Liman Hanı

The food was very tasty, I liked the soup and the pizzas! The atmosphere is amazing, they have a great view of Bosphorus. The staff were kind. Also, the prices are average. Yet, there was no alcohol A glass of wine would be way better with such a service and food!

Located in a newly renovated historical building, you are welcomed by a classy interior design as you step into the building. The restaurant is located on the top floor of the building, following the same design pattern used at the entrance; blue and white glazed tiles on the walls, blue and dark solid wood chairs and marble-looking tables. These combined with a nice view of Golden Horn from the balcony are all making sure that this place will meet your aesthetic appetite. Liman Han has quite an extensive menu, so tasting everything is pretty much impossible. To get the most out of our dinner, we reserved our table a couple of hours before noting that we want a comprehensive dining experience so two plates of cold starters were already prepared for us, one being a plate of canapé and the other being a combination of stuffed onion, artichoke bottoms, and hummus. Here, stuffed onions were in fresh form with rice, presence of olive oil, and sweet spices like blackcurrant and cinnamon. Artichoke bottoms were a top-quality dish. It is hard to fool a customer in artichoke bottoms because you can’t remove the fibres, so you have to use a high-quality ingredient. Exactly what we had. Hummus, on the other hand, was slightly below the level of the other two. It had a floury texture with viscous consistency. That being said, the taste of the hummus with a strong tahini flavour was pretty nice. The sauce on top was a great complementary adding another layer of flavour. On top of these two cold plates, we ordered chard rolls. It was filled with spiced bulgur with a light touch of linden giving whole new wave of freshness to the dish. Moving to the next course, we decided to go with Peking duck with cherry tamarind sauce and, sea bass in baklava sheets. Starting with Peking Duck, I have to say that I am amazed. This dish had so many different layers of texture and flavour. While cherry was responsible for the sourness, tamarind was balancing it out with a slight tone of sweetness. Tamarind was matched with cinnamon which adds an all-new aspect to the dish. The inside of the duck was cooked well-done but it was still soft, the skin was not as crispy as it should be but still had a distinct texture. Sticky glazing on the skin was exactly what I look for in almost all poultry dishes. Under the duck, there was a pureed pumpkin, adding a different type of sweetness to the dish, contrarying to the unique sourness of sauteed chard which was placed in between pumpkin and duck. All these layers of flavour and texture were overwhelmingly good to feel. The other main course, sea bass in baklava sheets, was much plainer. The sea bass itself is a plain fish without a lot of fat, after all. Here, a long fillet of sea bass is hidden inside baklava sheets with onions sauteed alongside tahini sauce. While tahini sauce adds earthiness, sauteed onions bring sweetness. To create a contrast to that, this dish is served with pickled onions-rocket sauté and sharp lemon butter sauce. After all these out-of-the-box main dish experiments, we decided to go with more usual tastes in the dessert. Among chestnut meringue and baked sütlaç, the former might be a little unusual for some. It is frozen meringue on top of a mix of pressed chestnut and apricot. The second dessert, baked sütlaç, is a staple of Turkish cuisine. It had a mild consistency probably due to the addition of starch and didn’t have chewy rice grains. Baking caramelized the top layer of it and even burnt it to give a distinct smoky flavour. At the geographical heart of transforming Istanbul, Liman Han is a leading candidate for a high-level dining experience. If you want to have a good taste of Istanbul, you shouldn’t count this restaurant out.

I love spend time here during the golden hour mesmerizing bosphorus view point of the city