Uskumru

This elegant fish restaurant welcomes guests in a unique setting, in a seafront house right under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, the second of the three suspended bridges connecting the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. It is easily accessible thanks to a private boat commuting around the clock every day from Rumeli Hisarı to Anadolu Hisarı neighborhood, where the restaurant is located. 

There is nothing that could easily beat the experience of dining by the Bosphorus and Uskumru is a restaurant offering amazing sunsets at its seafront terrace. Like in any elegant fish restaurant along the Bosphorus, the menu includes the classical array of mezes, as well as seafood specialties, all to be washed down with glasses of the anis-infused spirit of rakı or local white wines.

What else is there around Anadolu Hisarı?

Just one kilometer away from Uskumru lies Anadolu Castle (Anadolu Hisarı), which is perhaps the oldest Turkish structure built in the vicinity of the city. It was commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, to control the sea traffic during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402. It was his grandson Sultan Mehmed II, though, who conquered the city in 1453. He built the larger Rumeli Castle (Rumeli Hisarı) just across the Bosphorus on the European side. Located at the mouth of Göksu River, Anadolu Castle and the surrounding neighborhood bearing the same name, offer Istanbulites a nice ground for their weekend strolls. While Rumeli Castle is open to the public as a museum, Anadolu Castle can only be admired from the outside.