Aqua Restaurant — Restaurant in Beşiktaş

We went to the restaurant for the NY celebration

Service - great, a lot of staff and everyone is professional and know what they are doing

Food - bad. We had a set menu and I found all dishes (except 1) not to my taste. And the combination of flavours was weird. Some dishes were overly simply, such as marinated turbot tasted simply like a slightly salted fish. I don't claim to be a food expert, and some people in our party found the food interesting but it's definitely not for everyone.

Decorations for the NY - great, a very beautiful restaurant

Celebration itself - AWFUL, there was a singer program for 2-3 hours. We specifically chose a table far from the scene because we like to talk during dinner and share the experience with family. However, we were not able to do that because the music was too loud and I felt like my head is going to explode. Also I found the singing to be not very good but this is beside the point. Most importnaly - it was...

Unfortunately a great evening got ruined by an extremely unfriendly night manager at reception.

See - there is an issue with taxis in Istanbul. So we tried to get a taxi from different apps and also from the guys outside of the hotel. Nothing worked. So I got sent to reception to ask for a hotel transfer. We are talking about a 10 minutes drive - just too long to walk uphills in shoes after nice evening.

The reception guy offered me a car for 100 EUR when I obviously mentioned my concern about the price.

Now the answer was what destroyed my evening. Sir you are at four seasons hotel - that’s what you can expect or you walk.

Unbelievable

Aqua does an amazing job - but please properly train the reception...

I recently visited Aqua Restaurant and was surprised to see it almost empty in June — despite the stunning Bosphorus view and elegant setting inside the Four Seasons.

The food was very good and definitely worthy of its mention in the Michelin Guide. Everything was fresh, well-prepared, and creatively presented. One salad stood out as especially delicious, and the Grilled Baby Squid “Dolma” was exceptional — tender and full of flavor.

Service was attentive, though the restaurant was quiet with only a few tables occupied. For about $400, the price felt reasonable given the quality, view, and atmosphere.

Overall, I’d confidently rate it 4 stars —...