Enjoy the world’s three great cuisines in Ichigaya! The long-established Turkish restaurant “Bosphorus Hasan”
Bosphorus Hasan is a Turkish restaurant located a three-minute walk from Ichigaya Station. Bosphorus is the name of a strait in Turkey. When the previous owner and chef, Mr. Hasan, first came to Japan, Turkish cuisine was relatively unfamiliar in Japan, so he wanted to serve as a bridge between Japan and Turkey.
The original restaurant is in Shinjuku, and this Ichigaya location is the second. The owner is a Muslim from Istanbul. Turkey, where the majority of the population is Muslim, does not eat dishes containing pork, but the country is known for its tolerance of alcohol. The restaurant offers authentic Turkish cuisine, including Turkish beer. All food is halal. The contrast of red and white here is beautiful! The Bosphorus Yogurt Kebab is a popular dish.
Yogurt Kebab
This kebab is packed with homemade yogurt, lamb, beef, bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and more, making it both nutritious and filling. According to the owner, “yogurt” is Turkish, and Turkey is the birthplace of yogurt. Bulgarian yogurt is famous in Japan due to commercials, but its origins can be traced back to Turkey. Turks love yogurt so much that it can be said to be made of yogurt, and they combine it with everything from drinks to dips, soups, pilafs, stews, and kebabs.
Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The pita bread is homemade every day and is delicious!!
While doner kebab is well-known in Japan when it comes to Turkish food, many people are unfamiliar with other dishes.
If you’re trying Turkish food for the first time and don’t know what to order, lunch is recommended. At Bosphorus Hasan, the spices are not too strong, allowing the flavor of the ingredients to shine through. While other restaurants tend to mask the flavor of even a simple kebab with the addition of sauce, this restaurant offers separate sauces so you can season it to your liking, allowing you to fully enjoy the meat’s deliciousness.
Many of the dishes feature generous amounts of vegetables, making them easy on the stomach and popular with women. Lunch Set B, which includes an assortment of appetizers, is perfect for a light lunch.
Lunch Set with Assortment of Appetizers
This set includes about five meze dishes, including chickpea hummus and vegetable paste. All of the dishes are delicious, but the red chili pepper and tomato paste called Acil Ezme pairs perfectly with Turkish pita bread!
kucuk meze
Bosphorus Hasan was Japan’s first Turkish restaurant, opened in Shinjuku in 1933.
Turkish cuisine is said to be one of the world’s three great cuisines. Its rich flavor, rooted in the history of the Ottoman Empire, is difficult to describe in a single word. It also has a rich regional flavor, with this sardine pilaf being a popular dish along the Black Sea coast. Its seasoning brings out the natural flavors of the ingredients, making it a popular choice for Japanese palates.
Sardine pilaf
Bosphorus Hasan is Japan’s first Turkish restaurant, opened in Shinjuku in 1933. The previous owner-chef currently lives in Turkey, but when he arrived in Japan, he didn’t speak the language and couldn’t find any food he could eat. In order to faithfully recreate the local flavor, he began by carefully selecting the ingredients. In Turkey, with its large Muslim population, only halal ingredients are sold, and haram ingredients like pork are only available at special stores, so there was generally no need to distinguish between halal and haram. However, this is not the case in Japan, a non-Islamic country. It wasn’t until he came to Japan that he realized the importance of distinguishing between halal and haram.
Assorted Grilled Skewers
Still driven by his passion to serve as a bridge to bring the flavors of his home country to Japan, he continued to promote Turkish cuisine through collaborations with various companies, lectures, cooking classes, television, magazines, newspapers, and other media while running his restaurant. Since its founding, he has stubbornly maintained the authentic flavors of his homeland, and his restaurant continues to receive high praise today.
Supervisor / Recommender
- Halal Supervisor and Foreigner Food Coordinator (Cooking, Consulting, Public Relations)
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I currently work as an editor, but my previous job was as a chef, with many years of experience working in hospitals, restaurants, and the food service industry. Looking back, I think my connection to halal may have already been there.
Decades ago, I once worked in a cafeteria at an auction venue. Over 60% of the visitors were foreigners. Many Muslims were present, and the venue had a mosque-like prayer space. I remember being frequently asked questions about whether the meat was halal and what kind of meat it was. At certain times, the cafeteria would become as lively as a festival. The Indian restaurant next door would generously serve free biryani, curry, and sweet drinks to everyone who came. Over 100 people, including people wearing bright red turbans, galabeyas, and traditional attire, gathered in the cafeteria, all sitting around the same table and enjoying a truly enjoyable time. Looking back, it was iftar, the end of fasting, and I understand the significance of sharing, but at the time I was ignorant of halal and Islam, and didn't even consider how to respond. They only ate the curry made by the Indians in the restaurant. As I studied halal, I realized, "I wanted to eat Japanese food, but I couldn't." I regret not doing anything even though there was something I could have done.
If only it didn't contain pork! If only it didn't contain wheat or buckwheat! I could eat it... Food insecurity is different for each person.
That's why I think it's important to learn about the differences in culture, religion, and lifestyle that underlie it, and to create an environment where everyone can enjoy delicious meals in comfort.
The desire for delicious, safe, and secure food is universal. The times are calling for people to live in new ways that transcend borders and religions. I hope that halal can be a gateway to eliminating food insecurity, contributing even in some small way to a society where people can coexist and prosper with more liberal thinking, and to global harmony beyond.
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