OD Urla

Even after visiting a reasonable number of Michelin-starred establishments both domestically and abroad, OD URLA was one of our most anticipated spots given that it is first of its kind in Turkey. I would like to first start off by stating that I have no reason to bash down the establishment; my criticism mainly stems from the gap in our expectations and reality. There was no major failure but there were many instances where I thought to myself: “this is not Michelin-level.” From the reviews I have read many have seemed to praise the ambience of the restaurant. I must say that I did not think of it as anything special, and even if it was, the ambience is hard to enjoy given the sheer number of people. It was my first time seeing a fine dining restaurant with so many people; probably even worse during lunch time and the fact that they allow children until 18:00 just makes it worse. Inevitably when you have so many people in your restaurant, the quality of service drops as well. The periods between course services, the explanations of the course (not to mention some of them were just put on the table without any explanation), attire of the servers, and the general lacking of Michelin-level professionalism. I heard from a number of people that their menu has degraded over time, and unfortunately this was true for me. Perhaps I’m overly harsh on this matter but I can’t say I even had a favourite course. The technique and execution of dishes was definitely good but the taste, not so much. Lastly, the local wine pairing was honestly just a disaster for me, but my group liked it better. Local wines can be really great but this selection wasn’t really enjoyable. I think hand-selecting your wines or other beverages might be a better choice.