Lokale in Istanbul

Retro-boutique hotel bar at the marina entrance, seasonal cocktails

Boğaz-narrowest fish house with full bar program since 1967

Bağdat Caddesi's 30-year award-winning institution

Cem Mirap (Lucca) brasserie at İstinye Park, designed by Roman & Williams

Wood-panelled clubby signature bar at the Ottoman palace, elite spirits library

Istanbul's first true Italian since 1993, on imported flour and stone-oven pizza

Sarıyer Çarşı fish-meyhane known for kalkan and meze depth.

İstinye Bay fish lokantası in the old Süreyya Restaurant building since 2004

After-work cocktail room on Büyükdere for the Levent towers

Cognac, cigar and Friday-night jazz inside the Ottoman shipyard

Late-night Kireçburnu fish-meyhane open until 02:00.

Glass-domed rooftop cigar room over the historical peninsula

Lobby brasserie and terrace at Hilton Bosphorus, all jewel-box finishes and crafted drinks

Istanbul twist on Raffles Singapore's original Long Bar, nightly live music

Kireçburnu waterline fish house, rakı nights the neighborhood still uses.

D-ream's accessible-quality Italian since 1995, wood-oven pizza and signature pasta

Belle-Époque hotel bar where Agatha Christie drank, literature nights, Friday live jazz, Istanbul-narrative cocktails.

Turkish fine dining with Anatolian recipes and extensive wine cellar

The Tarabya fish crescent local without the tourist markup.

Panoramic CVK lounge with live performers and a proper bar program

Ground-floor hotel bar where the Foxy crowd spills over for DJs and late drinks.

14th-floor sushi-and-cocktails bar overlooking both continents

Hilltop Baltalimanı panorama, bar open until 2am.

Palazzo Corpi ground-floor lounge, the only Soho House bar open to the public, meze-and-cocktail anchor of Meşrutiyet.

English gentlemen's-club style bar with whiskey, cognac and live music six nights.

27-storey Ataşehir tower with a proper lobby-bar cocktail hour

Bosphorus-mouth fish-house where the strait opens to the Black Sea.

Gault & Millau-listed yalı for marinated lüfer and rakı

Ottoman-motif velvet lobby bar inside the Akaretler row-house W, late DJ sets

Four Seasons Bosphorus lounge on one of the best terraces on the water

Chef Kaan Kayhan's waterfront meyhane on the Yeniköy pier.

33 years of rakı-sunset at the mouth of the Bosphorus

Tarabya marina fish-house with a working bar program.

Haute couture-inspired French bistro at Turkey's premier fashion house hotel

Hagia Sophia-and-Marmara cocktail terrace at Four Seasons Sultanahmet

The Nişantaşı 1980s power-lunch institution moved Bosphorus-side, 30-plus crowd, private pier, classic cocktails

St. Regis lobby bar where the Misty Mary is poured under dry ice