Locali in Istanbul

Contemporary Anatolian cuisine in the legendary Ciragan Palace

Exclusive Bosphorus seafood with panoramic bridge views

Bağdat Caddesi's 30-year award-winning institution

Upscale Italian dining in the luxury Glens Palas Hotel on Abdi Ipekci

Authentic Japanese by Chef Horikoshi with omakase by reservation

Historic 200-year-old han with lokanta lunch and meyhane evenings

Elevated seafood in a restored 180-year-old han with panoramic Bosphorus views

Turkish fine dining with Anatolian recipes and extensive wine cellar

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

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

Boğaz-narrowest fish house with full bar program since 1967

Over-water fish-meyhane on the Baltalimanı seam.

Brasserie-attached cigar room on the Vadistanbul side

Inside Zuma's old Bosphorus mansion — slow-cooked baby octopus, oysters on ice, real cocktail program

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

Wide Bosphorus terrace lounge for sundown cigars and the city's best afternoon tea

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

A park-keeper's hut built over the water — windows on three sides, classic mezes and full rakı/wine bar

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

Panoramic CVK lounge with live performers and a proper bar program

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

Marble columns, Bosphorus terrace, Ottoman cocktails by the sultan's harem hall

Gault & Millau-listed yalı for marinated lüfer and rakı

Bosphorus-pier classic since 1949 under century-old plane trees.

Tarabya marina fish-house with a working bar program.

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

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

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

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

Wabi-sabi sushi room with chef Rodel Javier off the İstinye coast road

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

The Stay's small rooftop above Bebek Hotel — intimate, signature cocktails, fairy-tale Bosphorus straight onto the bay.

Villa dining in the old Tribeca space — homemade-syrup cocktails, open-kitchen ambition

Kempinski's waterfront aperitivo terrace, Italian spritz ritual over the Bosphorus

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

Grand Tarabya's second-floor bar — a Bosphorus-bay cocktail terrace.

Shangri-La's lobby bar — jewel-box interior, sharing plates, signature cocktails until 1am

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

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

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

The Tarabya fish crescent local without the tourist markup.

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.

Sipping bubbles at the water's edge as the call to prayer echoes

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

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