Intimate in Istanbul

Michelin-recognized chef kitchen and cocktail bar with rotating art

Seasonal kitchen and an opinionated Turkish wine cellar on the quiet Mühürdar slope, adults-only, no menus in seven languages

Turkish viticulture by the glass at the Tünel mouth, 85 boutique producers, no foreign-name flex

Beyoğlu's serious 400-cap live room, international bookings (Sextile, Hugo Kant), no tribute bands

Tucked-in Sakız Gülü wine bar with a tight, evolving Turkish-focused list.

Living-room-sized wine bar with charcuterie that punches above the General Yazgan address

Maksut Askar and Levon Bagis pair Anatolian grapes with endangered regional plates.

Microphone-free fasıl ensemble in a restored 20-year house, the real version of what Sultanahmet sells tourists

Quiet Jurnal Sokak şaraphanesi pouring small Anatolian producers and Georgian qvevri

Small Bebek room with 20+ wines by the glass, Bosphorus-edge tables, and the early-evening crowd that owns the neighborhood.

1871 Pera wine house in the Hazzopulo Pasajı arcade, intellectuals' canteen, not a museum

Three-storey 19th-century Greek house turned wine room

Modern twist on traditional Turkish cuisine with daily-changing market menu

Hidden 350m² walled garden of lemon and linden trees

Chef-driven lokanta by day, modern meyhane by night on the Bosphorus

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

Tekel-fronted natural wine cellar on a Halaskargazi side street

Balyan-brothers building turned bookshop where regulars sip wine after dark

Tiny Tünel wine room famous among regulars for its mulled wine and queer-friendly door

Lobby-floor jazz room at The Marmara Pera, four nights a week of local and international sets.

Bağdat Avenue branch of historic Beyoğlu Pano; fasıl music, straight rakı, serious wine cellar

Cevdet Paşa cafe-bar with Bebek-old-guard regulars

Ten-tap Somx microbrewery with a vinyl wall and DJ booth on Jurnal Sokak

Zorlu PSM's 120-seat jazz box, live programme, intimate room, cocktails with the set

Restored Camondo vault with local-producer wine list and nightly saxophone.

Quiet oasis in leather armchairs with book-jacket shelves

Boutique wine and olive house on Emirgan's prettiest backstreet

The neighborhood's modern meze bar with creative interpretations

Old Style New Generation Meyhane with chef-driven seasonal menus

Lal Dedeoğlu's French Passage hideout, kitchen counter, candlelight

1980 Sıraselviler wine cellar, Cihangir's reference for natural pours and serious staff advice

Seventy-bottle wine bar tucked into Giulio Mongeri's 1922 Art Deco palas

Library-fronted speakeasy, no sign, no social media, referral entry only

Kapadokya-rooted wine bar bringing cellared bottles to the avenue

Rixos Tersane's wine cellar, Turkish boutique producers on the Haliç.

Michelin-listed modern lokanta with fire-focused open kitchen

Natural wine bar with chef-driven small plates in Nişantaşı