Places in Istanbul

Creative hub in classic-elegant Palazzo Corpi

Electronic music festivals on the Black Sea

Former Ottoman bank transformed into boutique luxury

Legendary cultural hub and live music venue since 1999

19th-century raki distillery on the Asian shore

Morgans Original in a restored warehouse

All-day venue that flips into a cocktail bar with workshops and guest DJs after sunset.

Boutique hotel at the marina gate with a chef's kitchen

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

Fixed-menu meyhane with live musicians between tables, winters Kalamis summers Yalikavak

Late-2025 waterfront bar with a beachfront terrace

Cihangir rooftop institution since 1993 with a real Bosphorus view

World cuisines meets Antakya aromatic culture in Akaretler row house

Michelin Bib Gourmand Italian in a three-story historic Moda house

Traditional Ottoman craftsmanship in the classic-elegant heart

Boğaz-narrowest fish house with full bar program since 1967

Ex-Periferi chef's own kitchen: bold menu, intimate room

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

Istanbul's most prestigious live-music stage, jazz, funk, electronic, indie in an ex-brewery, the Robert-College-kids' institution

Compact neighborhood cocktail bar behind the avenue

Burgazada's Rum meyhane legacy lands in Bostancı

Paris-bistro-in-Bomonti, Kojo Hospitality's French-Turkish fusion with a kitchen that gives the bar a reason to exist

Neighborhood bistro that turns into a late cocktail room, the kind of address Bebek residents list when asked for 'somewhere normal'.

Cocktails + rakı/meze + live music on the Akaretler row-house strip

Gül Sultan mansion, Bosphorus, rakı, fish

Chef Marcello Micci's Tuscan kitchen on Bağdat Caddesi with 120-person garden

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

Chef-driven fine-casual seafood with daily catch and creative small plates

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

Gayrettepe English-pub-style brewpub, 8 house taps of real ales and lagers, the craft-beer brewery for Levent's after-work crowd

Sea-view rooftop meyhane reworking Greek, Sephardic and Turkish meze with a real bar.

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

500+ bottle local-focused wine room next to Göztepe Park

Emre Şen / Morini team's all-day Mediterranean at İstinye Park

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

French-inflected kitchen with seasonal local producers capturing Moda's bohemian spirit

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

Onur Balk's award-winning mixology with global street food

Divan Group's gastropub in a historic Akaretler row-house

Fifty-plus years on Bağdat, the Anatolian side's classic pub

Watergarden havuz katında meyhane-pub melezi; küratörlü şarap, ekspert kokteyl.

Berlin-feeling daylight cafe with Dutch babies and serious coffee

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

Artisan macarons and sourdough pastries above Istanbul's standard

Dimly lit Esat Işık room pairing classics-first cocktails with a short, serious kitchen

Day-to-night high-fidelity bar and bakery on Hüsrev Gerede

Selectist's harbour-side hi-fi house with Funktion One sound

Expertly crafted cocktail menu refreshed every ten days

After-work cocktail room on Büyükdere for the Levent towers

Topağacı neighborhood bar with a sharp cocktail list and a proper local crowd.

Historic waterfront yali next to Anadoluhisari fortress with fresh daily catch

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

Bosphorus-side live-rock institution out at Burunbahçe

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

Art Nouveau Ottoman pavilion in Cubuklu forest with Bosphorus views and garden dining

70-seat fish house at the Göksu estuary

Two-floor bistro-bar a few steps off Ortaköy pier, Bosphorus view, locals over tourists

Small Teşvikiye cocktail room with a considered signature list.

The city's flagship Bosphorus-side shisha-and-cocktail lounge, a Kuruçeşme nightlife fixture

Small family trattoria with Michelin 3-pearl mention

The Asian side's oldest real Italian, since 1990

Chef Utku's southern Italian in a Caddebostan villa garden

1951 iskele-side meyhane, Can Yücel and Nazım Hikmet's haunt

Historic Refi Pasa Yali turned upscale breakfast with Bosphorus-front setting

Long-running marina brasserie known for grilled salmon

Former antique shop turned speakeasy: billiards, vintage decor, theatrical cocktails

Marina-facing grill, seasoned Fenerbahçe regulars

Cihangir garden-club where DJs push funk, disco, chill house past midnight

Modern meyhane in historic brewery walls with lentil 'ice cream' signature

Tepebaşı rooftop with Golden Horn view and ethno-house program

Nevizade's 1941 original, no singing, just rakı

Narrative-driven cocktail room on Moda Caddesi where each drink is a paragraph, not a prop

Pigalle ve MiniBar ekibinden izakaya esintili Japon tapas barı, vinil geceleri.

Bosphorus-front institution: elaborate breakfast plus fresh-catch seafood

Old-style neighbourhood meyhane near Akaretler

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

The former Babylon Kilyos, now curated music festival beach.

Reimagined '5 Cocktails & More', craft cocktails with sushi pairing

Michelin-starred chef Michael White's handmade pasta since 2013

Exclusively Turkish-sourced: octopus orzo and lamb shank on farmers' pasta

Intimate Fenerbahçe-park-side cocktail room tucked off Bağdat on Faruk Ayanoğlu, the quiet alternative to Suadiye

23-year Nevizade meyhane named for a Can Yücel poem

Turkey's first authentic Vietnamese restaurant with genuinely excellent pho

House Cafe stable's tiny day-to-night cocktail room on Atiye Sokak

House Cafe's neighborhood-bar sibling, coffee by day, DJ nights Thu-Sat

In-house sourdough, brioche, granola, breakfast until 5pm

New-generation Teşvikiye meyhane – contemporary meze, raki, serious pours.

The Moda sushi favourite on a quiet Erenköy side-street

Cemil Topuzlu'da 30 yıllık kurumsal-canlı müzik adresi, soliste kadeh kaldırılan yer.

Istanbul's most authentic Mexican, Tanyeri-González family since 2005

Three-storey corner building on the Moda tram line, evening-favourite room with sharing plates and a confident cocktail list

House-music rooftop facing Galata Tower

Jigger Istanbul's flagship, signature cocktails with Turkish bitters

Kalamis Marina views with creative cocktails and proper kitchen

Kiz Kulesi views from the terrace: the most iconic Asian-shore panorama

Rooftop seafood house with Marmara view

2026 opening in restored 19th-century Hovagimyan Han

The Tarabya fish crescent local without the tourist markup.

Chef-driven Aegean gastro in a pastel townhouse: Balat's serious dining address

The Black Sea's original beach-club institution, open June–September.

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

Faux-supermarket-fronted late room running consistent house and disco edits till 04:00

Turkey's original craft brewery in a three-story seaside Bebek mansion, Kölsch, Smoked Lager, and a full kitchen.

Hilltop Baltalimanı panorama, bar open until 2am.

Reservation-only secret terrace with Bosphorus views and weekend brunch

Gastro-jazz lokanta run by jazz musician Eren Noyan with a proper stage

Water-edge House Café flagship, two terraces, full bar, summer DJ weekends

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

Sea-view luxury residence hotel on the Cadde

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

Hand-built tiny Şair Nedim cocktail room, speakeasy live music Fridays, smoke inside

1920s meyhane where Yahya Kemal drank rakı

1901 former Franciscan nuns' residence transformed into cozy suites

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

Intimate Teşvikiye cocktail bar with a tight signature list and quiet confidence.

Dim, music-first Sofyalı cocktail room from the new wave, opens late, closes at 02:00

The cognoscenti's mixology lab, sustainable program, workshops, bottle takeout

Turkish fashion house's boutique hospitality

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

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

Microlots on a 5kg Probat plus hyper-regional Turkish breakfast

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

Candle-lit meyhane in a stone building beside the Armenian church.

Tarabya marina fish-house with a working bar program.

New-gen meyhane inside 110-year-old Ragıp Paşa Mansion

Bahariye's beloved meyhane in a French-bistro-style room

Istanbul's pre-eminent 1980 classic bar – stained glass, live music, real regulars.

Cihangir's treasure transforms from fine dining to nightclub

Hidden art-deco izakaya in Bebek

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

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

138 whiskies, six guided malt tours, one chef-curated pairing

Tomtom side-street cocktail lab with bartender-led menu

Sloped-alley rooftop on Kumbaracı, once on World's 15 Best Bars, Bosphorus-to-Historic-Peninsula panorama.