Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Istanbul for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Istanbul for grown-ups.
Mikla Bar atop the Marmara Pera, Mehmet Gürs's rooftop terrace pouring a 450-label wine list and Anatolian-spirit cocktails over the Golden Horn from 18:00.
Signature drink: Anatolian-spirit cocktails, Turkish wine flights
Food: Bar snacks from the Mikla kitchen
Alexandra, the Arnavutköy cocktail room from the team behind Istanbul's earliest serious cocktail bar, working with house-made syrups and high-grade Turkish spirits.
Signature drink: House-syrup classics and Turkish-twist cocktails
Food: Bar snacks
Tarihi Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi in Beyoğlu's Balık Pazarı, a 130-year-old meyhane spread across three floors with fasıl music upstairs and the rakı table running until 02:00.
Signature drink: Rakı with mezze
Food: Full meyhane mezze and grill menu
360 Istanbul atop Mısır Apartmanı, an eighth-floor wraparound-window space that flips from a mezze dinner to a club on weekends with city-wide views.
Signature drink: Cosmopolitan with Turkish berries
Food: Modern Turkish-international fusion plates
MiniMüzikhol in Cihangir, an apartment-floor club opened in 2009, hosting Istanbul DJ residencies and the occasional Anatolian psych-rock set into the early hours.
Signature drink: Whisky cocktails
Food: Snacks
Geyik on Akarsu Yokuşu flips from a third-wave roastery to a cocktail bar after dark, the work of Turkish barista champion Serkan İpekli and Yağmur Engin.
Signature drink: Barista-mixologist signature cocktails
Food: Snacks and pastries
Peak food season in Istanbul is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Istanbul rewards trust.