Münferit, Cihangir
Münferit on Yeni Çarşı Caddesi in Cihangir is, first, a restaurant - the chef Ali Akdağ's argument that Aegean and Anatolian regional cooking deserves a confident, modern restaurant setting in central Istanbul. It is also one of the most decorated drinking rooms in the city: the bar at the back is a serious cocktail operation, runs about 200 wines (heavily Turkish, increasingly Aegean small-producer), and treats its drinks programme as a co-equal argument rather than as service to the dining tables. Two sections of the room argue against each other; the right visit understands both.
Long wooden tables, low-amber lighting, an open kitchen visible from most seats. The menu rotates seasonally and leans toward the Aegean coast - octopus, sea bass, wild greens, olive oil, lamb cooked in clay. The kitchen takes the food seriously enough that the meal is the reason to book; the wine list is one of the better Turkish-leaning selections in central Istanbul.
A two-hour dinner runs roughly 2,500-3,500 lira per person with wine. Reserve through the website at least a week ahead for weekends.
A separate, fifteen-seat bar at the back of the room operates as its own business. The cocktail list runs about twenty drinks, leans Mediterranean (mastic, fig, sumac, dried apricot, Turkish honey), and is the work of a team that competes on the international cocktail-bar circuit rather than as restaurant bartenders. The bar takes walk-ins, runs from 6pm to 2am, and is the right place to spend ninety minutes either before or instead of dinner.
Order the Sumak Sour — gin, sumac syrup, lemon, egg white — first. The Ayva Old Fashioned (Turkish whisky, quince syrup, bitters) is the right second drink. The bar staff are happy to build off-menu drinks if you tell them what you like.
The argument the room makes - that a restaurant should treat its bar as a serious operation rather than as a service room - is increasingly the standard at top international restaurants. Münferit has been making it since the early 2010s. The right Istanbul visit comes for dinner once and for the bar separately on a different night.