The 10 Best Cocktail Bars in Istanbul

A neighbourhood institution that has outlasted a dozen trends and remains the address every Istanbul insider gives first. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Tuesday and Wednesday before 9pm, when the regulars haven't filled the room yet. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Saturday after 10pm gets crowded — book ahead or arrive early.

Alex's Place is a serious modern cocktail bar in BeyoÄŸlu with rotating seasonal menus. The room is intentional — leather banquettes, dim warm lighting, around 3. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: any weeknight between 7pm and 9pm, when the bar settles into its rhythm and the bartender has time to talk. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Friday from 8pm fills up; reserve a counter seat or a high table.

Cervecero draws a steady local crowd in Karakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Sunday from 6pm, when it's the room's quietest premium night and the kitchen is unhurried. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Avoid post-match nights if the local team is playing — the upstairs gets loud.

We recommend arriving 45 minutes before sunset. By the time the muezzin calls from the mosques below and the sky turns amber over the Golden Horn, you will have. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Thursday late or Friday early, when you'll catch the room building toward its weekend tempo. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. First-Friday traffic in the district can mean a 20-minute wait at the door.

Anjelique draws a steady local crowd in Ortakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Tuesday and Wednesday before 9pm, when the regulars haven't filled the room yet. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Saturday after 10pm gets crowded — book ahead or arrive early.

Anjelique Asian Side draws a steady local crowd in Suadiye. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: any weeknight between 7pm and 9pm, when the bar settles into its rhythm and the bartender has time to talk. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Friday from 8pm fills up; reserve a counter seat or a high table.

Ankle draws a steady local crowd in Karakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Sunday from 6pm, when it's the room's quietest premium night and the kitchen is unhurried. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Avoid post-match nights if the local team is playing — the upstairs gets loud.

Arabesque Istanbul draws a steady local crowd in Karakoy. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Thursday late or Friday early, when you'll catch the room building toward its weekend tempo. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. First-Friday traffic in the district can mean a 20-minute wait at the door.

Arabian Nights Bar draws a steady local crowd in Sultanahmet. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: Tuesday and Wednesday before 9pm, when the regulars haven't filled the room yet. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Saturday after 10pm gets crowded — book ahead or arrive early.

Sofyalı Sokak has been a street of convivial drinking since the Ottoman Empire's last decades, a narrow passage of Beyoğlu that still smells of tobacco and myst. Order: the bar's house signature. Best time: any weeknight between 7pm and 9pm, when the bar settles into its rhythm and the bartender has time to talk. Best for cocktail-curious drinkers who want technique without theatre. Friday from 8pm fills up; reserve a counter seat or a high table.

11 Kadıköy works the Caferağa side of Moda with a modern room, a long cocktail list and a kitchen running burgers, steaks and pizza. Happy hour fills weekday afternoons and the bar runs to 2am. Best for a relaxed cocktail on the Asian side.

Allen Kitchen and Cocktail sits in a garden off Bağdat Street in Suadiye, a restaurant and bar with around forty signature drinks and refined plates under bioclimatic pergolas. The room leans chic and unhurried. Best for a garden cocktail and dinner on the Asian side.

Frankie sits on the eighth floor of the Sofa Hotel in Nisantasi, a Sinatra-themed rooftop bar with Turkish-Mediterranean plates and live music on midweek nights.

Lelabbo Moda works a vintage-pharmacy fit-out on Moda Caddesi in Kadikoy, where the bartenders build ingredient-driven drinks and talk guests through every one.

Moretenders' Cocktail Crib pairs a low-lit room in Asmalimescit with a sushi menu and ranks among the most awarded cocktail addresses in Istanbul.

Neolokal holds a Michelin star inside the SALT Galata building in Karakoy, where chef Maksut Askar reworks Anatolian recipes and the bar pours only Turkish wine over Golden Horn views.

Zuma Istanbul runs an izakaya kitchen in Ortakoy with an upstairs sake and cocktail bar, a Bosphorus terrace and resident DJs at the weekend.