Istanbul
A working shortlist that crosses both continents and six decades. A 1968 meyhane, a Hagia Sophia-facing rooftop, an Aegean restaurant's serious back bar, a hi-fi cocktail room, a day-to-night corner in Cihangir, and the bohemian Asian-side institution.
Tepebaşı · $$$
Eighteen floors above the Marmara Pera, with the silhouette of Hagia Sophia in the sunset window. Galata Sour, Rakı Negroni, and a month-by-month case for booking the right week of the year. Reservations essential May-September.
Cihangir · $$$
Ali AkdaÄŸ's Aegean restaurant on Yeni Çarşı Caddesi whose back bar runs as its own operation — Sumak Sour, Ayva Old Fashioned, 200 Turkish wines. Come for the bar separately on a different night from the dinner.
BeyoÄŸlu · $$
The 1968 meyhane on Asmalımescit Sokak that hasn't significantly changed in nearly six decades. The eight-mezze rakı flight is the visit — beyaz peynir to lakerda to Arnavut ciÄŸeri to grilled levrek. Three hours, two glasses of rakı, properly Turkish.
Karaköy · $$$
Karaköy hi-fi cocktail bar that times the drinks programme to the vinyl playlist — Karaköy 75 to Smoke and Salt Margarita to Rakı Negroni to Black Sea. Wednesday and Thursday are the conversation nights; weekends become a club around midnight.
Cihangir · $$
Akarsu YokuÅŸu corner room that is a specialty coffee bar at 8am, an aperitivo bar at 5pm, and a serious cocktail room at 7pm. The same staff rotate from baristas to bartenders across the shift. v60 in the morning, Cihangir Sour at night.
Kadıköy · $$
Asian-side bohemian institution since the late 1990s. Three-floor townhouse in Kadıköy with graffiti walls, art-school regulars, and a deliberate refusal to chase the European-side cocktail-bar circuit. The crossing by ferry is part of the visit.
The shortlist below covers both. Four of the six bars sit on the European side - Mikla in Tepebaşı, Asmalı Cavit in BeyoÄŸlu, Münferit and Geyik in Cihangir, Lokal in Karaköy. The fifth (Karga Bar) is the Asian-side institution that has been operating since the late 1990s and is the right destination for one of the evenings of the visit. The Bosphorus ferry is the city's most-used public-transport crossing and is the right way to get to and from Karga; it is also, in itself, one of the better visiting experiences Istanbul offers.
A practical note. Rakı is the Turkish national spirit and a defining part of any serious Istanbul drinking visit. It is taken with water and ice, poured slowly across multiple courses, treated as a food drink rather than a sipping spirit. Cocktails are an increasingly serious part of the city - the Karaköy and Cihangir bars below are why - but the meyhane visit is the older and more distinctive of the two scenes. Plan one of each.
A working editorial ranking. Three cocktail-bar entries, one meyhane, one restaurant-bar, one bohemian Asian-side. Plan one rakı night and one cocktail night.
Looking beyond Istanbul? See our guide to the best hidden gem bars worldwide, or compare hidden gem bars city by city.