Intimate in Istanbul

The corridor's literary meyhane, keeping a guest-book tradition since 1967.

Microphone-free fasıl ensemble in a restored 20-year house, the real version of what Sultanahmet sells tourists

A three-storey mansion off Kadıköy's beaten track, meze-first, with a garden of old Turkish records.

Koşuyolu's Aegean meyhane, a proper meze cabinet and a neighborhood that keeps it to itself.

Michelin-recognized chef kitchen and cocktail bar with rotating art

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

Turkish viticulture by the glass at the Tünel mouth, 85 boutique producers, no foreign-name flex

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

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

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

Maksut Askar and Levon Bagis pair Anatolian grapes with endangered regional plates.

Quiet Jurnal Sokak şaraphanesi pouring small Anatolian producers and Georgian qvevri

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

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

Three-storey 19th-century Greek house turned wine room

Modern twist on traditional Turkish cuisine with daily-changing market menu

Hidden 350m² walled garden of lemon and linden trees

Chef-driven lokanta by day, modern meyhane by night on the Bosphorus

Historic 200-year-old han with lokanta lunch and meyhane evenings

Tekel-fronted natural wine cellar on a Halaskargazi side street

Balyan-brothers building turned bookshop where regulars sip wine after dark

Tiny Tünel wine room famous among regulars for its mulled wine and queer-friendly door

Lobby-floor jazz room at The Marmara Pera, four nights a week of local and international sets.

Cevdet Paşa cafe-bar with Bebek-old-guard regulars

Ten-tap Somx microbrewery with a vinyl wall and DJ booth on Jurnal Sokak

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

Quiet oasis in leather armchairs with book-jacket shelves

Boutique wine and olive house on Emirgan's prettiest backstreet

The neighborhood's modern meze bar with creative interpretations

Old Style New Generation Meyhane with chef-driven seasonal menus

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

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

Seventy-bottle wine bar tucked into Giulio Mongeri's 1922 Art Deco palas

Library-fronted speakeasy, no sign, no social media, referral entry only

Kapadokya-rooted wine bar bringing cellared bottles to the avenue

Rixos Tersane's wine cellar, Turkish boutique producers on the Haliç.

Michelin-listed modern lokanta with fire-focused open kitchen

Natural wine bar with chef-driven small plates in Nişantaşı