5.Kat (Beşinci Kat) was Istanbul’s first rooftop cafe, bar and restaurant, hence trendsetter of the genre. Kat is Turkish for floor, and beş means five.
You guessed it correct; this popular venue is located on the fifth floor of a building in the backstreets of Cihangir, offering excellent food and beverages in an elegant setting with breathtaking views of both the Bosphorus and Sultanahmet alike.

5.Kat Cafe Bar Restaurant (Beşinci Kat)
Location
Soğancı Sokak 3, Kat.5, Cihangir – Beyoğlu
on Map with My Favorite Cafés and Pubs in the Modern Part of Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 293 37 74
Open
Daily from 10:00 till 02:00. Fri-Sat until 03:00
Credit cards are accepted.
Make reservations if you want good seating arrangements.

Interior and Location

5.Kat was founded by the famous red-haired actress Yasemin Alkaya, who still keeps a close eye on things and is often spotted on the premises. The easiest way to get to 5.kat is to walk down Sıraselviler Caddesi from Taksim Square. After about 10 minutes you’ll pass the German hospital (Alman Hastanesi), after which you take the first street left. After 50 meters you should spot the 5.Kat angel logo at street level (see picture). Locate the small elevator inside the building and press five.

This excellent bar and restaurant actually consists of two floors: a covered fifth floor with full-length windows on one side, and one up the actual rooftop which is used during summer. Both interiors are strikingly decorated with deep red walls and velvet furnishing as well as plenty of candles. The breathtaking views (see 5.Kat picture gallery) are the same on both floors, but having the sea breeze bring some cool on hot summer nights offers that nice extra touch.

On the Menu

5.Kat rooftop terrace and bar.

Every day 5.Kat starts out as a cozy cafe where you can enjoy brunch or snacks and light drinks. Around the time the sun starts setting, tables are set and candles lit for dinner while the bartender serves aperitifs. Starting 22:00 the DJ, playing anything from Abba to Zappa, cranks up the music and the venue transforms into a bar and nightclub.

Beşinci Kat offers samples of the world’s kitchen with tasteful pasta, meat, chicken and seafood dishes. Prices range from TL 20 to 40. Accompanying drinks range from TL 8 (beers & local spirits) to TL 15 and above for cocktails, imported wines and spirits.

Special Events

5.Kat rooftop terrace.

On Saturday and Sunday you can enjoy a buffet brunch (TL 30) between 11:00 and 15:00 including fresh fruit juices, daily prepared home-made rolls, cookies and pies as well as delicious meals in olive oil.

Every month 5.Kat also organizes some special nights. Among the most popular events are ‘What they eat, drink and listen to’ where famous guests elaborates on his or her habits, and ‘Singles nights’ when no couples are allowed.

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Although this part of town houses less historical landmarks than the historical part of Istanbul, neglecting the modern part of Istanbul would be a shame. It still has a fair amount of must-see sightseeing spots and is the place to be if you’re in for shopping, wining and dining or a great night out. The modern part of Istanbul is the area north of the Golden Horn and consists of boroughs such as Beşiktaş, Galata, Karaköy, Nişantaşı, Ortaköy, Şişli, and Taksim. Below you find an overview of the ones you may (unknowingly) wander around in as a tourist.

Taksim

Taksim Square symbolizes the heart of modern Istanbul and is a popular meeting point for a day or night out. Leisure time in this area is mostly spent on Istiklal Caddesi or one of its many side streets. Taksim is ‘open’ day and night, seven days a week – it’s a place where you’ll never walk alone! During the day the place is packed with shoppers, and after dusk it remains a bustling area with party animals conquering the streets till early morning.

You can find footage of the borough in the Taksim video gallery. For still impressions, visit the Taksim photo gallery or the Istiklal Caddesi photo gallery.

Beşiktaş

Beşiktaş - Istanbul, Turkey.

Located in the intersection of Barbaros Boulevard, Beşiktaş Avenue and Çırağan Avenue, the Beşiktaş borough lends its name to the district of Beşiktaş.

In Byzantine times Beşiktaş was known for the Ayios Mamas Palace (the emperors’ summer residence), the Fokas Monastery, and the Ayios Mihael Church. The latter was built in the period of Constantine I and was a famous center for Greek, Armenian and Georgian pilgrims. The residence identity of the area came during the Ottoman era. The cove of Beşiktaş was convenient/favorable/suitable to use as a dock even before the 17th century. So, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha (1478-1546) – the chief commander of the navy in the Ottoman Empire (Kaptan-ı Derya) – started to use the bay to anchor the Ottoman fleet. He had a seaside mansion (yalı) built for himself and stayed there when he was in Istanbul.

In the 17th century the bay became a swamp. So it was filled and turned into a refined garden area for the Ottoman sultans. From then on palaces and kiosks/villas were built for the sultans and their relatives. Mahmut II – who officially reigned in Topkapı Palace for 31 years (1808-1839) – actually spent most of his time in the palaces of Beşiktaş. Finally his son Abdülmecit had the Dolmabahçe Palace built in 1855 and Beşiktaş became the official residence of the sultans.

Although after the declaration of the Turkish Republic Beşiktaş lost its reputation for hosting the sultans. However, it kept its importance since Atatürk stayed in the Dolmabahçe Palace when he was in Istanbul and he also died there.
Beşiktaş gives its name to the Turkey’s oldest sports club – Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club (Beşiktaş Spor Kulübü) It is also the third football club founded in Turkey. Beşiktaş Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa Pier, the monument of Barbaros, the tomb of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa (Türbesi), the Sinan Paşa Mosque and the Istanbul Naval Museum (İstanbul Deniz Müzesi) are the places of interest.

Ortaköy

Ortaköy by night, taken from the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.

One of the popular boroughs in the Beşiktaş district is Ortaköy, literally translated ‘middle village’. It inherited the name from its location: in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus. One of the main characteristics of Ortaköy is that it has always been a cosmopolitan area which hosts Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Jewish communities. Today it is one of the main places of interest for locals and tourists alike because of its seaside cafés, restaurants, night clubs and bars spread around the area. Unfortunately, Ortaköy is also very well-known for its packed traffic, especially at the weekends.

The most outstanding structure of this small neighborhood is the Ortaköy Mosque which is located by the sea on the Ortaköy square. The Neo-Baroque style designed mosque was ordered by Ottoman sultan Abdülmecit.

Galata

Located on the northern shore of the Golden Horn, Galata is sloped and goes downwards to the sea from a hilltop. It is one of the historically rich boroughs of the Beyoğlu district. The famous Galata Tower on the small square of Galata and the Galata Bridge take their names from Galata, which means Celtic in Greek. It is believed that the Celtic tribe of Galatians camped in the area. After looting the Balkans and the west of Anatolia around BC 280-274, Galatians settled in the central Anatolia around Ankara and Yozgat.

The Galatasaray Lyceé (halfway on Istiklal Caddesi), the famous Galatasary Football team (Galatasaray Futbol Kulübü) and the Galata Mevlevihanesi Whirling Dervishes Lodge on Galip Dede Street also take their names from Galata. On Büyük Hendek Avenue you can find the Neve Shalom Synagogue which is the central and largest Sephardic synagogue in Istanbul. Down by the seaside the Galata dock stretches 758 meters long from the Galata Bridge towards Fındıklı on the north-east European bank of the Bosphorus. Although located in Karaköy it is named after Galata. Built between 1892 and 1895, the Galata dock is Istanbul’s and also Turkey’s first modern dock where the cruise ships anchor.

Karaköy

The Kamondo Steps in Karaköy, Istanbul.

Karaköy is one of the oldest and historical boroughs of the Beyoğlu district. Located on the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of the Bosphorus and connected to Eminönü by the Galata Bridge, Karaköy has been the center of trade serving as a dock since the Byzantine era.

In the last 10 years of the 19th century the area became the banking center with the Osmanlı Bankası. This bank, which played the role of treasury and government bank, opened its central building here, followed by the Italian and Austrian insurance companies.

Today, serving a hub for both intercity and international transport, Karaköy is also an important commercial center with various mechanical, plumbing, electronic and electrical appliance shops in the Perşembe Pazarı.
Noteworthy cosmopolite monuments and places of interest are:

• The Zulfaris Synagogue used as the Five-hundredth Anniversary Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews (500. Yıl Vakfı Türk Musevileri Müzesi), inaugurated on November 25, 2001
• Istanbul Modern, Turkey’s the first and only private museum for contemporary art inaugurated in 2004
• Turned into a mosque by Mehmet II the Conqueror in 1475, the Arab Mosque is the only remaining Gothic church from the ante Ottoman period
• Donated by the Sephardic Jewish banker Abraham Kamondo, the baroque style built Kamondo Stairs climb up the hill from Voyvoda Street to the 19th century neighborhoods.

Completely safe during day time, yet not to be wandered after dusk, Karaköy has also name and fame for the city’s red light district.

Şişli

The Şişli borough is located in the Şişli district, located between the Sarıyer district in the north, the Beşiktaş district in the east, the Eyüp and Kağıthane districts in the west and the Beyoğlu district in the south.

Full of farming fields and vineyards the area had very little settlement until the mid 19th century. The trading middle-class Levantines, Jews, Greeks, Armenians and also Turks who lost their houses in the 1870 fire of Beyoğlu moved to the area and built homes with an European look: big stone buildings with high ceilings and art nouveau wrought-iron balconies.

The first horse pulled tramways started operating in 1871 and its line reached Şişli in 1881. In 1898 the Şişli Etfal hospital was built in the memory of Abdülhamid II’s daughter who died when she was only eight months old. Şişli became the last stop of the electrical tramway in 1913 and from then on it kept on growing rapidly. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic Şişli kept on building on the main road (Halaskargazi Street) and the area around it.

Today offices, banks, big shops, cafes, and restaurants occupy the large buildings on the avenues, yet the back streets are still residential. Europe’s largest and the world’s second largest (urban-area) shopping mall, Cevahir, is located in Şişli. Built in Ottoman style, the Şişli Mosque is a grand landmark situated between the Halaskargazi and Abidei Hürriyet Avenues.

Nişantaşı

Nişantaşı, home to the jet-set of Istanbul, Turkey.

Within the Şişli district Nişantaşı is located on the Vali Konağı Avenue and is surrounded by the Maçka, Harbiye, Osmanbey and Teşvikiye neighborhoods.

The area was used by the Ottoman soldiers to improve their shooting skills on target stones. Nişantaşı means ‘target stone’ and that’s where the name of the area comes from. In the mid 19th century Sultan Abdülmecid established two obelisks to set the beginning and the ending points of the borough. He also ordered the construction of the Teşvikiye Mosque and the police station. The area grew in the second half of the 19th century and became popular due to its central position, being close to both the Yıldız Palace and Pera (Beyoğlu).

Until the 1930s Nişantaşı was the area of mansion houses, after which its face rapidly changed to elegant apartment blocks. Its Art Nouveau apartment buildings are still well-known.

Today Nişantaşı is one of Istanbul’s most residential estates boroughs with luxurious restaurants, cafes, pubs, night clubs, galleries, boutiques and stores of world famous brands. It is the hometown of wealthy and well-educated figures of the Turkish jet-set, culture and art.

[Photo Credit Kamondo Steps: bu]

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Below you’ll find an overview of hotels I can recommend in the modern part of Istanbul. I grouped the hotels according to the amount of stars they are rewarded. Keep in mind that the amount of stars refer to the quality and service they offer.

• Five Star Hotels in the Modern Part of Istanbul
• Four Star Hotels in the Modern Part of Istanbul
• Two and Three Star Hotels in the Modern Part of Istanbul

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Below you will find an overview of two and three-star hotels in the modern part of Istanbul. By clicking on a hotel name, you can obtain detailed information about the hotel, provided by Booking.com or the hotel’s own website.
The overview by no means lists all two and three star hotels in this area. The hotel list is based on personal experiences cross-checked with customer reviews provided by Booking.com. Most of the hotels have either been visited by me or by one or more of my acquaintances. They appear in alphabetical order.

• Hotel Villa Zurich – This three-star hotel is located in Cihangir, the hangout area of Istanbul’s actors and actresses. While the hotel is only awarded 3 stars, the top and bottom floors of the hotel house respectively Doğa and Leyla restaurants, both well-known in Istanbul.
• Inter Royal – The hotel offers 90 clean but basic rooms. It is located in the famous Nevizade area, which tends to be very noisy almost 24 hours a day. Obviously more suitable for young budget travelers.

Note to accommodation owners: If you want to be added to the listings on Istanbul Trails, please contact us via the Contact or Advertise page. Keep in mind though that hotels will never be listed without personally having visited your accommodation, enabling me to write a truthful review.

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Below you will find an overview of 4-star hotels in the modern part of Istanbul. By clicking on a hotel name, you can obtain detailed information about the hotel, provided by Booking.com or the hotel’s own website.
The overview by no means lists all four star hotels in this area. The hotel list is based on personal experiences cross-checked with customer reviews provided by Booking.com. Most of the hotels have either been visited by myself or by one or more of my acquaintances. They appear in alphabetical order.

• Gallery Residence – This hotel, offering modern accommodation consisting exclusively of 21 suites, is for once not located in Taksim. You’ll find the Gallery Residence Hotel in Nişantaşı, one of Istanbul’s most fashionable and prestigious districts. With the proximity of a metro station, Taksim is within a 2 minute reach.
• Istanbul Suite Home – Every apartment of this 13 room hotel offers 85 m² residing space, including a living room and equipped kitchen. There is also a common terrace with great views and free of charge health facilities. Please note that it is located in a steep area, so access on foot could prove a challenge for some.
• Marmara Pera – This hotel with its 200 rather modest rooms is mostly famous for its location (within walking distance from the business, leisure and shopping areas) and magnificent views.
• Midtown Hotel – The Midtown Hotel has 73 deluxe room (9 with a view of Bosphorus) and 7 corner suites prepared with a minimalist approach. The hotel is ideally situated in a car-free area of Taksim, the heart of modern Istanbul and famed for its restaurants, shops and nightlife.
• Richmond – It’s the only hotel on Istiklal Caddesi, the famous car-free shopping avenue. The downside is that you briefly need to walk with your luggage. The glorious architecture combines the memories of the past with contemporary amenities. Their new Leb-i-Derya restaurant offers great Bosphorus views.
• SV Boutique – Just like the Taksim Gönen hotel, this modern boutique hotel, with its 34 spotlessly clean rooms, is located in a car-free area, on foot only 2 min. away from Taksim square. In 2006 I put all my friends there during my wedding festivities.
• Taksim Gönen – Located in a generally car-free area, on foot only 2 min. away from Taksim square, this recently built hotel offers 152 clean rooms and lots of facilities, including a small pool on the roof. Please note that the pool doesn’t open before June and the English skills of the staff are limited.

Note to accommodation owners: If you want to be added to the listings on Istanbul Trails, please contact us via the Contact or Advertise page. Keep in mind though that hotels will never be listed without personally having visited your accommodation, enabling me to write a truthful review.

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Below you will find an overview of 5-star hotels in the modern part of Istanbul. By clicking on a hotel name, you can obtain detailed information about the hotel, provided by Booking.com or the hotel’s own website.
The overview by no means lists all 5-star hotels in this area. The hotel list is based on personal experiences cross-checked with customer reviews provided by Booking.com. Most of the hotels have either been visited by me or by one or more of my acquaintances. They appear in alphabetical order.

• Ceylan InterContinental – Located next to Taksim Park and Taksim Square, the Ceylan InterContinental is an elegant and stylish jewel in the heart of Istanbul. Its 380 rooms are not too spacious, but the luxury and impressive views of the Bosphorus make up for it.
• Hyatt Regency Istanbul – Contrary to most of its competitors, the Hyatt Regency hotel is only a 10-story tall building with an Ottoman twist. This stylish hotel offers 360 rooms & suites, slightly orientated towards businessmen.
• The Marmara Istanbul – The Marmara Istanbul is a deluxe five-star hotel where business meets luxury in Istanbul’s city centre. The hotel, a landmark building rising 20 stories above the pulse of Istanbul, features 377 rooms and has stunning views of Istanbul.
• The Ritz-Carlton – The Ritz-Carlton has a total of 244 guest rooms with a Turkish-inspired style and décor. Sumptuous surroundings and legendary service await every guest that passes through their doors.
• Swissotel The Bosphorus – The luxurious Swissôtel The Bosphorus is located in the centre of Istanbul, in the former gardens of the Dolmabahçe Palace. Situated on a wooded hilltop, most of the hotel’s 600 rooms offer panoramic views of the Bosphorus, the Asian coast and/or the old city of Istanbul.
• TomTom Suites – Istanbul’s TomTom Suites is a 5-star boutique hotel offering 20 suites of varying sizes. The hotel is located in an historical Istanbul building in the Galata and Pera area of the city, offering panoramic views over the old city and the Golden Horn. Tomtom Suites offers the discerning guest a choice of spacious, well-designed accommodations.
• W Istanbul – Europe’s first W hotel is situated in Beşiktaş in the historic former home of the guards of the Dolmabahçe Palace. As a result of the mix of W style and Ottoman glamour, even the standard rooms come with a garden and decked area, providing an oasis of calm.

Note to accommodation owners: If you want to be added to the listings on Istanbul Trails, please contact us via the Contact or Advertise page. Keep in mind though that hotels will never be listed without personally having visited your accommodation, enabling me to write a truthful review.

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The map below gives an overview of the five main tourist areas in Istanbul:

• the historical part, or south of the Golden Horn
• the modern part, or north of the Golden Horn
• along the Bosphorus
• the Asian shore
• along the Golden Horn

Just click on one of the five colored (red, blue, green, pink and brown) areas to see more details.
The Princes’ Islands are not colored in and can be found south of the green area by moving the map upwards.

View Finding Your Way Around Istanbul as a Tourist in a larger map

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Inaugurated on 17 January 1875, Istanbul’s Tunnel (Tünel) is the world’s shortest and third-oldest passenger terminal, after the underground systems of London and New York. This one-stop funicular climbs the steeply uphill for 500 meters from Karaköy to Tünel Square at the southern end of Istiklal Caddesi in the Beyoğlu district. Only recently, after five months of renovations, it’s back in service and polished to a new shine.

Obtaining Permission to Build the Tunnel

Tünel is actually and initiative of the French engineer Eugene Henri Gavand. He observed people shuttling between Galata (today Karaköy) and Pera (today Beyoğlu). In those days, people used to work in the low Galata (the center of trade, stock exchange and customs) and live in the uphill Pera with its hotels, embassies and dwellings. The French engineer therefore thought of an alternative way of connecting those two districts of then Constantinople, hence saving people the difficult walk of climbing 60 meters.

He was accepted by Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire to present his elevating railway project to connect both districts. He could convince the sultan, who granted Eugene Henri Gavand permission for his Tünel project on 10 June 1869.

Constructing Tünel

The actual construction of Tünel started on 30 June 1871, and was completed on 5 December 1874. The tunnel consists of two trains running simultaneously on the same track, with only a short duplex part of the track in the middle, where two trains pass side by side and continue their ways to opposite directions. The installation was powered by two steam engines of 150 HP. The original wooden wagons used to have both sides open and were illuminated by gas lamps as no electricity was available in those years.

To convince the public of the railway’s safety, the initial runs were carried out with animals on board only. Only after a magnificent inauguration ceremony with the participation of distinguished native and foreign guests on 17 January 1875 the normal runs to serve people started.

The Tunnel throughout the Years

Tünel was out of operation for about 3,5 months during the Second World War due to a shortage of spare parts. It was completely renovated to its present structure by a French company called Electro Entreprise. After 96 years of service, the nostalgic wooden carriages were replaced by modern metal versions. However, the red-beige paintings reconstructing the timber claddings still evoke the old days of the railway.

Currently, the two steel cars, each 16 meters long and on pneumatic tires, run simultaneously in opposite directions, carrying a total of 170 people in 90 seconds over a distance of 573 meters. At cruising speed, the train goes approximately 25 km/h. The underground system is no longer powered by steam machines, but with a 350 HP electrical engine.

Tünel Today

Today, the tiny Tünel is still useful for most of Istanbul’s population. It is part of the municipal transport network and integrated tickets are valid. At the same time tourists are attracted by this combination of century-old history and modernity. Look for on the Map with Tourist Attractions in the Modern Part of Istanbul.

At the end of 2008, after five months of renovations, Tünel is certainly worth using and/or visiting. The Karaköy station, set back from the main road just off the Galata Bridge, is by far the nicer of the two. Traditional Turkish tiles patterned with blue-white tulips and quaint but huge pictures of the Galata Tower, Hagia Sophia and other sights welcome passengers.

The best way to get there is via the underpass at the end of the Galata Bridge. Look for the exit/entrance marked Tünel (see picture). To board it (at either station), you will have to buy a token or use your akbil. Tünel operates from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The maximum wait is two minutes.

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In the days that the Orient Express still rolled into Istanbul, the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı) was the most glamorous address on Istiklal Caddesi – or the whole Beyoğlu district for that matter. You can find it almost halfway Istiklal Caddesi, marked on Map with Tourist Attractions in the Modern Part of Istanbul
These days unfortunately have long gone. The theatre as well as the stylish shops and flats have been replaced by mediocre restaurants. Luckily its extraordinary architecture remains largely intact, making a small visit to the Flower Passage worthwhile.

Istanbul’s Most Important Cultural Center

The land of the Flower Passage was originally occupied by the famous Naum Theatre. Mihail Naum, the owner and administrator of the Naum Theatre, bought the building of Bosco Theatre. After small renovations the Théatre de Péra was opened in 1844. Lucrezia Borgia was the first opera that was staged.

The wood theatre building had to be rebuilt after a big fire and opened in 1849 as Théatre Italien Naum. Sultan Abdülhamid II and Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire attended several operas that were hosted there. Even before it was staged in Paris, Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera II Trovatore was staged in this theatre which had become one of the most important cultural centers of Istanbul and Europe.

From Theatre to Flower Shops

Due to the great fire of Pera in 1870, the Naum Theatre collapsed. A Greek banker Hristaki Zargos bought the land and built a shopping arcade with flats designed by an Italian architect Cleanthy Zanno. There were 24 shops and 18 luxurious flats. The shopping arcade was called Hristaki Pasajı and the whole building was called Cité de Pera.

In the first years of the passage there were various shops, among which Acemyan’s tobacco shop, Maison Parret and Vallaury’s patisserie, Pandelis’s flower shop, Schumaher’s bakery, Keserciyan’s tailor shop, Yorgo’s tavern and Sideris’s fur shop.

In 1908 the building was bought by the Ottoman Grand Vizier Sait Paşa and it became known as the Sait Paşa Passage. After the 1917 Revolution of Russia, many noble Russian women, including baronesses, came to Istanbul and opened flower shops in Cité de Pera. Because of the presence of all those flower shops, the place became a flower auction place as well. Today people still refer to the arcade as the Çiçek Pasajı.

Çiçek Pasajı Today

Starting from the 1940s more and more pubs, wine houses and taverns opened their doors in the Çiçek Pasajı, which gradually made the florists and residents of the flats move out. Only the name of the passage survived.

The building underwent a major renovation in 1988 and re-opened with its restaurants, taverns and pubs. In 2005 the roof and all the other visual parts were restored. Today, with its brilliant architecture, the Flower Passage is still one of the most stylish buildings of Beyoğlu. According to a recent poll, the Flower Passage is the first thing that comes to ones mind when they think of Beyoğlu.

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The lively Nevizade Street (Nevizade Sokak) in Beyoğlu, located in the modern part of Istanbul, is where the party’s at, on any night of the week, winter or summer. A trip to Istanbul simply is not complete without having tasted the mezes (cold starters) in one of the many meyhanes (taverns), or having enjoyed a beer on the terraces of the various pubs.

The Most Atmospheric Eating Spot in Town

Nevizade is a small street parallel to Istiklal Caddesi, located behind the historical Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı) and easily accessible via the Fish Bazaar (Balık Pazarı). Marked with on the Map with Tourist Attractions in the Modern Part of Istanbul. While Nevizade is the name of the main street, it actually refers to whole nightlife area, including the maze of small streets connecting to it.

If Nevizade is not the most famous eating and drinking area of Istanbul, then it certainly is the liveliest. On any given night the streets are packed with people, young and old. All with the same goal – having a good time out while enjoying mezes or other small dishes, accompanied by alcoholic beverages – being it rakı, beer or wine.

Any Meyhane in Nevizade Will Do

As soon as you enter the Nevizade Street, waiters will try to convince you to pick their restaurant. Food wise you can’t go wrong in any of them. Just walk up and down the street first, and pick the one which offers you the most attractive table. Personally, I’m a regular of the Nevizade Restaurant.

In the meyhanes, musicians playing fasıl (mostly classical Turkish) music wander from table to table. Be aware though that it’s considered rude to have them play a few songs without tipping them (TL 10-15). So make sure to kindly decline their offer as soon as they approach your table if you’re not a big fan of the genre.

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