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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Located in the Beyoğlu district in the modern part of Istanbul, Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Street) is the most famous pedestrian street in Istanbul. This three kilometer long avenue stretches from Taksim Square to Tünel, the world’s second-oldest subway. Galatasaray Square, with its prestigious high school (Galatasaray Lisesi), is considered as the midpoint of this elegant boulevard packed with nice boutiques, art galleries, theatres, cinema’s libraries, restaurants, patisseries, cafés, pubs and nightclubs. Some of them still housed in authentic 19th century Turkish architecture buildings (see history of Istiklal Caddesi).

This is the first of a two post series. In this post we’ll take you from Taksim Square to the Galata Square, and in the second post we’ll cover the area from Galata Square until Tünel.

Places of Interest on Istiklal Caddesi

• French Consulate General: the consulate is located on the right-hand side at the very beginning of Istiklal Caddesi, no. 8
• Hüseyin Ağa Mosque (Hüseyin Ağa Camii): 350 meters down the French Consulate on the right you will see the Hüseyin Ağa Camii, built in 1596. After surviving a big fire, it was restored in 1934. In the yard of the mosque you’ll find the graves of Hüseyin Ağa who had the mosque built and Davud Ağa, another Ottoman Empire Chief (Ağa) of the palace. There is also a fountain made by Mimar Sinan, the very famous Ottoman Empire architect.
• Ortaoyuncular Sahnesi: approximately 400 meters further, again on the right-hand side, you will see the Ortaoyuncular Sahnesi. This old theatre, originally called Ses Tiyatrosu, was built in 1885 by the architect Campanaki. It is located in Halep Passage, no. 140
• Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı): the Flower Passage – aka Cite de Pera – is considered as the most ornamented and well-known building in the Beyoğlu district. You can’t miss really, but just in case, look for no. 172.
• Galata Square (Galata Meydanı): this intersection of Istiklal Caddesi with Meşrutiyet Avenue and Yeni Çarşı Avenue, is located almost in the middle of Istiklal Caddesi, opposite to the Flower Passage.
• Galatasaray Lyceé (Galatasaray Lisesi): in 1481, during the reign of Bayezıd II., Galata Sarayı Hümayun Mektebi was established as a school to educate top level qualified people for the palace. Since 1868 the school is called Galatasaray Lycée (Galatasaray Lisesi) and an incredible amount of important people for the country graduated from this school, among which famous actors, writers, politicians, sportsmen, and journalists.
• Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Museum: on the other side of the Yeni Çarşı Street, across the Galatasaray Lycée, on the corner, you will see Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Müzesi, no. 285. The museum has besides the world’s 3rd biggest coin collection, metal, embroidery, fabric, manuscript, tombac, and rosary collections. It also has four different exhibitions of private collectors’ items. The entrance to the museum is free.

Places of Interest just off Istiklal Caddesi

• Hagia Triada: take Meşelik Street across French Consulate, and on your left you will find the Greek Orthodox Church Hagia Triada.
• Galatasaray Turkish Bath (Galatasaray Hamamı): take Turnacıbaşı Street just after you pass Halep Passage on your right, then take the street on the left. You will reach the historical Galatasaray Hamamı, a Turkish bath which was built in 1481 by the order of Ottoman Sultan Bayezıd II.
• Consulate-General of Greece: keep on walking on Turnacıbaşı Street, pass the Galatasaray Hamamı, and 200 meters further on your right you will reach the Consulate-General of Greece, no. 32.
• Nevizade: take the first street just after Halep Passage on your right, Balo Street, or the next one, Solakzade Street. Walk a little less than 200 meters after which you’ll reach the famous Nevizade Street on your left packed with pubs and restaurants. On your right, you will see the James Joyce Irish Pub.
• Fish Bazaar (Balık Pazarı): take the first street, Sahne Sokak, on your right next to the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı) and you are in the Balık Pazarı.
• British Embassy: follow the Meşrutiyet Avenue across Galatasaray Lycée, which will lead you to the British Embassy on your left.

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Taksim Square in Beyoğlu, located in the modern part of Istanbul, is not only considered the heart of modern Istanbul, it’s also a very busy public transportation hub and popular meeting point.

There are two versions available: a YouTube version (smaller in size) and a WVM version (bigger in size). The length of both movies is the same: 4:00 min.

Enjoy!

YouTube Version

Local Version

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The James Joyce Irish Pub is the only authentic Irish bar in Istanbul. It has been around for years and has become an integral part of the Istanbul bar scene. With daily live music, sports TV nights, folkdance lessons and easy listening music during the day, the Irish Centre is a great place to socialize until the early hours.

The Irish Centre (James Joyce Irish Pub)
Location
İstiklal Caddesi, Balo Sokak 26, Beyoğlu
on Map with My Favorite Cafés and Pubs in the Modern Part of Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 244 79 70
Open
Daily till early morning.
Credit cards are accepted.

Multipurpose Pub

The James Joyce Irish pub moved to its current and probably final location in March 2004. An excellent choice, since it’s now only a few meters away from Nevizade Sokak, one of Istanbul’s famous night-life streets, and a side street of Istiklal Caddesi.
In 2008, the Irish Centre underwent a very successful facelift. With lessons learnt from the first four years, the current interior design and layout are excellent to serve all of the pub’s entertainment goals:

• a relaxed atmosphere to socialize over a drink or a snack, without loud music (until the evening)
• being able to receive plenty of customers, yet don’t give an empty impression during the daytime
• ability to show concerts and sports programs or play a game of darts without disturbing regulars that just want to have a drink
• provide a quiet corner for romantic souls or people who want to read a book
• a stage for live performances
• plenty of space to dance the night away until early hours
• a small boutique hotel consisting of seven rooms (to be opened in 2009)

Irish Pub with a Mixed Crowd

You definitely don’t need to be Irish to visit James Joyce. While the pubs character and décor is Irish, the crowd is most certainly not. On any given night, you’ll find a nice mix of Turks, expats and tourist from around the globe.

The Irish Pub really gets packed for soccer nights with Turkish derbies or international matches, and during the weekends with live cover bands performing. If you’re more into traditional Irish music, then make sure to cross out Sunday and Monday evenings in your calendar.

Guinness in a Can

The Irish Pub has a nice selection of food and beverages. A typical Irish breakfast (bacon, sausages, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, chips and salad) is served all day and will set you back for TL 17,5. You can also choose from a nice variety of appetizers (TL 7-10), pizzas and main dishes (TL 10-18) and desserts (TL 7,5).

I had the hot cream cheese jalapeño poppers ( deep fried nuggets of cream cheese an hot jalapeño pepper). Although listed as an appetizer, it made me cancel the main course since portions are certainly not small.

Of course, an Irish pub wouldn’t be complete without a decent range of beers (TL 5-7) including, albeit not from the tap, a pint of Guinness. You may also be tempted to try their fine selection of Irish, Scottish and international liquors.

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If you want to enjoy a typical Turkish dinner consisting of mezes (Turkish starters) accompanied by one or more glasses of rakı (Turkish national anise-flavored spirit), then head for one of the meyhanes (casual restaurant) in Nevizade Sokak. And although you really can’t go wrong with any of the eateries there, my favorite is the meyhane with the same name: Nevizade Restaurant.

Nevizade (Nevizade Restoran)
Location
Nevizade Sokak No: 12, Beyoğlu
on Map with My Favorite Restaurants in the Modern Part of Istanbul
Tel: +90 212 521 16 34
Open
Daily till past midnight.
Credit cards are accepted.
Make reservations if you want good seating arrangements.

Seating Arrangement

Once you reached the Nevizade restaurant and resisted the tempting offers made by the other restaurant owners in the busy Nevizade Sokak, you have two options: either ask for a table on the first floor (preferably by the window or on the small terrace) or on the rooftop terrace when the weather is hot enough.

Whatever you do, don’t sit at the ground level since it may get too noisy and/or busy.

Mezes and Rakı

As soon as you sit down, the waiter will come to take your order while showing a huge plate with over 30 mezes. Don’t worry, the ones on the plate are just for display purposes, yours will be freshly made. Each of those mezes (cold starters) cost around TL 5, except for some of the fish dishes. Mostly not on that plate but highly recommended are a portion of white cheese and patçanga böreği, a hot starter consisting of melted cheese and pastırma (dried and smoked meat).

The idea is that each person picks one or two of his or her favorite mezes, which will later be put in the middle of table for sharing. Mezes come with flat bread (pide) and are usually washed down with rakı and water, but you are of course free to order a glass of wine or a beer.

Main Course or Not?

The waiter won’t ask you to order a main course yet. It’s not uncommon to skip the main course and just stick to the mezes, certainly if you intentionally or accidently ordered a few too many. If you do still have a healthy appetite after the starters, you can choose from an assortment of grilled fish or meat dishes.

As a starter I usually go for: beyaz peynir (white cheese), patçanga böreği (melted cheese roll), kavun (melon), soslu patlıcan salatası (eggplant salad in tomato sauce) and yaprak dolma (stuffed wine leaves). If I take a main course, I usually take the karışık et ızgara (a plate of mixed grilled meat).

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