The Best Bars in Istanbul

Bar Gabriel

Bar Gabriel calls itself a neighborhood bar for cocktails and small bites, first come first served, with no reservations.

Çırağan Bar

Çırağan Bar sits on the entrance floor of Çırağan Palace Kempinski, the palace hotel on the Bosphorus. It offers a refined setting with a collection of premium spirits, signature cocktails and gourmet snacks, built around pre dinner aperitifs to live music. Reservations are not taken, and the dress code is chic casual.

Fahrī Konsolos

Fahrī Konsolos is a small cocktail bar on Dr. Esat Işık Caddesi in Kadıköy, and Time Out İstanbul includes it in its guide to the city's best cocktail bars, calling it one of Kadıköy's best-loved, and says none of its cocktails can be found anywhere else. Several drinks draw on the Turkish pantry: sumac leaves the dinner table for the glass, and tarhana and ayran turn up in unfamiliar forms. For autumn the team changed a few recipes and brought back its Vampir Beğendi. Garnishes are prepared for each drink to complete its character, and the room itself is tiny.

Mathilda's Cocktail Bar

Mikla Bar

Mikla Bar is the roof terrace bar at the top of The Marmara Pera, run alongside the Mikla restaurant. The setting is chic and minimal, with an outdoor pool, a DJ playing mellow music and views over Galata and the old city as the sun sets. Martinis and signature cocktails lead the drinks, backed by a wine list focused on Turkish producers.