Archives for “Bars” tag

Karakoy is one of the most inspiring districts of Istanbul. Very representative of the whole, this important piece of the puzzle has it all: History, modernism, art, shops, stalls, sea, boats, business, different kinds of restaurants, ongoing construction, and chaos. 

In this lively, chaotic district tucked in a historic passage way called French Passage Way there is Bej Cafe seeming very afar from all the chaos 10 meters away. 

The open plan space with a big long bar, colorful flowers, nice lamps, and an open terrace with long tables to share, feels like an oasis. Seasonal soups, delicious salads, wraps, and pasta are some of the menu highlights. The toasted German bread served with lemon butter, goat cheese salad and pasta along with a glass of wine are my favorites. They also have set lunch menus, and nice -maybe not very fulfilling, as some complain about the sizes of portions – breakfast options.

Though recently started to resemble a classic restaurant rather than a cafe-bar, you still can drop by for a coffee or a drink, and read your guide books or make plans for the rest of the day, after a meal in the more traditional restaurants in the neighborhood.

Saturdays they have happy hours between 17:00 – 21:00, again Saturdays after dinner there is DJ music till 02:00 in the morning, making it quite a party place. 

Right behind the main island of the restaurant there is Kagıthane, a stationary and gift store sharing the premises.

After having a good meal in MuzedeChanga (Changa in the Museum), I felt that I had to give more detail on the purity of the food there.

First the ambiance, it is situated just on the Bosphorus and on a small hill with trees from all over the world (you can read the information tags under each tree). The view is breathtaking.

Muzedechanga has a roof and it is best to enjoy the roof during the spring and summer time. Both the lunch and dinner times provide views of their own.

There are a few items on the menu, which are all unique. As a starter, salad with hummus and Turkish sausage with pistachio is great and refreshing. Also, we tried fried Hellim (Halloumi) cheese wrapped in a grape leaf. It is definitely recommended.

As the main course, they have one lamb, one chicken, one seafood and one pasta dish. I had the chance of trying the tender lamb which is cooked very slowly and wrapped in the grape leaf again. The meat was delicious.

The cocktails are unique as well. They have both alcohol and non alcohol cocktails. Satsuma, an orange and lemon cocktail is strongly suggested.

Let me be very open and direct here, I have never had such great Italian food in Turkey. When I tasted the Pizza here, I really felt like I was in Italy.

Pipa aims to imitate both the food and the ambiance that you can find in a good restaurant in Italy.

First of all, the pizza oven is hand made by an Italian oven master. The materials were brought from Naples and the construction took days. And as a result, the pizzas and calzones that are made in this oven with high quality ingredients are the best you can find here and could even compete with what you can have in Naples. And we mentioned the ingredients, you can find good pork products here like proscuitto, both as a starter or on your pizza.

As for the starters, you can have mozzarella, prosciutto and salads, but my favorite is fried calamari. It is not easy to find lightly fried calamari and you will not regret it if you have it here.

All pizzas are excellent and the calzones are great as well.

Their signature dish is pizza with Nutella. It is self explanatory and a good choice for a dessert.

Pipa has also a good selection of wines, ranging from Italy to Chile. They have an award winning bartender and serve good Margarita in the pitcher.

If there is one place that you need to make reservation to drink beer is BBC (Bosphorus Brewing Company)

This is place is so popular amongst both locals, expats and business travellers. Locals are happy to find different tastes of beer and pork dishes, and the foreigners are happy because they can find what they are missing in Istanbul.

The interior, beer and food menu just resemble classic British Pubs. The beer is brewed in their own “micro” brewery. Istanbul Pale Ale is a traditional English cask Ale, Haliç Gold is a spicy and strong ale, B4 is a more bitter beer. They are all served in their special glasses.

Food is good, a bit expensive though. They serve both a bar menu (includes sousages, cheese plates, chicken wings) and a rich lunch / dinner menu. You can choose fish & chips, lasagne, duck and burgers. All of which are good and go well with the beer. 

BBC also suggests which beer goes best with which choice of food.

If you are for a business trip to Istanbul and have a meeting around Mecidiyeköy area, this is a good place to have a beer after the meeting.

Ortaköy offers something for every taste. Bomonti Brasserie (for me it is a beer house) is a good choice for an afternoon beer and snacks just in the middle of Ortaköy Square.It has 4 floors and the roof terrace is strongly recommended especially in good weather. You can enjoy both the panoramic view including the old town and the Bosphorus while watching the crowds in the Ortaköy square.

Bomonti is a local beer brand that started production in 1890 and having a rebirth in the recent years. And Bomonti Brasserie in Ortaköy serves mainly Bomonti Beers with decent accompanying snacks and food. My favorite beer is Bomonti Unfiltered and the snacks basket goes well with it.

For lunch or dinner, they have a huge menu which makes you think that “when you try to do everything, you can not do it perfectly”. This is more or less correct. They are not specialized but I have never been disappointed with any food there. They have decent pizzas and more than decent grilled beefs. Especially “Bomonti Lokum” worths a try.

I think you will also enjoy the atmosphere and decoration, especially the library & objects exhibited on the second floor. There is live music at the weekends.