Once you get past that name - the Turkish word for 'love' drawn out into a lisping 'aşşk' - this place has a lot to recommend it. To find it, follow the unmarked staircase down...

A modest, single-room venue just off Tünel Square, Badehane began as an eaterie, but quickly evolved into one of the most popular bars in town. Smarter after a recent...

Bar Bahçe has been a fixture on the gay nightlife scene for over a decade, but it stays fresh by reinventing itself every couple of years. In its latest incarnation, you have...

Fans of colonial watering holes tend to head for the bar at the Pera Palas Hotel (currently closed for renovations); that's because they don't know about the Büyük Londra....

The decor at Buz, a decadent chain of nightspots frequented by Istanbul's bohemians, is nothing if not eccentric: there is almost as much furniture and glassware stuck to the...

Behind the Galatasaray Lycée, this fabulous 19th- century building was originally a school for the Italian Workers' Association. Beautifully converted into a glamorous bar and...

Akbıyık Caddesi is backpacker boulevard, all cut-rate travel agencies, hostels and last-ditch diners. Bars are as transient as their clientele, but Cheers has been around...

A shopping mall may seem like a strange place for a bar, but Nişantaşı's Milli Reasürans Carşışı is full of them. Corridor has a lively but laid-back atmosphere, without the...

One of the few late clubs that is open all year. Cosmopolitan thirty-somethings get down to hardcore techno, then chill out in the enclosed garden bar. Besides a roster of...

Drolly named after the café's designer, Ali, this relatively new addition to Ortaköy's nightlife absorbs the overflow from its noisier neighbour, the House Café, especially for...

It may be small, but Dogzstar proves that size doesn't matter: this diminutive club in Beyoĸlu has garnered quite a reputation. Although owners Koray and Kutayare planning to...

It may be in the heart of Beyoĸlu, but the decor at Dulcinea is straight out of SoHo. So it's no surprise that the downstairs space at this bar/restaurant is a good place for a...

The neighbourhood around the Galata Tower is getting a major facelift: streets have been repaved and cafés have spread their tables across the spruced up square surrounding the...

Arnavutköy's coolest new venue is housed in aconverted Ottoman yalı, which stands out from the throng of nearby fish restaurants with its burgundy façade. If you can't grab one...