Cheeky

With its entry on the side of a historic building in central Beyoğlu, this basement venue sits in a cobblestone alley where transsexual hookers preen and watch for customers from behind barred windows. For those seeking the ‘Bul’s raunchy nocturnal underbelly, Cheeky couldn’t be in a better place. Its small, dimly lit lounge room – sedate by European gay dark-room standards – lets horny lads grope, stroke or go for broke if they couldn’t hook up elsewhere earlier. Hence Cheeky doesn’t get going until other places wind down, usually after 03.00, except on weekends. The main bar room sometimes hosts parties with go-go boys and drag queens pumping the action, and a live DJ serving up a playlist of the usual Turkish pop and dance tunes.