(Editor’s Note: In honor of the May Day workers’ holiday, we are rerunning last year’s post that takes a look at the dining possibilities at two union halls, Istanbul style. Happy May 1!)

Gazeteciler Lokali-Beyoglu: The Write Stuff
Journalists in Turkey are notoriously overworked and underpaid (at least that’s what Turkish journalists will tell you). The part of the story they tend to leave out is the free reign they enjoy over Istanbul’s Journalists’ Union lokal, a classic little dining room and clubhouse with an Ottoman-era fireplace, dark wood wainscoting and a ritzy address right on Istiklal Caddesi. This faded elegance, almost entirely lost in Istanbul, sets the stage for a raucous affair that sometimes resembles dinner and at other times a gypsy wedding celebration. On the weekends, journalists and those-in-the-know pack this place for a long meal accompanied by live music.

The set menu includes a bounty of seasonal cold meze, including artichokes stewed in olive oil, pickled beets and smoked eggplant puree. From the hot starters we recommend the sarma, chard leaves stuffed with ground beef and drizzled with garlicky yogurt.  A fresh green salad leads up to the main course crescendo of meat or fish – take your pick, they are both good.

The food is reliably good and the location is excellent, but we think it’s the price of this all you can eat and drink deal that appeals to the hard luck hack. At 60 Lira, it’s a night out even a Turkish journalist can afford.

Address: Istiklal Caddesi 22, 1^st floor, Beyoglu
Telephone: (212) 292-4167

Metalurji Muhendisligi Lokali: Fish Alchemy
We never thought much about metallurgy as a profession. Nor did the concept of union membership ever seem very appealing, with all the meetings and monthly dues. That all changed after a mighty fine night at the Metallurgist Union’s lokal, where dinner can be a communal affair – during our meal a dish of pickled anchovies was sent over by another table of friendly metallurgists. The simple, fresh food here is always tasty and, as all fans of this place point out, very cheap.

About the food, one regular said, “I don’t go there to eat fancy food. I go there to sit at a table with my friends and eat a heaping plate of fried fish.” That about sums up the dining experience: there’s nothing dainty about it but the place has a convivial spirit that seems to infect the entire room as if someone left the laughing gas running.

A few meze – of which the patlican soslu (fried eggplant cubes in a tomato sauce) was our favorite – a large green salad with shredded cabbage and carrots, a plate of fried “chacha” (pinky-sized bait fish), two orders of unidentified but very good boneless white fish that fried up like a catfish, and enough raki to make us giggly and then sleepy cost 25 TL/person. That’s reason enough, for some, to consider a career change, and union membership.

Address: Taksim Caddesi 14, Taksim
Telephone: No phone

(photo by Yigal Schleifer)

On Istiklal Caddesi, we’ve watched han after han fall to a swift and merciless wave of gentrification. The courtyard that led to our favorite notary public in the Narmanli han is now off limits as the building awaits a makeover. The Circle D’Orient, home of Inci Pastanesi, seems to be going the same way. One of our favorite places for a beer, the old theater workers bar in the Atlas Pasaji, is now just a warm memory to us, an office space to others. But just when we thought the whimsy of Bohemian Beyoglu had choked on the chain stores that line Istiklal these days, we spent some time exploring the last bastion of funky Beyoglu han life, the Rumeli Han.

On a recent exploration of the Rumeli Han’s many wings we wandered past the Turkish Communist Party’s HQ, the Indian Cultural Center, a tango dance center, and, on the way in, a knit cap hat vendor that has defiantly occupied the entrance of the grand old building with towering shelves fixed right over the elaborate moldings of the central arcade. On a rainy day, this arcade is a popular place to flout the indoor smoking ban and duck in for a quick cigarette. We spotted a knot of smokers near the A Blok elevator (out of order), all in different uniforms signifying their employer on Istiklal. Apparently in the Rumeli Han, freedom, or actually something closer to mayhem, reigns.

The unruly spirit of Rumeli Han is perhaps best experienced at a music bar that we’d call a roadhouse if it weren’t on the second floor of the han’s C Blok.  It is a rambling series of large rooms forming an “L” shape. The stage sits at one end and a collection of booths on the other, with the bar at the elbow. The interior is neglected in a very pleasant way – paint flakes off the walls and collects on the floor and the old floorboards have been left to creak underfoot.

As casual as Haymatlos might appear on the front end, the backside is a serious operation. The bar has live music every night of the week and much of what’s on stage is a few beats ahead of current trends. Well-known performers of Balkan music, Rembetiko and Turkish jazz play weekly, but, more significantly, the place seems to coax unusually good performances out of no-name groups.

On our first visit to Haymatlos, we were blown away by a bawdy young singer in a red wig playing with a Balkan band. She sang a jazzy song and then started screaming like Ozzy Ozborne on the next one as an accordion honked along behind her. We danced and drank cheap beer all night shoulder to shoulder in a thick Haymatlos crowd. Here in the same swaying room were outcasts from Asmalimescit in dreadlocks and hippy pants, aging leftists, a few slick local “aksamci” and the young and moneyed Beyoglu hip – a demographic snippet of the neighborhood today. Perhaps there is no such thing as bohemian Beyoglu anymore, or maybe it is evolving into something else. Haymatlos, which means “homeless” in German, has a refreshing come-as-you-are approach to nightlife. If the Rumeli Han can only survive the neighborhood’s growing pains, this place might bridge the gap between an older bohemian Beyoglu and the new. Sadly, the cynic in us tells us to enjoy the fun here while it lasts. Haymatlos is bound to be “homeless” indeed just as the Rumeli Han will surely be another shopping mall before long.

(Note: Open every night 4PM-4AM. Happy Hour 4PM-8PM with half price drinks.10-15TL Cover charge)

Address: Istiklal Caddesi 96, Rumeli Han C Blok, 2^nd floor, Beyoglu
Telephone: (532) 676-3943

(interior photos courtesy Haymatlos. Rumeli Han photo by Ansel Mullins)

“Old man bars”, as they are sometimes called, can be found around Istanbul but often lack the rhythm and texture of what we expect. We had all but given up on the search, until a certain little no-name joint on Tarlabaşi Bulvari attracted our interest. Every morning the owner basks in the few moments of sunlight that this otherwise dark room enjoys, by sitting behind the weathered marble counter reading the newspaper and feeding a cat that sits beside the beer taps. Beside them on the bar sits an ancient jar of pickles that reminded us of the pickled eggs and pigs ears we used to balk at in taverns back home. Inside and down a short flight of stairs, formica tables and well-worn vinyl padded chairs form neat lines around the single attraction of the place, the television. Niches in the walls hold dusty bottles of liquor like trophies from better days – Teachers, J&B, long departed brands of raki.

“This place is a birahane,” said the old man behind the bar using an antiquated term that means beer house. “Has been for thirty years.”

For a city as old as Istanbul, surprisingly, 30 years of business is a very long time. In Tarlabaşi it is nearly unheard of. The bar was born in the dark days of the eighties when the area had largely been deserted by the working class Greek families that built Tarlabaşi. It survived the demolition of hundreds of buildings for the construction of the major traffic thoroughfare, Tarlabaşi Bulvari, which now passes by its doorstep. It fared the rough and tumble nineties when villagers arrived en masse from Eastern Anatolia, finding cheap or sometimes free places to stay in the backstreets around here. And now, as the neighborhood starts to gentrify, the bar will likely see a new, younger clientele coming in for a cold one after work.

Unlike nearly every other establishment on Tarlabaşi Bulvari, there is nothing seedy about this place. And unlike any other public place in Istanbul, monastic silence reigns. Settle in for a meditative duble raki and a small plate of cheese and melon among the neighborhood old timers and you might feel a twinge of nostalgia for an Istanbul long gone or maybe that corner taproom back home.

Address: 254 Tarlabaşi Bulvari
Telephone: No phone

(Photo by Ansel Mullins)

Having a look around Asmalimescit these days, it’s easy to get nostalgic for a time when this little district was a bit less developed. Now, Sofyali Street seems to have become a Nisantasi-inspired fashion show runway for the bridge and ferry crowd – Lady GaGa look-alikes accompanied by gawkers snapping iPhotos of themselves while lounging on high bar stools.

But Asmalimescit wasn’t always filled with stools. Long before the chic descended upon these streets, the old school meyhane purveyors Refik and Yakup had set a gritty stage to which Babylon, arguably the city’s best live music venue, provided the edgy back beat. Little Wing twirled in, hosting open didgeridoo jam sessions. A quirky man in a fedora held court over a quirky bar called Kumsaati. Everyone smoked inside so the street belonged, largely, to the pedestrian. But on any given Wednesday night, the street in front of Badehane was filled with dancing bodies, and the occasional clarinetist.

For ten years, this corner dive and its sea of rickety tables has been a social anchor for Turkish and foreign neo-Bohemian strays of Beyoglu. “When I opened this place, I planned to make some simple home-cooked for the people in neighborhood. It was supposed to be a restaurant. Within a couple of months people started calling it their neighborhood bar and that’s what it ended up being, ” said the owner, Bade Uygun.

Though Bade has cleaned the place up a bit in recent years, the beer and raki still go for a song. Selim bey and his magic clarinet still light up the night on Wednesdays. Tatavla Keyfi, a rembetiko revival band led by a Greek musician play on Tuesday nights. On nights without live music there’s a often DJ, but we prefer to sit outside, people watching and silently counting our blessings that there is still at least one place in Asmalimescit to enjoy unpretentious camaraderie over a few cheap beers.

So to the Badehane nay-sayers we say, give it another try. You may have to shoulder your way there but you’ll still find this time-honored Beyoglu dive bar largely unchanged and still very cool.

Address: General Yazgan Sokak 5, Istanbl
Telephone: 212-249-0550

(photo by Monique Jaques)

Maybe it’s the music? Mustafa’s got a mean archive of MP3’s and he is not afraid to take chances. On one recent visit, we identified Queen’s Radio Ga Ga, something by Rage Against the Machine and Tom Sawyer by Rush, all within the course of one beer. The mix may seem very carefully orchestrated, but, in fact, Mustafa’s just got it on shuffle.

To go along with the music, Asma alti has a one-of-kind approach to bar snacks, with its own in-house kelle paca – boiled sheep’s head – vendor. Despite the sound of it, kelle paca is actually a perfect accompaniment to a cold brew, the meat – which is served room temperature and chopped up into bite size pieces – flavorful yet mellow and pleasantly fatty.

As much as we love hearing a little BTO on the sound system and downing a beer along with some kelle paca, it’s the vibrant street scene outside Asma Alti that keeps us coming back. Istanbul is obsessed with its manzara, or views, usually referring to those of the Bosporus or the Marmara Sea, but at Asma Alti, regulars turn their stools out in the Parisian fashion to feast their eyes on the carnival that unfolds in the backstreets of the fish market. Scenes from a typical day, as witnessed from Asma Alti: A calliope-like symphony of car horns start up as an impossibly obese street dog lounging in the middle of the street defies all laws of physics by rising to its feet and making way for traffic. A sea gull the size of a small car, precariously perched atop an awning, swoops out to catch bits of scrap liver tossed in the air by the offal butcher on the corner. Groups of Roma musicians dressed in black suits carrying instrument cases make their way to work at the numerous meyhane of the fish market. And then, just in time for another round, comes that familiar sound of the low spark of high-heeled Beyoglu boys – five o’clock shadows, pushup bras and all.

Address: Kalyoncu Kulluk Caddesi 13/a, Beyoglu
Telephone: 0537-407-5877

(photo by Ansel Mullins)

There is no shortage of Turku bars around town, but most feel like a no go zone. Seemingly, Turku’s natural environment is subterranean and, well, shady. It thrives in the backstreets around Taksim Square in cramped basement spaces — forbidding and suffocating even with Turkey’s new smoking ban in place.

On the other hand, Otantik, located in a lovely, if slightly shabby, historic building on Beyoglu’s main pedestrian artery, Istiklal Caddesi, occupies a charming room with high ceilings, period accents and a mishmash of Anatolian décor. The attentive staff, led by the charming manager Bilal, allows an outsider in without feeling like an intrepid anthropologist among the locals.

Otantik has a full dinner menu featuring meze and kebab, but we suggest coming here after dinner to get your drink on and soak in the Turku experience. After a couple of raki duble, you’ll be laughing, crying and waving a napkin in the air like a local.

Address: Balo Sokak No.1, Floor 3, Beyoglu
Telephone: 212-293-6515
(Live music every night 9pm-2am)

(photo by Ansel Mullins)

(Editor’s Note: Since we realize that those who love to eat usually also like to drink, we are introducing a new feature, “Istanbul Eats Drinks,” an occasional look at some of the city’s more appealing bars and lounges, places that still have that authentic Istanbul vibe.)

Istanbul: capitol of contradictions. East or West? Muslim or secular? Neither, or both? Pull up a stool, Turkey pundits, and feast your eyes on the latest Turkish identity riddle: it looks like Freddy Mercury, sings like a Levantine Sid Vicious and plays like saz-master Orhan Gencebay. Give up? That’s Cumbus Cemaat on stage on a Thursday night at Café Araf, a rough and tumble saloon perched on top of a non-descript building in the back streets of the Beyoglu fish market. But it’s not just the architecture that makes this place appear to have fallen from the sky; Araf is the one cool bar in these streets of no-go discos, chichi lounges and tourist traps.

As Beyoglu nightlife continually gets fancier, an inviting animal house like Araf is increasingly hard to find. Here’s a hip place with no pretension, a great location with cheap drink prices, a friendly and efficient bar staff, and, finally, a place in Istanbul with nothing but good music.

“World Music Party is the only time I actually feel like going out to dance. I’d love to steal that DJ’s iPod,” said one Saturday night Araf regular.

Tuesday nights with clarinet virtuoso Selim Sesler are a riotous Roma affair with a vintage Bohemian Beyoglu vibe: a glimpse of a time not-so-long-ago when these parts were hip but not yet conquered by hipsters, back when folks danced on tables and romanced on an empty keg in the corner, drank beer cheaply and didn’t give a hoot about a prosciuto pizza or the mojito. It was a time of low expectation and high reward – something the guy with the handle bar moustache roaring Hava Nageela into the microphone over at Araf certainly gets.

Araf exceeds most expectations, but don’t expect much in the way of mixed drinks or a wine list. This is a beer swilling, raki tippling kind of place. There’s never a cover charge, there’s always great music to be heard and, refreshingly, no static at all.

Address: Balo Sokak 32, 5^th floor, Beyoglu
Telephone: 212-244-8301