(Editor’s Note: we first ran this roundup last summer, but we’re bringing it back for those who may have not found it in our archive.)

The mojito may go the way of the grasshopper and other forgotten cocktails, but a cold beer accompanied by a panoramic view of the waters and hills of Istanbul will never go out of style. Though the guidebooks may steer you elsewhere, we’ve compiled a short list of lesser-known but equally rewarding spots to have a drink while keeping an eye on the city.

Dersaadet
Under most circumstances, we wouldn’t recommend drinking under a bridge, but Dersaadet offers spectacular views of the Old City from its perch under the Galata Bridge, right at the junction of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. Here we like to blow the froth off of a few while fisherman above reel in little fish right past our table.
Address: First café on the northeast (Karaköy side) side of the Galata Bridge, Karaköy
Telephone: 212-292-7001

Buyuk Londra Oteli
This quirky, cult classic hotel is a great place to swill all year-round. With its eclectic clientele, you might be elbow to elbow with a video artist from Berlin or a Macedonian diplomat. The low-key terrace bar is a perfect spot for a sundowner, without paying the premium for the Golden Horn views.
Address: Mesrutiyet Caddesi. No: 117, Tepebaşı
Telephone: 212-245-0670

Çok Çok
The street side tables of this funky Beyoglu Thai restaurant benefit from a perfect position for sunsets over the Golden Horn. We are not sure what they put in those big blue cocktails they serve, but it certainly does the trick while soaking in the late afternoon sun.
Address: Meşrutiyet Ave. No:51 Tepebaşı
Telephone: +90 212 292 64 96
website: www.cokcok.com.tr

Asma Altı Café Bar
One of our favorite pit stops in Beyoglu’s fish market, Asma Altı’s outdoor tables offer a window onto the bustling, if rough and tumble, social life of the Balık Pazar. From here, watch as butchers feeds scrap meat to seagulls, old ladies haggle with the fruit vendor for a kilo of cherries, the lottery man hocks a chance and a steady stream of transvestites sashay by.
Address: Kalyoncu Kulluk Caddesi 13/a, Beyoglu
Telephone: 0537-407-5877

Banyan
Despite the décor inspired by Miami Vice and the tony Ortaköy address, Banyan is a surprisingly mellow place to have a drink and take it all in. The bar itself seems to hang over the Bosphorus, offering unmatched views up and down the strait, from Ortaköy all the way down to the Old City. A cocktail will set you back $15-20, so nurse it while you memorize the priceless view.
Address: Muallim Naci Cad. Salhane Sk. No:3 (beside the Ortaköy İskelesi), Ortaköy
Telephone: 212-259-9060
Website: www.banyanrestaurant.com

Zeyrekhane
The open terrace at Zeyrekhane is a great spot to get up close and personal with the Byzantine brickwork of the monastery-cum-Mosque of Zeyrek. Overlooking the Golden Horn, the sublime Suleymaniye Mosque and across to Galata and Istanbul’s historic peninsula in the distance, this unusual Old City locale offers some very rewarding vistas. Though frequented by large tour groups, there’s plenty of room for everyone on the huge terrace.
Address: Sinanağa Mahallesi İbadethane Arkası Sokak No: 10, Zeyrek-Fatih
Telephone: 212-532-2778

Cihangir Steps
Though self-catering in public places is not exactly encouraged in Istanbul, it is not forbidden either. Casual drinkers of all ages prefer two outdoor spots in the Cihangir neighborhood for their awe-inspiring views of the Bosphorus and the monuments of the Old City and for their peaceful surroundings – all for the price of the package goods and a newspaper to sit on.
Address: Batarya Sokak (stairs next to building #1) & Iliyas Celebi Sokak (next to the Cihangir Mosque)

With the heat of summer finally descending upon Istanbul in full force, we thought it might be a good time to offer up some suggestions for winning spots to eat outdoors. Here are five of our favorites (plus one bonus entry):

Abracadabra
Although we’ve heard some reports that the kitchen has been slipping, the Bosphorus-side location in the charming Arnavutkoy neighborhood and the funky menu help this fun spot keep its magic. Full review here.

Akin Balik
This spot right on the Golden Horn has a laid back vibe that makes us feel like we’re no longer in the big city but instead relaxing in some seaside village. The fish on offer comes straight from the fish market next door and the beer is served in brown paper bags. What more can we say. Full review here.

Çukur Meyhanesi
Eating outdoors at one of the restaurants on Beyoglu’s side streets is an Istanbul summer classic, although some of those side streets have become too popular for their own good. Çukur, one of our favorite Beyoglu meyhanes, has a wonderful outdoor area that has managed to keep its original charm. Full review here.

DTVAE
This charming Old City restaurant serving excellent Uighur food is located in what may be one of the most enchanting outdoor dining spots in the city: the courtyard 16th-century former medresa (religious school) that is shaded by massive maple trees. Full review here.

Kalpazankaya
One of the great joys of spring and summertime in Istanbul is the chance to get awayfor a day to one of the Princes’ Islands, the car-free and forested archipelago that is a short ferry ride away from the city. The out-of-the-way Kalpazankaya, on Burgaz island, is one of our favorite spots on the islands. Full review here.

Suna’nin Yeri
This small fish restaurant that, with its army of tables, chairs and frazzled waiters, seems to have conquered the waterfront of the Bosphorus-side Kandilli neighborhood, is a favorite spot on Istanbul’s Asian side. Ful review here.

Still, we’re looking forward to grabbing a meal at the new-and-improved Furreyya, which has become one of our absolute favorite places in town. Besides expanding the place, the owners have put in a new kitchen and have given the restaurant a spiffing up, with a new wooden façade and a completely remodeled interior. The menu remains the same, for now, although one of the cooks told us some new items might be in the works (Ismael, one of the owners, even promised a wine menu at one point, but the presence of a mosque across the street might get in the way of that).

For those not familiar with Furreyya, here’s a bit from our original review of the place:

Located on a busy corner only a stone’s throw from the 13^th-century Galata Tower, the restaurant offers a great (and affordable) alternative to eating at one of Istanbul’s fancier fish restaurants, where often you pay too much buck for the bang. Fürreyya’s menu is basic, the bulk of it devoted to whole fish either grilled over hardwood coals or fried in a light dusting of flour. The exceptionally fresh fish, a selection of whatever is in season in the waters around Istanbul and other parts of Turkey, is found in a small refrigerated display case outside the restaurant.

But the menu also holds some very rewarding surprises. Balık koftesi are delicious fish cakes cooked over the charcoal grill and served with a squeeze of homemade basil aioli. On occasion, Fürreyya serves up its tasty take on mantı, tortellini-like miniature pockets of dough that are usually filled with ground meat but here are made with fish. The highlight of the menu, though, may be its most humble offering: the balık durum, a tortilla-like wrap filled with grilled fish and caramelized onions. At 6 lira for a durum, it’s one of Istanbul’s best and tastiest deals.

Address: Serdar-i Ekrem Sok. 2, Beyoglu (Kuledibi)
Telephone: 212-252-4853

(photo by Yigal Schleifer)

Day One: Turkey’s Regional Flavors in Beyoglu

Breakfast: Van Kahvalti Evi in Cihangir
In the city of Van, not far from Turkey’s border with Iran, breakfast has been turned into serious business: the town is filled with dozens of Kahvaltı Salonu’s – breakfast salons – that serve a dizzying assortment of farm fresh breakfast items day and night.

In recent years this superb breakfast has been working its way westward, with several Van-style spots now open in Istanbul. Our favorite is Van Kahavaltı Evi (Van Breakfast House) in Beyoglu’s Cihangir neighborhood. The restaurant hasquickly become one of the area’s most popular, and it’s easy to see why. The people running the friendly place serve a mean breakfast, bringing in most of their ingredients, some of them organic, from back east.

The Van breakfast takes the traditional Turkish breakfast of cheese, tomato, cucumber and some bread and turns it up several notches. At Van Kahvalti Evi, along with the standards, your breakfast plate comes with an assortment of local Van cheeses (including a very tasty one that contains brined wild herbs), kaymak (clotted cream), tangy cacik (thick yogurt spread) and murtuğa, a heavy wheat flour porridge that looks almost like scrambled eggs. Butter, jams, olives and some of Van’s famous honey round all this out – along with endless glasses of strong tea.
Address: Defterdar Yokuşu No: 52.A, Cihangir
Telephone: 212-293-6437

Lunch: Pera Sisore
At first glance, with its steam table covered with pots of ready-made food, Pera Sisore may look like any one of those quickie lunch spots found throughout Turkey. But there’s a difference – someone here is cooking up some serious Black Sea magic in the kitchen.

The Black Sea area is Turkey’s culinary misfit – not really about kebabs or meze. It’s simple, filling, down-home food and Sisore is a great spot to get acquainted with it.

This time of year, the restaurant – found on a side street in the fun Asmalimescit neighborhood – serves a very tasty version of hamsi (fresh anchovy) pilaf, the holy grail of Black Sea cooking. A kind of savory fish cake, the pilaf has small hamsi filets wrapped around a thick bed of rice infused with herbs, currants and pine nuts.

Everything else we’ve tried at Sisore has been a winner. A rib sticking stew made with kale, beans and hominy was earthy and smoky. Sisore also serves up a fine version of another Black Sea staple – creamy white beans (kuru fasulye) cooked up in a rich, buttery red sauce.

On any given day, Sisore has more than a dozen items bubbling away on the steam table, some typical Black Sea dishes, some not. It’s worth trying a few – it’s the easiest way to visit the Black Sea without leaving Istanbul.
Address: Oteller Sokak 6, Beyoğlu
Telephone: 212-245-4902

Tea Time: Güllüoğlu
Baklava, the flaky, phyllo-dough based pastry, has long ago stopped being a Middle Eastern regional specialty. In America, for example, it is now a staple of dessertmenus at diners and falafel stands across the country. But these places miss the point: baklava is actually not a dessert, but rather an event in itself.

In Istanbul, Karaköy Güllüoğlu is one of our favorite places for an authentic baklava experience. Located a stone’s throw from the Bosphorus, this baklava emporium has been catering to Istanbul sweet tooths since 1949, serving than a dozen different kinds of phyllo-based sweets, none of them resembling the cardboard-like, past-its-prime version of baklava that is often dished out outside the Middle East. Along with the excellent classic baklava, we are also fans of a specialty called sutlu Nuriye, made of flaky layers of pastry drenched in a sweet, milky sauce. After ordering your baklava, sit down at a table outside and catch the Bosphorus breeze.
Address: Katli Otopark Alti (main store) or 171 Mumhane Cad. (factory store), Karaköy
Phone: 212-293-0910 (main store) or 212-243-1376 (factory store)
Web: www.karakoygulluoglubaklava.com

Dinner: Antiochia
We recently stumbled upon Antiochia – a small restaurant on a quiet Beyoglu backstreet that exudes cool without sacrificing flavor.

From its funky logo to the hipster waiters, Antiochia clearly has a different ambition (and clientele) than most restaurants serving the Middle Eastern-influenced foodfrom Turkey’s southern Hatay region, an area wedged between Syria and the Mediterranean Sea.

Nar eksili cevizli kozbiber, a divine relish of red and green peppers in a pomegranate dressing, was topped with crushed walnuts, adding a crunchy texture to this sweet and sour cold starter. Tasting the homemade yogurt with mint proved just how little we knew about what yogurt can be — pleasantly sour and almost as thick as butter. Muammara, a thick spread of walnuts, red pepper and spices is a Hatay signature and a fine choice. Our favorite, though, was the kekik salatasi, an intense meze of green olives, fresh thyme and olive oil.

Antiochia’s main courses are simple, recognizable dishes, yet set to a higher frequency. Şiş et is a plate of marinated cubes of beef skewered and grilled over a charcoal fire. On any given evening in Beyoglu, there have got to be thousands of skewers of şiş et coming off the grill, but none are quite as tender and succulent as the one at Antiochia. The minced meat wrap, an Istanbul street food favorite, with onions and tomatoes, was among the best we’ve had in the city.
Address: Minare Sokak, Asmalimesict
Phone: 212-292-1100
Web: www.antiochiaconcept.com

Day Two: Old and New Istanbul on the Bosphorus

Breakfast: Besiktas Kaymakci (AKA Kaymakci Pando)
In our imagination, kaymak – the delicious Turkish version of clotted cream – is the only food served in heaven, where angels in white robes dish out plate after plate of the cloudlike stuff to the dearly departed, who no longer have to worry about cholesterol counts and visits to the cardiologist.

Perhaps we’re getting carried away, but kaymak can do that to you. For our money, the classic Turkish combo of kaymak served with honey and crusty white bread is one of the finest breakfasts this side of paradise. And one of our favorite places to eat this breakfast is Besiktas Kaymakci.

This tiny shop/eatery has been in business since 1895, and it certainly shows its age. The marble counter is cracked and the paint on the walls peeling. But the kaymak, served up by the 84-year-old Pando, a Turk of Bulgarian origin and a living institution in Istanbul’s untouristed Besiktas bazaar, is out of this world. Prices here also seem unchanged since 1895: a plate of kaymak and honey, served with fresh bread and a glass of steaming hot milk, will set you back 4 lira.
Address: Koyici Meydanı Sokak, Besiktas
Telephone: 212-258-2616

Lunch: Ismet Baba
Most fish restaurants are mere caricatures of places like Ismet Baba, where traditions have been kept sacred for more than fifty years. This may not be the best restaurant in the city, but it’s got something most of the others have lost, keeping rhythm to an old school style of Istanbul charm and character.

At Ismet Baba, located in Kuzguncuk, a charming Bosphorus neighborhood on the Asian side, we like to lean back, hunker down into a long raki-laced lunch and really enjoy this special place and its classic mezes. Pilaki, beans in olive oil, and the cold octopus salad are unusually good. We also like the haydari, a thick, tangy spread of strained yogurt and dill and the fried eggplant with a garlicky yogurt drizzle. The catch of the day is posted on a small black board in the dining room, and we found the grilled bream, cupra, or a plate of blue fish, cinekop, perfectly prepared and just the right amount.
Address: Carsi Caddesi #1A, Kuzguncuk
Telephone: 216-553-1232

Dinner: Abracadabra
This funky informal restaurant, housed in an imposing Ottoman-era mansion located smack dab on the Bosporus in the swank Arnavutkoy neighborhood, serves some of Istanbul’s most creative riffs on traditional Turkish cuisine.

The four floors of the building each have a very different vibe, from bar-like to intimate, although we suggest a table in the dine-in kitchen, up close and personal with Abracadabra’s spunky owner-chef Dilara Erbay, a pioneer of Turkish fusion cuisine.

Through flaming woks, kitchen hustle and shouts, something smelling at once Thai, Turkish and Lebanese rushes past you for Dilara’s final touch. There’s a lot going on in this kitchen that you won’t want to miss. And when it’s time to order, we usually put ourselves at the tender mercy of Dilara, letting her guide us through the menu.

Dilara’s navigation of the appetizer menu includes her latest inspired creations, prepared with what’s fresh in the markets. Like a jazzman interpreting on an old standard, Dilara hints at classic Turkish cuisine sometimes in little more than name, for example tweaking the classic börek into a bouquet of matchstick skinny, 6-inch batons served upright in a shot glass of sweet and spicy sauce, both beautiful and fun to eat.
Address: 50/1 Arnavutkoy Cad. Arnavutkoy
Phone: (212) 358-6087
www.abracadabra-ist.com

(Editor’s Note: This week Istanbul Eats is celebrating Istanbul’s vibrant (and sometimes plain wacky) street food scene with a highly subjective look at five of our favorite street foods and some of the best places to get them. We’ll be writing about a different food every day, so join us as we work our way up to #1 on Friday.)

We’ve never learned his name and at this time of the year he is probably preparing for his winter hibernation. But we eagerly await the reappearance in the spring of the vendor we know simply as the “cucumber man of Galata” (pictured above, smoking), a chubby fellow with Coke bottle glasses who sells what may be the city’s simplest, yet most satisfying street food: peeled and salted cukes, a fresh green rebuke to all those starchy and fried snacks out there.

Beginning in late spring, when the weather starts to warm up, the cucumber man parks his rickety little cart in the plaza in front of the Galata Tower, where he stays until the weather turns in the fall. His method is simple: take a chilled cucumber, peel it, slice it twice down the middle so that it splays out like a flower, and salt it generously. It may sound basic, but on a hot summer’s day, the cucumber man usually has a good crowd that gathers around his cart clamoring for this refreshing bite (this past summer he branched out and started selling carrots and apples, too). Of course, at 50 kurus (33 cents) a cucumber, it’s a snack that’s hard to refuse.

Address: The plaza in front of the Galata Tower, Galata
Telephone: No phone

(photo by Jonathan Lewis)

All in all, our experience at the new Galata Kiva Han was extremely disappointing, and on second thought, I should have kept walking down the road to Karaköy, leapt on the ferry to Kadıköy and headed to my favorite table at Çiya. Or settled for some lahmacun from the tiny shop on the way down. I had expected more.

You can read the full review here.

From the outside, Fürreyya Galata Balıkcısı, a tiny new restaurant in Beyoglu’s quaint Galata area, doesn’t look like much. Two tables, two stools at a short counter, a smoky grill and not much else. But Inside this modest fish shack beats the heart of a more ambitious place. The friendly husband and wife team who own the place and share kitchen duties used to run a restaurant in Istanbul’s upscale Bebek neighborhood, and it’s clear that Fürreyya is in experienced hands.

Located on a busy corner only a stone’s throw from the 13^th-century Galata Tower, the restaurant offers a great (and affordable) alternative to eating at one of Istanbul’s fancier fish restaurants, where often you pay too much buck for the bang. Fürreyya’s menu is basic, the bulk of it devoted to whole fish either grilled over hardwood coals or fried in a light dusting of flour. The exceptionally fresh fish, a selection of whatever is in season in the waters around Istanbul and other parts of Turkey, is found in a small refrigerated display case outside the restaurant.

But the menu also holds some very rewarding surprises. Balık koftesi are delicious fish cakes cooked over the charcoal grill and served with a squeeze of homemade basil aioli. On occasion, Fürreyya serves up its tasty take on mantı, tortellini-like miniature pockets of dough that are usually filled with ground meat but here are made with fish. The highlight of the menu, though, may be its most humble offering: the balık durum, a tortilla-like wrap filled with grilled fish and caramelized onions. At 4 lira for a durum, it’s one of Istanbul’s best and tastiest deals.

Fürreyya’s owners have plans to expand their restaurant, but for now they are making due with their tiny space, saying it allows them to focus on quality. If the restaurant is full, they will happily take your order and wrap it up to go. From there you can take your food and eat it in the pleasant square that lies in the shadow of the nearby Galata Tower, where you can sit down on a bench and enjoy your lucky catch.

Address: Serdar-i Ekrem Sok. 2, Beyoglu (Kuledibi)
Telephone: 212-252-4853