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City guide
Bar
A cocktail bar on the Bosphorus with genuinely great aesthetic — terrazzo floors, right on the water, the kind of place that shouldn't really exist in this part of the city but does and is all the better for it. Not why you come to Yeniköy, but if you find yourself up this way, go.
Restaurant
İskender means Alexander in Turkish. The dish was invented in Bursa in the 1860s by a man named İskender Efendi, and it has been made by his family ever since. This is one of those restaurants. Any real Turkish guy will tell you — yes, that's the good stuff.
Café
A roastery café tucked into Yeniköy with a courtyard out back. Terrazzo floors, good chairs, good light. They have a big old roaster and supply a lot of the hip cafés in Istanbul with coffee — so you're drinking it at the source. Wonderful cafe to relax at, bring a stroller, do laptop stuff, watch the cat, etc.
Shop
You walk past the window and you stop. Wall-to-wall jars with red-checked lids, stacked floor to ceiling — pickled green tomatoes, carrots, beans, peppers, cucumbers, things you can't identify and need to try. The yellow taxi reflected in the glass. Since 1938, says the logo. You go in. If you like pickled things, this place will bring you joy.
Restaurant
The original restaurant is in the Arnavutköy neighbourhood, just down the Bosphorus toward the city centre, and is 100% worth going to as well. But if you find yourself further north, this is their other spot. Honestly just the best food. Order the şalgam alongside your raki. It sounds wrong. It tastes extraordinary. Then pick your fish. There is no way you leave anything less than happy.
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Dave@dave5 Istanbul tips