Istanbul Nightlife and
Entertainment
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| Istanbul offers nightlife and
entertainment in any direction you want to. The
choice is incredible and there are several centers
of nightlife all over the city: Ortakoy at the Bosphorus (European side), the Istiklal Street from Taksim to Tunnel where you will find many students(European
side), Aksaray with the more Turkish style nightlife
and red-light district (European side) and Kadikoy
with its various choice of bars and little
restaurants (Asian side).
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Traditional music & dance evening -
Istanbul
 After
a scenic evening drive through this
majestic city of illuminated palaces,
mosques and bridges by night, savor
the flavors of authentic Turkish
cuisine with a special evening
dinner in an oriental atmosphere,
accompanied by live musical and
dance performances from a variety of
regional Folk Dancers, Belly Dancers
and Turkish Musicians in traditional
costume...
Turkish Night Show Experience:
Pick up from the hotel or cruise
ship port. Take a scenic night drive
to the restaurant, where you will
enjoy an evening with a delicious
full course meal of fine Turkish
cuisine featuring class acts of
music and dance in traditional
surroundings. This feast for the
senses is presented in an oriental
atmosphere, where you can discover
the delights of Turkish musical
instruments, a typical folk
orchestra and experience a dance
extravaganza focusing on the
traditions of Turkish and Anatolian
folklore including belly dancing.
Drop off to hotel or cruise ship
port.
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360 Istanbul
With views as good as this,
it's no wonder that Istanbul is sprouting restaurant
and bar venues in what are traditionally apartment
or office buildings. 360 Istanbul takes advantage of
the belfry of St. Antoine and panoramic views of the
Golden Horn; on a cool summer's eve, there's really
no better place to be. The decor is an unexpectedly
pleasing amalgam of brick, steel, glass, and velvet;
tables, alfresco banquettes, and a lounge area
ensure that everybody gets something he or she
wants. The menu is Thai and Turkish, with appetizers
and finger foods standing out. Go early for the best
outdoor seating, or arrive late and mill about the
wraparound terrace. Reservations are suggested for
dinner.
Address: Istiklal
Caddesi 32/311
Location: Misir Apartment Building, Beyoglu
Phone: 0212/251-1042
Cafe Gramofon
 Cafe
Gramofon is a civilized music venue, where on Monday
students from the conservatory take the stage, and
Tuesday through Saturday the cafe is filled with the
sounds of jazz, swing, and bebop. It can get pretty
loud, and the crowd is sometimes mixed (read:
gay/lesbian), but everyone is well behaved. During
the Jazz Festival, the cover is anywhere from $12 to
$15, and half-price for students with a valid ID
card; otherwise, it's free. Open Tuesday through
Saturday 9pm to 2am.
Address: TunelTaksim
Phone:0212/293-0786
Ciragan Bar & Q Club
Hibernating in the cellar of
the most exclusive hotel in the city in the Ciragan
Palace, Q draws the cream of Istanbul society, and
there's never an empty seat in the house. The venue
moves on to the seaside pier during the summer, as
the sound of live jazz drifts over the Bosphorus
until 2am (later in summer). The evening won't be
cheap but it will definitely be memorable. Open
daily 6pm to 2am.
Address: Ciragan Palace / Besiktas
Phobne: 0212/326-4646
The North Shields Pub
 The
Besiktas outlet of this popular pub is a favorite
after-hours destination for off-duty local chefs.
Thanks to the rare Scotch whiskey and English ales,
there's also a huge clientele of ex-pat regulars, in
for the homey atmosphere -- the pub is in a
late-19th-century house -- and the hearty beef and
ale stew. A second more centralized location is at
Istiklal Cad. 24-26 (in the Fitas Sinemasi, up the
steps at the entrance to the movie complex; tel.
0212/292-9698). Open daily 11am to 2am.
Address: Akaretler
Siraevleri, Besiktas
Phone: 0212/259-1806
RIDDIM
|
 An
internat, ional city such as Istanbul needs a
comfortable place to remind us that there's more music
out there than techno and rock; and the new Riddim Cafe
& Bar is just what we've been missing. Riddim is the
cool place for reggae and world beat music, and some of
the best mixes of Caribbean, African, and Latin can be
heard here. Resident rasta Osman, one of the coolest
people in town, has brought his unique sound to the
heart of Beyoglu and nothing will ever be the same
again! Previously the pulse of Pupa, Osman has created a
tropical island flavor with a bamboo hut for a DJ booth,
local artwork on the walls, and the obligatory but
venerated Bob Marley poster adorning the entrance. The
cool vibe is enhanced by a friendly, laid-back
English-speaking bar staff, including Elif and Murat
(formerly of an Irish bar near Beyoglu - ask him to show
you
some of his bar tricks). Open every night until 2:00am,
this is the place for diehards and dabblers to be jammin',
as there's plenty of room to chill or dance as the
spirit moves you. Beer is only 7,5 YTL and Jamaican
cuisine is on the way. For those of us in the know, this
is the place to go!
Riddim Cafe & Bar
Buyukparmakkapi Sok. No:8/1 (across from Pandora book
store)
Taksim - Beyoglu
Tel: 0212 249-8333 |
Babylon; has got to be the most rocking place to go for
entertainment these days. Tucked away in a tiny side street behind
Istiklal, its reputation as an excellent venue to see an alternative
international or home-grown act is increasing daily. Bands such as
Baba Zula, Istanbul Blues Kamp, anyasi, Badmarsh and Shri, Trevor
Watts, Erik Truffaz and Cheikh. Have graced the stage at Babylon to
a full house almost every time. Each month a rich programme of
entertainment is designed to reach out and touch everyone who loves
alternative music, the arts, and performance with guts. Last seasons
one-man play "The Circumcision" was also a huge success and it's the
intention of Babylons keepers to encourage more theatre and
alternative art performances inside the huge old warehouse because
they feel that it's more than just a music venue. Named after the
once enormous city of Mesapotamia, Babylon was once the home of
Dominique Dandoria. The four storey
building burned down in 1912 and was abandoned until 1942 when it
was turned into a carpenter shop. Pozitif took it over in 1998 and
transformed the dark interior into an independent concert hall, a
jazz club, and a performance / cinema / theatre / exhibition venue.
It's an ambitious project by anyone It's standards, but so far so
good... If you haven't been there yet, don't miss it now.
Taksim - Beyoglu - Tunel
| Until now, the only places in
Istanbul you have been able to smoke a nargile
pipe have been in hidden little alcoves and gardens
scattered around the Beyazit area, and a couple of
places down by Dolmabahce Palace. Now, just opened
up in Beyoglu is a little place called
"Ortakahve" which is a different take on the
age-old concept of the traditional kiraathanesi -
coffee shop.
Traditionally, amply-moustached men gathered
together in dark, smoky rooms to exchange local
gossip and the political opinions of the day while
smoking apple tobacco from nargile - water pipes -
and playing backgammon or chess. Ortakahve is a very
different place with lots of light and open space
and there are
even plans for a shady garden out the back with
traditional divan lounges that will seat 50
comfortably. It's a combination of the traditional
old-style divan and nargile idea with a very modern,
young twist. The brightly coloured walls, minimalist
decor with wooden tables and chairs for over 100,
and light radio music makes it an interesting place
to go for a game of backgammon, chess, Scrabble,
dominoes or go. A small library will complete the
project in the near future. Sayhan De mezer has done
most of the renovations with his own hands,
including the fireplace, and invites everyone to
come and experience a different aspect of the
traditional Turkish lifestyle.
You can sit in one of the cool spacious rooms
alone with a book, write a letter or postcard or
play a game with friends as you sip steaming Nescafe
- 2,50 YTL, strong, aromatic Turkish coffee - 3,50
YTL, bitter, black Turkish tea - 1,00 YTL, herbal
tea - 2,00 YTL, or fruit juices; alcohol isn't
served at all. Games cost between 0,50-0,75 YTL and
you can learn the rules to some of the traditional
Turkish games from the friendly staff. When it gets
too hot to sit outside, the large rooms of Ortakahve
are cool and breezy. It's the only place in Beyoglu
where you can smoke nargile, and it's well worth
checking out before it gets so popular you'll have
to queue for a seat.
ORTAKAHVE - BES PARMAKKAPI/TEL SOKAK No:4 -
BEYOGLU
|
 In
the center of Istanbul, between the history and contemporary
music. Jazz Cafe established in 1982 by Mete Gurman and Cengiz
Sanli, is one of the first jazz clubs to have settled Turkey. It
is at the request of many musicians, customers of the
restaurant, that they decide to transform the European basement
bar into a Jazz Club. All the stars of jazz play at the Jazz
Cafe: Bulent Ortacgil, Erkan Ogur, Maffy Fallay, Onder Focan....
Address:i stiklal Avenue. Hasnun Galip Street. No:20 Beyoglu
Phone: 90 0 212 245 05 16
www.jazzcafeistanbul.com
 If
you can imagine dancing to blaring techno music
while sipping exotic cocktails and nibbling on
warm, salty, freshly made popcorn, in an
underground water cistern dating back to late
Roman times (500 AD), originally built by the
Roman Emperor Theodosis, then you'll feel right
at home in Club Academia.
As you descend into the cavernous laser-lit
space, surrounded by ancient columns and
three-foot thick red brick walls, a labyrinth of
secret paths winds through the pillars and
around the back wall until you suddenly find
yourself right in the middle of the antediluvian
dance floor. The historical remains have been
restored as much as possible without
artificially reproducing them and the entire
effect is one of mystic and intrigue. Imagine
dancing with wild abandon to the loud thumping
beats of electronic music in an ordinary museum!
It's an unusual club to say the least. Cihan,
our conscientious host and bar manager, gave the
IB team a guided tour through the splendiferous
ruins, pointing out the Eros Bar in the upstairs
corner, the Zeus Bar by the main entrance and
the Aphrodite Bar downstairs. Just around the
corner from here is the games room, where big
boys can find a few big toys to amuse themselves
should they tire of strutting their stuff and
flirting with pretty
women.
The entry fee is $10, which includes one
drink and a beer costs 5,00 YTL. A large group
could commandeer the entire club for a night and
have a ball romping amongst the ruins. The only
real downside to Academia is the location, down
a rather dark and dingy street in the center of
Beyazit - an area devoid of life at night. It's
a shame Theodosis didn't build his water
cisterns in Taksim. There is an up side though,
patrons can call Cihan and order the free
service bus to carry them both to and from the
club. Just tell him your phone number and
address and how many people you are, and the
service bus will come and meet you. Then, after
a night of drinking, dancing and whooping it up
with Theodosis' granite columns, you will be
returned to the meeting point. Now THAT is what
we call service!
Antik Hotel - Club Academia
Sekbanbasi Sokak No:10, Beyazit
Tel: 0212 638 5858
Fax: 0212 638 5865
Email: info@antikhotel.com
Website: www.antikhotel.com |
Exen Dance Club
Ok, so it's another Saturday night in Taksim, you
want to find a different place and you don't want to
be sophisticated - you want to rock "till you drop."
Check out Exen, the dynamite new club that recently
opened on Siraselviler. It's jam packed on weekends
with babes, hunks, and trying-their- hardests, and
with good reason. Exen has one of the finest sound
systems around, and some of the best live acts pump
it out Wed. thru Sat. until late. Ozlem Tekin,
Istanbul's bad girl, simply jams
 every
Saturday night, with the last set starting around
2:30. The pounding, grit your teeth energy of her
concerts strips your senses raw with its sheer
exuberance. Speaking of stripping, the gorgeous
girls erotically dancing behind the bar are as close
to a Go Go bar as you'll get in this country!
Definitely head to Exen on Wed. and Thur. nights and
catch some good live music without a cover charge,
starts around 12:00, and it's usually a whole lot of
fun. If you get there early enough you can stake out
a spot on the raised seating/dancing platform near
the stage and check out Istanbul's newest IN place.
Sleek, slick, and sexy, Exen is worth the 7,50 YTL
cover on Friday and Saturdays.
| ddress: |
Siraselviler Cad. No:103/6 |
|
ClosingTime: |
midnight |
| tel: |
0212 292-2219 |
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On a street with more fire than
flair is a truly unique place, reminiscent of
Parisian bistros and Greenwich Village haunts. When
 you
walk into Engin Yorukoglu's Jazz Stop it's like
you've left Istanbul and entered another dimension
where serious music lives with a kind of subdued
energy just waiting to be released. Cozy and
comfortable, the Jazz Stop is the kind of place you
won't want to leave. Ever!
Engin is a patriarch of the music scene here and
has been creating fresh new musical interpretations
with various guest musicians for over thirty years.
More of an attitude than a bar, the tasteful brick
and wood atmosphere reflects the 23 years he spent
in Paris; he is one of those really cool people that
makes this city such an exciting place to be in. The
professionally designed bar is a perfect vantage
from which to watch the big screen TV and the high
tables give you a great view of the stage.
Off in the corner is a separate bar area for
relaxed privacy and gourmet snacks while you absorb
the acoustics of an astounding array
of some of the best musicians around...anywhere.
Sundays feature Tolga Candar, an Aegean folk
soloist, and Malabadi, a flamenco group, performs
every Monday. Tuesday nights are rapidly becoming an
institution, as Mogollar has been taking the stage
with its unique synthesis of traditional ethnic
music fused with modern Turkish rock.
We can't really call the Wed. thru Sat. group the
house band since famous musicians regularly sit in
and jam on some classic melodies, reflecting the
mood of the moment. They don't rip you off with
cover charges. You always get your money's worth.
Sundays and Tuesdays the first drink will cost you a
hefty 15,00 YTL; all other drinks at all other times
cost about 5,00 YTL, with discounts on Wed. and
Thurs. It's really worth it! The Jazz Stop is a
class act.
Jazz Stop
Tel Sok. No: 9 (at the end of Buyukparmakkapi
Sokak)
Tel: 0212 252-9314 |
HERCAI is one
of the cute cafe restaurants nestled among the other
cafes, restaurants, bars and bookshops in
Dumlupinar Sokagi. It's
 near
Greenhouse, a bookshop with a cafe and an underused
seminar room, which is run by an American woman and
right beside an underground looking bar called Mad!
In front of it, there is a stall of bric-a-brac
attended by a woman and beside it there is a
blackboard announcing the dishes of the day
unpretentiously in neat handwriting.
Hercai occupies the entire space of the nice
little three-storied old house. As you enter you are
greeted by the original cinema posters of socially
conscious films of the past such as Land and Freedom
by Ken Loach, Before the Rain, Children of the
Revolution and Protest. The restaurant is on the
second floor and the cafes on the third. You climb
up the stairs without fear of intrusion and come to
a room with a service bar, a desk and a couple of
comfortable chairs on the right and five or six
tables for the customers on the left. Sit anywhere
you like and be ready to be greeted by the friendly
Vildan or Songul.
In Hercai, the prices are as unassuming as the
place itself and the service is as agreeable as the
food they serve. They present a daily changing menu,
which has unchanging dishes of manti (Turkish
ravioli served with yoghurt, with or without
garlic), sausage plate, quiche and chicken schnitzel
everyday, and a sheet of notepaper to order what you
would like to have. Songul says that they have had
to add chicken schnitzel to the menu, because people
have asked for it so often.
There is a variety of dishes, which will easily
satisfy both vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.
If you like pasta, choose their macaroni with tomato
or green pepper sauce or with both. If you want to
try a traditional Turkish dish try Imambayildi
(translated into English literally, it is "the imam
loved it") that is aubergines cooked in olive oil
and served cold or Orman Kebabi with pieces of
boiled lamb and a variety of vegetables in natural
juicy sauce. You could also order boiled rice to
complement whatever you have chosen. Mind you, if
you do not wish to eat bread with your meal, unlike
the majority of the locals, tell them because bread
is free of charge and served automatically in a
basket.
A meal for two at Hercai will cost you around
$5-6 and you won't regret the forage into the
delightful back streets of Kadikoy. It's a great
place; check it out as soon as you can. It's good
value for money, with great service and a peaceful
atmosphere. It's worth every lira. Open Monday -
Saturday 9:00-21:30.
Hercai
Dumlupinar Sokak No: 21
Kadikoy
Tel: 0216 414 28 26 |
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