Meze and Meyhane Culture

A meyhane evening does not work like a restaurant meal. A tray of cold mezes comes to the table first and you choose from it - haydari, fava, patlıcan salatası, lakerda, çiğ köfte, stuffed vine leaves, marinated sea bass - then hot plates arrive in a second wave, fried calamari, börek, prawns in butter, and only much later, if at all, does anyone order fish or grilled meat. The drink is rakı, an aniseed spirit poured into a tall narrow glass, topped with water so it turns cloudy white, and taken with ice and a separate glass of water alongside. The pace is deliberately slow, the conversation is the point, and in the older meyhanes fasıl musicians work the tables. The word is Persian, the institution predates the Republic by centuries, and it survived periods when drinking was heavily discouraged. Nevizade in Beyoğlu, Kumkapı by the Marmara and Kadıköy's bar streets are the classic clusters.

What you actually see

• The cold meze tray - brought to the table to choose from.
• The rakı ritual - the spirit clouding as water is added.
• The hot second wave - börek, calamari and fried plates.
• The fasıl musicians - table-to-table music in the old houses.

When to go

Year-round, in the evening - meyhanes open late afternoon and run past midnight. Book at weekends in the popular streets.

Honest expectations

The bill adds up fast: mezes are charged individually and rakı is expensive. Tourist-strip meyhanes push set menus and musicians expect tips. Pace yourself - rakı is around forty-five percent.

Nearby

Nevizade and Asmalımescit are off İstiklal; Kadıköy's Kadife Sokak is the Asian-side equivalent.