Okay, I admit it: this post doesn’t really have anything to do with its title, except maybe that it is about two of our dinners in Istanbul, which I suppose can qualify as dates. I can’t help myself, I love this song and it’s just to easy to start throwing out the lyrics when you actually get to Istanbul! Anyways, this post is actually about rooftop dining:
Rooftop dining is a popular and fun way to eat in Istanbul; on our trip we enjoyed two dinners on the rooftop terraces of Istanbul restaurants. The first time, we tried a restaurant recommended by the guidebook that sadly did not have the great service indicated. However, we had a great view of the Bosphorus and a bridge that lights up with color at night, so that was quite enjoyable. Our second attempt at rooftop dining was a bigger success. After some guidance from our hotel, we figured out how to get one of the major nightlife areas of town, on the northern side of the Golden Horn. Once you get to the northern side of the bridge, you get on a really, really old subway car that takes you through an uphill tunnel. This is definitely a tourist attraction, because it doesn’t go very far and seems to be mostly for show—but it did save us from an uphill walk. Once you exit the tunnel, you are at the end of a long street full of people, restaurants and shops. Further up the street, there are some side streets that are just packed full of restaurants. These are known as meyhanes and they are a really great place to go out to eat. One price gets you a set menu of mezzes, salad, hot appetizers, main course, dessert and drinks—there’s a lot of food. We paid 60 turkish lira apiece and literally got a bottle of wine each with our meals. Entertainment is provided by a house band playing traditional music; they come over to your table to play for tips. We mostly watched the other tables, full of locals, who really got the band going playing songs to which they were all singing along. It was great fun, and all happening on the rooftop terrace of the restaurant, so the air was nice and fresh as well. Food was great all over Turkey, but this was truly the most fun and unique dining experience we had on our trip.
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get any good photos from our dinners out, but we did have lunch on a rooftop in Sultanahmet on our last day in Istanbul, and it had the best view by far of the Blue Mosque.
A perk of rooftop dining: the great views! Here you can see the Blue Mosque.
A Little Bit of Monica 