Café entertainment in Turkey
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A
Fes Café
After an afternoon spent trading repartee with the bazaar’s touts, you’ll be in need of a drink. Fortunately, this stylish cafe just outside the Nuruosmaniye Gate is a wonderful place to relax over a good-quality coffee, a beer or a glass of wine. It’s also home to a branch of Abdulla Natural Products. There’s another branch of the cafe inside the Grand Bazaar.
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Il Porto
There are a number of ways to observe the glam Bebek set at play: you can dine at the mega-pricey Poseidon, have a coffee on the terrace at Starbucks or enjoy a casual summer lunch on the terrace here at Il Porto. Built right over the water, this is a good spot to see and be seen - the food is perfectly acceptable, but that's not why the crowds are here. Wear casual designer togs and have a botox shot before you go.
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Yeni Marmara
This is the genuine article: a neighbourhood teahouse packed to the rafters with backgammon-playing locals, who play while sipping tea and puffing on nargilehs. The place has bucketloads of character, featuring rugs, wall hangings, low brass tables and fasıl music on the CD player. In winter a wood stove keeps the place cosy; in summer patrons sit on the rear terrace and look out over the Sea of Marmara.
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Kahve Dünyasi
The name means coffee world, and this new coffee chain has the local world at its feet. The secret of its success lies with the huge coffee menu, reasonable prices, delicious chocolate spoons (yes, you read that correctly), comfortable seating and free wi-fi. The filter coffee is better than its espresso-based alternatives. There’s another branch just near the tram stop at Kabataş.
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Perla Kallâvı Nargile Café
Follow the scent of apple tobacco to this nargileh cafe occupying the top three floors of an ornate building on İstiklal Caddesi (enter from the side street). It’s inevitably full of young people (including plenty of women) enjoying a glass of tea and a bubbling pipe in the welcoming indoor spaces or on the small terrace with its Sea of Marmara views.
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Tophane Nargileh
This atmospheric row of nargileh cafes behind the Nusretiye Mosque is always packed with trendy teetotallers. Follow your nose to find it – the smell of apple tobacco is incredibly enticing. While there, you will get an insight into the city’s favourite pastime, keyif (the art of quiet relaxation).
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Kef Bar
A new, multipurpose place with tables right on the beach, you could pass the whole day here if you so fancied. From 09:00 to 20:00, it behaves as both café and beach club (with its own shower and changing rooms); from 20:00 to 23:00, it's a bar (with happy hour); and from 23:00 it's a club-cum-bar.
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Çay Bahçesi
Van's undoubted social hub, this tea garden boasts lots of shade and greenery and is an attractive place to imbibe the atmosphere of central Van. It's deservedly packed with an eclectic crowd any time of the day. Nab a seat under the trees and linger over a cup of tea.
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Ay Cafe
The Grand Bazaar isn’t known for the quality of its cafes, but this atmospheric place near the Cevahir Bedesteni (aka Old Bazaar) goes some way towards bucking the trend, serving decent espresso coffee and good cakes and sandwiches.
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Çay Bahçesi
Need some hush and a cool place to rest your sightseeing-abused feet? Nothing beats this delightful, leaf-dappled tea garden, just off the Turkish Islamic Arts & Ethnography Museum. Nurse a (soft) drink and you'll feel happy with life.
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Etham Tezçakar Kahveci
This tiny tea and coffee stop is found smack-bang in the middle of Halıciŀar Caddesi. Its traditional brass-tray tables and wooden stools stand in stark contrast to the funky and more-expensive Fes Café opposite.
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Osmanlı Çarşısı
An early-20th-century house serving çay, coffee and nargilehs. It's popular with Turkish students, there's a rustic toast wagon outside and the whole place has more character than a whirlpool full of dervishes.
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Ada Aile Çay Bahçesi
The best place for a tea is Genclik Parkı, across the road from Opera Meydanı. Head straight for the Ada Aile Çay Bahçesi, which juts out into the lake, to watch the world go by over a samovar.
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Orange 22
The Orange is a bit of an unusual bar-club option amid the pub and restaurant strip south of town, opting for a slick modern metallic style with vintage car pics and lots of spirits at the front terrace.
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Emin Çay Evı
A great, old-fashioned teahouse set on a lovely square, this place is in the heart of the bazaar. You can join the locals for a nargileh (water pipe), gossip and people-watch.
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Konya Fuarı
In the evening it's fun to duck into the grounds of the Konya Fuarı, where you can sip tea while watching the locals navigate pedaloes round an artificial lake.
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Barantico
Tucked away in a courtyard, this is the place to dabble in all things occult, with tarot readings, séances and the reading of coffee grains the order of the day.
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Asmalı Konak Cafe
A soothing venue set in a converted house, on a lively pedestrianised street. Nab a table on the balcony and watch the world stroll by with a glass of ayran in hand.
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Big Boss Café Bar
With tables on the seafront and English newspapers, this new café is a relaxed and (with its competitive prices), cheap way to enjoy the seafront.
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Old Café
If you fancy a puff on a nargileh, the Old Café has comfortable seats in either the Ottoman-style salon or on the beach outside.
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Kahve Bahane
A modern-style coffeehouse in a restored wooden building, complete with internal courtyard and full menu of fancy coffees.
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Nargileli Kahwe
If it's mellow you're after, head for this old stone house where you can chill out on kilim- and cushion-covered benches.
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Café Bülbül
Another peaceful refuge. It lures in students in search of a pleasant spot to flirt and relax over a soft drink.
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Café Yalı Bar
Positioned as it is on a three-road junction, this is a popular place for people-watching.
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Passport Cafe & Bar
This new and funky place is modern and more central with tables on the seafront.
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