Cafés in Beşiktaş

Getting to Beşiktaş by ferry and metro

Ferries link the pier with Kadıköy, Eminönü, Üsküdar, the Princes' Islands, Sarıyer and the Beykoz shore, and dozens of bus routes start nearby.¹ The M7 metro reached Yıldız on 2 January 2023, with exits on Barbaros Boulevard at Yıldız University and Dikilitaş.⁷ An extension down to Beşiktaş Çarşı is under construction, so the boulevard is still the link between that station and the market.¹

Akaretler and Süleyman Seba Caddesi

The Akaretler row houses went up in the 1870s under Sultan Abdülaziz, built by the architect Sarkis Balyan to house Dolmabahçe Palace staff; Atatürk's mother, Zübeyde Hanım, was among their later residents.² Restoration began in the late 1980s and resumed in 2006, and the terraces now hold boutiques, cafés and the W Istanbul hotel.²

A statue of Süleyman Seba, who gave the street its name, stands in Şairler Sofası Park among busts of poets such as Orhan Veli Kanık.³ In 2018 Time Out singled out Minoa, at No. 52, as a bookshop, café and restaurant with brick-walled reading rooms in the basement, and Blum Coffee House, at No. 64/A, for naturally sweetened coffee and swing seats.³ Blum opens at 08:00 except on Saturdays. Şairler Kahvesi is at No. 50 A, and Amazonas Coffee Roastery, a specialty roaster, at No. 85/B.

Ihlamurdere Caddesi and Yeni Hamam Sokak

Moicano Coffee Roasters, another specialty roaster, is at 34 Ihlamurdere Caddesi, with Cup of Love at No. 44, Coffee Co NY at No. 70/B and Parodia Coffee House & Bistro at No. 106/A. Bettys Coffee Roaster is close by on Sinanpaşa Köprüsü Sokağı, and Järn Coffee at 2 Maşuklar Yokuşu.

Yeni Hamam Sokak, off the avenue, keeps older methods. Okkalı Kahve, at No. 3, was known in 2015 for dibek coffee, the beans pounded in a stone mortar, and for kervansaray, a milky mix with Yemeni coffee, menengiç (terebinth) and salep (orchid-root flour).⁵ Latife Turkish Coffee is at No. 11/A.

Ihlamur Kasrı, the pavilion that Nigoğayos Balyan built in the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid I (1839–1860), stands in its own palace garden.⁸ Its cafeteria keeps the shortest hours around, Tuesday to Saturday 09:00–18:00.

Şair Nedim and Yıldız Caddesi

Şair Nedim Caddesi has a run of small coffee shops: Molecule Coffee at No. 25/A, Let's Coffee at No. 29/A, Oldskull Coffee at No. 47 and kafeNAsanat, with vegan options, at No. 64/4. Quppacaffe, at No. 8, was serving Italian food and third-wave coffee in 2018, with a large garden on its lower level.³

Near Abbasağa Park, a small green space beside Çarşı, Deal Coffee at 41 Yıldız Caddesi was renovated from a coffee shop into a roastery by 2016 and roasts its own beans.¹⁴ Sans & Glede is on the same street at No. 17B.

Early starts and late tables in Beşiktaş

U/WE Coffee Roasters, at 21/A Çırağan Caddesi, opens daily at 07:00, the earliest posted start here, and closes at 00:00, with outdoor tables and takeaway. BLAK Coffee Co. at 29/D Barbaros Bulvarı and Cono di Latte on Altıntaş Sokağı, which has Wi-Fi, both keep 09:00–23:00, and Derbunker opens 10:00–23:00, also with Wi-Fi. Chef Coffee on Mısırlı Sokağı runs 08:00–20:00 on weekdays and until 02:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, the latest close in the quarter.