Seven Questions to Ask Before Booking a Restaurant with a View in Istanbul

Plenty of restaurants in Istanbul promise a view; fewer keep the promise. The problem is usually not dishonesty but vagueness: if the sea is visible from the corner of one table, the restaurant technically qualifies. Asking these seven questions before booking saves the evening.

1. Which way does the view face?

This decides whether you will see the sunset. West-facing places look at the sun; those facing east and north look at the city the setting sun is lighting. In Istanbul the second is usually the better of the two, because the view here is the city itself.

2. How many tables actually see it?

The most important question. If eight tables out of forty have the view, your chances of landing one of them are slim. Ask it directly: “Are there tables without a view?”

3. Is there a charge for a table with a view?

Some places set a minimum spend, or reserve the view tables for particular menus. If it is not asked at the time of booking, it turns up on the bill.

4. What floor are you on?

The sea seen from the ground floor and the sea seen from the fifth are not the same thing. Height layers the view: rooftops and trees in front, water in the middle, the far shore behind. Without height the picture stays flat.

5. What happens in winter and in rain?

Most terraces close between November and March, or move guests indoors to a room with no windows. If you are booking in winter, ask. Places with a retractable roof and heating keep the view all year.

6. Is there music, and until when?

On an evening you have chosen for the view, you may not want a loud DJ — or you may want exactly that. Both are fair; asking in advance settles either.

7. When is sunset, and how late does the kitchen run?

The two are connected. In June the sun sets at 20:30; at a restaurant whose kitchen closes at 21:00 you cannot both watch it and eat. Book so that you are seated forty-five minutes before sunset.

Our own answers

Here is what we would answer if we asked ourselves these questions:

The terrace opens to the view on every side — Galata Tower and the Golden Horn to the northwest, the mouth of the Bosphorus to the northeast, Gülhane Park and Hagia Sophia to the southwest. There is no table without a view, which is why there is no surcharge either. We are on the terrace floor, high on the ridge of the Historical Peninsula, so nothing blocks the line of sight.

The roof and sides open and close and there are heaters: an enclosed heated room in winter, an open terrace in summer — the view is the same in both. Live music is not every night but follows a programme, and music ends at midnight. The kitchen takes orders from 12:00 to 22:30, and the restaurant stays open until 00:00.

For bookings, see our Contact page.