Araf Cafe & Bar

My ‘go to’ bar in Istanbul. Definitely better mid week with live music. If you’ve got a good crew with you you’re guaranteed to have a great night!

I like Araf, but you have to know when to go. It is generally overwhelmingly crowded on Fridays and Saturdays after midnight, and if you try to go around 1am or 2am, they sometimes don’t let people in.
That said, if you can get in and get a space to put your drinks, you’ll find that it is a diverse and incredible dancing bar. The downstairs area of the main bar is never crowded and often cooler, so go there to chill out when upstairs gets to claustrophobic.
This is a go-​to place after a lot of pre-​gaming. The one drawback is that the DJ (although I love him) tends to play the same songs, in the same order, every Saturday. That’s fine if you like those songs (and I do!)
Generally a mix of gyspy music, oldies, and international beats. If you like this kind of music, you’ll like Araf.
Also: drinks are cheap in comparison to similar styled bars nearby.

Araf is probably one of my favorite bars in the world. The only way to describe it is… international. I don’t think I talked with more than two people from any one country over a few hours there. Conversations that I can remember include a discussion of American BBQ with a fellow from Namibia studying physics at İstanbul Üniversitesi, my incredible dance moves with a lovely French woman who could speak no English while I could speak zero French, and why hollowbody electric guitars feedback with a Polish chap.
Earlier in the night live bands typically play in a gypsy punk style a la Gogol Bordello and later on it gets a bit more dancypantsy with a DJ spinning, uh, world music. Hot jams. Who knows. I knew most of the songs, and so did everyone else. I think I danced for a long time, but at this point I had drank more Efes than I care to recall. Point is, I love this place.
The entrance to Araf is shared with some other typical dance club that is on the ground floor. Just tell the door dude for said club where you are heading and they will let you in. They tried to squeeze a cover charge out of us, but they are only affiliated with the place downstairs. Araf never has a cover and is on the top floor, completely unaffiliated. Just be prepared for the five story hike up an incredibly sketchy staircase. Don’t worry, it ends in fun. You will dance. YOU WILL DANCE.