Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers in Istanbul
Where a cellar states a style, Turkish producers are the common thread, often with Greek, French or Italian wines beside them. Harbiye holds three restaurants on this list: Lokanta by Divan, Foxy Nişantaşı and Spago Istanbul. Şans Restaurant in Levent holds 1,100 bottles, with depth in Turkish, Greek, French and Italian wines.
Gallada in Kemankeskaramustafapasa holds Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, with a cellar strong in Turkish and French producers, and AQUA in Yildiz holds the same award, with selections built around Turkish, Greek, French and Italian producers. Foxy Nişantaşı pours Turkish natural wines in an exceptional program. 29 in Kurucesme holds an exceptional program and a World's Best Wine Lists category win.
How this list is chosen: Restaurants with a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award or a deep wine list, listed alphabetically. Updated October 8, 2026.
29
Deep wine list
A Michelin Plate-awarded Turkish restaurant in Ulus, Beşiktaş, Restaurant 29 occupies a terrace position above the Bosphorus that frames minarets and the Istanbul skyline across the water. The kitchen works traditional Turkish foundations through a modern lens, with Mediterranean inflections running alongside the mezze and charcoal-grilled meats. The wine list carries enough depth to hold its own against the view.
AQUA
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
AQUA sits on the Bosphorus waterfront inside the Four Seasons Çırağan Palace, bringing together regional Turkish seafood and a wine list of 385 selections built around Turkish, Greek, French, and Italian producers. A 2025 Michelin Plate recognises the kitchen's consistency under Chef Görkem Özkan. For Istanbul's serious seafood dining tier, it is one of the few addresses that pairs Bosphorus-edge setting with verifiable culinary credentials.
Avlu Restaurant
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Set within the historic courtyard of the Four Seasons Hotel Sultanahmet, Avlu holds consecutive Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025) for its modern approach to Anatolian cooking. The kitchen works from a wood-fired oven and offers both an à la carte Anatolian menu and a set menu with a vegetarian option, positioning it a tier below Istanbul's starred Modern Turkish restaurants at a more accessible ₺₺₺ price point.
Banyan
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
On the Bosphorus waterfront in Beşiktaş, Banyan brings Asian contemporary cooking to one of Istanbul's most dramatically framed dining rooms. Views of Ortaköy Mosque frame the large windows while a DJ-led cocktail bar sets the pace. The menu focuses on fish-forward modern Asian dishes, from prawn gyoza to spicy green curry, with a kitchen that runs past 10:30pm on a shorter late-night menu.
Beyoglu Winehouse
Deep wine list
Beyoglu Winehouse pairs an Italian-Anatolian Fusion Wine Bar with a sommelier-led list, craft cocktails, and a terrace for leisurely dinner or late-night plans.
Casa Lavanda
1 Michelin star · Deep wine list
Casa Lavanda holds a Michelin star and sits roughly 40 kilometres from central Istanbul in the coastal town of Şile, attached to a family-run hotel whose garden supplies 80 percent of the kitchen's vegetables. Chef Emre Şen draws on Turkish culinary tradition and Italian technique, pairing a 300-label wine list with terrace tables overlooking a working kitchen garden. It is one of the few starred restaurants operating well outside the city's Bosphorus corridor.
Foxy Nişantaşı
Deep wine list
Foxy Nişantaşı holds back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025), placing it among Istanbul's most credible value-tier modern cuisine addresses. Sitting on Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi in one of the city's most polished neighbourhoods, it operates at the ₺₺ price point, making it a rare occasion restaurant that doesn't demand a ₺₺₺₺ budget.
Gallada
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Gallada holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and sits at the summit of Istanbul's price range, serving a Chinese-Turkish menu at dinner from a Kemankeş Caddesi address operated by Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels. Wine Director Nebiye Kaya oversees a 435-selection, 11,000-bottle cellar strong in Turkish and French producers, priced at the $$$ tier with a $100 corkage fee.
Hakkasan İstanbul
Deep wine list
Hakkasan Istanbul brings Cantonese cooking to the Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus in Kuruçeşme, where the kitchen holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025. At the ₺₺₺₺ tier, it sits alongside Istanbul's top Modern Turkish addresses but argues a different case: that a global Chinese fine-dining format, rooted in premium Cantonese technique, earns its place on a European waterfront.
Herise İstanbul
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
At a mid-tier price point relative to Istanbul's starred modern-Turkish cohort, it offers one of the city's more considered takes on Anatolian tradition without the ₺₺₺₺ premium of its Michelin-starred peers.
IZAKA TERRACE
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Positioned along İnönü Caddesi in Beyoğlu, Izaka Terrace occupies one of the neighbourhood's most discussed rooftop addresses, where the Bosphorus cityscape and the mechanics of a Turkish terrace dining tradition converge. The format places outdoor seating and the surrounding district's cosmopolitan energy at the centre of the experience, situating it within Beyoğlu's broader culture of refined open-air dining.
Lokanta by Divan
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
A Michelin Plate holder for 2024 and 2025, Lokanta by Divan sits inside the Divan İstanbul hotel in Harbiye and delivers traditional Turkish cooking at a price point well below Istanbul's modern-Turkish fine-dining tier. The menu runs to generous mezze spreads designed for sharing, with a wine list of 190 selections drawn largely from Turkish producers.
Mikla
1 Michelin star · Deep wine list
On the 18th floor of the Marmara Pera, Mikla has spent two decades refining what New Anatolian Cuisine means in practice: producers from across Turkey, technique shaped by Nordic discipline, and a Michelin star earned in 2024. The 360-degree rooftop view over Beyoğlu and the Bosphorus is the backdrop, but it is the cooking that keeps the reservation list full.
Şans Restaurant
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Şans Restaurant in Levent brings Mediterranean and Turkish cooking to a ₺₺₺ price point that sits a tier below Istanbul's dominant modern-Turkish fine-dining names, yet holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 and an Opinionated About Dining ranking among Europe's top 500 restaurants. The wine program, 1,100 bottles, 200 selections, with particular depth in Turkish, Greek, French, and Italian labels, is one of the more serious in the city at this price level.
Sapa İstanbul
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Set in Ataşehir's corporate district, Sapa İstanbul operates across breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a 12-course set menu available from 2pm. The kitchen applies open-flame technique to Turkish ingredients, pairing grilled rockfish with salmon cream, chestnut, and capers in a format that sits between traditional Anatolian reference points and contemporary restraint. A confident address for those willing to cross the Bosphorus for it.
Spago Istanbul
Deep wine list
Wolfgang Puck's first Turkish venture crowns The St. Regis Istanbul with California-meets-Bosphorus sophistication, where the well-known chef's signature fusion cuisine, including his famous smoked salmon pizza, unfolds against panoramic city views on one of Istanbul's most glamorous rooftops.
Turk Fatih Tutak
2 Michelin stars · Deep wine list
Istanbul's most decorated modern Turkish restaurant, Turk Fatih Tutak holds two Michelin stars and ranked 66th on the World's 50 Best list in 2023. Operating from a Şişli address with dinner service running Tuesday through Saturday, the restaurant represents a specific strand of contemporary Turkish cooking, technically rigorous, referentially deep, and positioned within a small peer group of fine-dining addresses redefining what the cuisine can do on a global stage.
Planning restaurants for wine lovers in Istanbul
- Which restaurants on this list hold Wine Spectator awards?
- On this list, Gallada in Kemankeskaramustafapasa and AQUA in Yildiz hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Award of Excellence is held by Şans Restaurant in Levent, Lokanta by Divan in Harbiye, Avlu Restaurant in Sultan Ahmet, Banyan in Yildiz, Herise İstanbul in Resitpasa, Sapa İstanbul in Kucukbakkalkoy and Casa Lavanda in Ulupelit, Şile. That is two Best of Award of Excellence restaurants and seven Award of Excellence restaurants on the page.
- Which neighborhood has the most restaurants on this list?
- Harbiye has the most restaurants on this list, with three: Lokanta by Divan, Foxy Nişantaşı and Spago Istanbul. Lokanta by Divan holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and a list of 190 selections drawn largely from Turkish producers. Foxy Nişantaşı pours Turkish natural wines in an exceptional program. Spago Istanbul keeps an exceptional, sommelier-led list and serves a tasting menu as well as a la carte.
- What wine styles do these lists emphasize?
- Turkish wine is the style these lists emphasize when a style is stated. Şans Restaurant in Levent and AQUA in Yildiz name Turkish, Greek, French and Italian producers. Gallada in Kemankeskaramustafapasa is strong in Turkish and French producers. Herise İstanbul in Resitpasa and Lokanta by Divan in Harbiye weight their selections toward Turkish producers. Foxy Nişantaşı in Harbiye pours Turkish natural wines.
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