The place: Geyik Coffee Roastery & Cocktail Bar
The offerings: coffee & cocktails
Price range: latte 10 TL; cocktails 30-35 TL
The pros: Excellent coffee, great atmosphere and good tunes
The cons: Very small & the bathroom doors are see-through!
This cozy cafe is right down the street from Smryna, another well-known Cihangir hangout. By day, it’s a chill coffee house and by night, it’s a trendy craft cocktail bar. When we walked in, there was no coffee menu to be found, and instead, Serkan (the co-owner according to The Guide) simply asked us ‘what’s your drink?’ Normally, I take a pour over during the day but it was warm and I had just walked up from Karakoy, so I opted for an iced latte and I am glad I did. Serkan prepared the drinks right in front of us, and I was pleased to see he shook the lattes martini-style and served them with shaved chocolate. It’s certainly not standard latte preparation but it was a nice touch. The espresso was smooth and the drink frothy.
While sipping my drink, I admired the inside of the small cafe. A few stools were set up at the bar but most of the sitting space was on a bench alongside the opposite facing wall and towards the back of the cafe where there were free-standing tree stump stools. There were tables and cushions set up outside as well but all had been spoken for. Back inside I noticed the floor still had its original design and the ceiling was covered in rustic wooden beams. Behind the bar was a small image of a deer (geyik), the namesake of the cafe, set against a brick wall.
I also had a chance to check out the cafe’s cocktail menu, and I was shocked to see that the old fashioned had made the cut. For some months now, I have been searching Istanbul for an old fashioned, and I had come to the conclusion that the best and perhaps only old fashioned in all of Istanbul was the one I make at home (thanks to my friend Olivia who brought me the bitters from Boston). I’ll be back to try Geyik’s old fashioned, but not before I return for another one of those frothy lattes!
Word of warning: Don’t drink too much coffee otherwise you will have to use the bathrooms with see-through doors. Not sure how this can be possible? You’ll have to see for yourself…
A snapshot from our walk to Cihangir
The barista works his magic as Mr. Geyik looks on
It’s all in the details at Geyik
Shaken lattes at Geyik
From the seven hills of Istanbul 