Nestled in a small cove that hides it from the nearby center of Sarıyer, not far from where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea, Rumeli Kavağı is officially part of Istanbul yet has managed to keep the structure, atmosphere and relative isolation of a real village. The only apparent sign of the surrounding megalopolis is the sight of the massive Yavuz Selim Sultan Köprüsü, the third bridge to span the Bosphorus, opened in 2016. Over a quarter of the neighborhood’s almost 4,000 inhabitants are involved in the fishing business, an integral industry in a city that partly owes its worldwide fame to a long-standing meyhane culture. Dining on grilled fresh fish and sipping on a glass of cloudy rakı, particularly while watching the lights of the city dance on the Bosphorus, is one of Istanbul’s purest pleasures.