I've written two reviews for this place already; I ended up staying a total of 4 and a half months due to coronavirus and never regretted my decision to stay here. It's not a place for chefs, as the kitchen is minimal but was perfect for me and I bought and left behind a one-burner stove top, a pot and some silverware, so you can heat up left-over restaurant food. My favorite spots in the neighborhood: right below the apartment is a small mom and pop restaurant called Deniz Ev Yemekleri, serving typical Turkish food. Like all small businesses they're having a hard time, so please stop by and order some food for take-out, which I did 3 times a week during my stay. They're good people. A visit to Zanaat Cafe is a trip to someone's villa out in the countryside and it's only 2 blocks up from the apartment on Bogazkesen Caddesi. The birds are louder than the traffic and tables are set up throughout the large rustic garden. It's owned by the French Consulate and was once a French orphanage. The lease is held by an old man who took over an architectural practice started by Armenians in the 1880s manufacturing decorative components for buildings. You can pay to see his museum of molds and decorative elements if he's in. Some of his children continue the practice and one of his sons runs the cafe. They serve a good Turkish breakfast and I spent many pleasurable hours there with a friend. The best lemonade I've ever had was at Limonlu Bançe, which means Lemon Garden. It's easy to miss on the street; you have to go down a series of stairs to get to the small courtyard outside behind the building; it's protected by tarps with some indoor seating also. We had dinner there one night and the Italian style pasta was very good. If you like art, literature and architecture, then the writer Orhan Pamuk's Masumiyet Müzesi (Museum of Innocence) is a must. It's small but so intricate and detailed, that you may end up spending an hour there as we did. It's full of enigmatic, artful displays of Turkish ephemera and trivia that relate to his eponymous book. My Turkish friend had read the novel; I hadn't but still enjoyed it a lot. The museum is only a few blocks up Bogazkesen and right on Çukur Cuma Caddesi. Sakip Sabanci Müzesi is an old historical mansion up the Bosphorus with some nice illuminated manuscripts, art exhibits, an excellent restaurant and incredible views. Take Bus #11 at Tophane where the tram station is; get off at Besiktas and take the ferry to Emirgan where the large park is. From the ferry building take a right onto the promenade along the Bosphorus and the entrance to the museum is 5 minutes away. The meal we had at the restaurant was the second most expensive I've had in Istanbul, but was superb and worth every lira. Enjoy!