İzmir is widely regarded as the rakı capital of Turkey — a distinction the city wears with considerable pride. Rakı, the anise-flavoured spirit that turns milky when water is added, is the traditional accompaniment to a meyhane meal of hot and cold meze, grilled fish, and long conversation. The meyhane (roughly: tavern) culture of İzmir is at its most vivid in Alsancak and along the Kordon.
The proper way to drink rakı is slowly, with ice and water on the side, and with food throughout — it is not a shot but a companion for an evening. The meze sequence at a proper İzmir meyhane begins with cold dishes (hummus, cacık, tarama, stuffed peppers) and proceeds to hot starters (arnavut ciğeri, grilled halloumi, fried calamari) before the main course of fish arrives. The ritual is the same from Bodrum to Istanbul, but İzmiris will tell you — and are probably right — that it is best here.