It’s all about the view at this Bosphorus-facing café/restaurant just before the Second Bosphorus Bridge in Rumelihisarı. On the menu are the usual suspects of Turkish Westernised fare. Go for the sucuk. The bar is flashy.

What’s of interest is what’s above Seyir: the oxblood walls of Ahmed Vefik Pasha’s library. He was a colourful vizier, diplomat and translator of Voltaire. When a French envoy exceeded the permitted number of oarsmen for his caique, the pasha repaid the insult by ordering a carriage grander than Napoleon III’s. David Barchard tells his story in Cornucopia 38.