Need to chill out after work? Now you can do so with a vengeance at the newly-opened Ice Bar in Istanbul’s Maslak district. The bar is a project of the Ice Hotel, the famous one-of-a-kind hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, which melts every spring and is rebuilt every winter from blocks of ice harvested from the Torne River.

You enter the Ice Bar through two successive airtight doors, whose purpose is to maintain the -5 degree Celsius temperature in the room. (The temperature is cold enough to keep the ice from melting, without making patrons too uncomfortable.) Before entering the bar, all patrons are provided with thick thermal capes with attached woollen mittens. The inside of the Ice Bar, designed by Sofi Ruotsalainen and Mikael Nilsson, is one of the most original interior spaces in Istanbul. The bar itself, as well as the walls, the bench in the corner with its low circular drinks table, the thick decorative screens – all are made of semi-transparent blocks of Torne River ice, with designs specially carved by Ms. Ruotsalainen. You could be forgiven for thinking you’re at a bar on the planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back – but that’s the fun of visiting the Ice Bar.

The drinks are doled out in rectangular goblets of ice with cylindrical holes carved out in the middle. Try not to let your lips or tongue freeze as you sample any of 21 different alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks served “in the rocks.” Among the other choices on the drinks menu, the Ice Bar offers eight varieties of cocktail made with Absolut vodka, with inventive names like Northern Light, Midnight Sun, and Aurora Borealis.

Due to high customer demand (and a maximum capacity of 50 people) reservations are highly recommended, which you can do on the Ice Bar’s website. The duration of each visit is 45 minutes, and payment must be made in advance. While we can’t guarantee that you and your companions will – dare we say it – “break the ice” at the Ice Bar, you should still try to find time for a visit to this unique Istanbul venue.