Just thinking about Haci Abdullah's sensational İmam Bayıldı (eggplant stuffed with ground lamb, tomatoes, onions and garlic) makes our taste buds go into overdrive. This İstanbul institution (est 1888) is probably the best <

You'll find all the traditional favourites, as well as a wide selection of desserts, including home-bottled fruit compote and a damn fine künefe (shredded wheat pastry with pistachios, honey and sugar). The elegant surrounds feature bottle

The stream of chauffeur-driven limousines stopping outside Balıkçı Sabahattın is testament to its enduring popularity. Indoor eating is in a wooden Ottoman house, but most prefer to eat outside under a leafy canopy. The menu offers

In summer, grab a table in the garden with the politicians and industrialists and try and guess whether the glamorous women at their tables are wives, daughters or mistresses. We know where we'd put our bets.

It's not often that you'll get to try Ottoman dishes devised especially for a 16th-century royal circumcision feast, but this is what's on offer here. The food is magnificent, served in elegant surrounds. Try the yufkada kuzu incik marmarinali (

Rami is one of the frontrunners of the Ottoman cuisine revival, and its renditions of the cuisine are invariably successful. Its aptly decorated Ottoman era dining rooms complete the picture, but the favoured spot for dinner is the rooftop terrace, whi

A secluded flower-filled garden and fairy-tale-like glass conservatory around the corner from Aya Sofya is waiting just for you. You'll find Konuk Evi one of the most relaxing places in the city to enjoy an al fresco lunch. Salads, burgers, sandwich an

Four floors of felt hats and antique costumes and textiles from Central Asia are artfully displayed next to rugs from Persia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Antolia. The owners here really know their stuff, and most of their sales are international and

If you're after a special something you know no one else will have back home look no further. The owner's range of quality, Ottoman-inspired, but contemporary funky clothing look simply fantastic with a wristful of her handmade beads.

It's best to buy lokum (Turkish delight) in specialist shops and you can't find one more specialised than this. The stuff was invented by Ali Muhiddin in the 18th century, and it's now sold from this (the original) shop by his descendants.

Turkish branch of the international gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender liberation group.

This is the only women's library and information centre in Turkey.

About 2km northeast of Taksim Sq, this hospital has US administration and a dental clinic.

This terrace of nine lovingly restored wooden houses lining Topkapı Palace's outer wall is furnished with original Ottoman antiques. Here you sleep by Aya Sofya's back door and Topkapı Palace's front door.

This would have to be in one of Istanbul's best locations. Each of the terraces faces a quaint cobbled lane, Soğukçeşme Sokak, which backs Aya Sofya. You're also only a short stroll from Old Istanbul's many other sights. Breakfast here i

The best budget option in the city, the Side wins hands down for its fabulous value for money. Here you get a high-standard room (we're relieved to see festering walls are not mandatory for every budget option in the city), squeaky-clean bathrooms and

Side has an unrivalled range of rooms, both with and without bathrooms. The hotel's rooms are top-notch: comfortable and decorated with care. Some have private balconies. Right next door, the Pension's rooms go to show that care can go into budget deco

Ah Empress Zoe, let us count the ways we love you: the garden is gorgeous, the terrace is superb, the rooms are immaculate and supremely tasteful. In the fiercely competitive Sultanahmet hotel scene Empress Zoe sets the standard.

Each time we visit the garden seems to get bigger. What better place to hide yourself than in a shady nook here, away from Istanbul's hurly burly, and get lost in a book? At the Empress Zoe you also get immaculate rooms and tasteful Byzantine-inspired

KeVe is possibly Istanbul's most atmospheric bar. In a plant-filled Belle Epoque arcade opposite the Tünel station, KeVe is invariably full of 30- to 40-somethings enjoying the supreme people-watching from its corner side vantage. An excellent spo

This is second home to the city's house aficionados, who come here to zone in to sets by some of the best mixmasters from Turkey and the rest of Europe. Those in the know go to Reina first, then come here to after party. Turn up before

This teeny (unsigned) watering hole is a favourite with locals, and no wonder. On a balmy evening the laneway is heaving with chattering, chain-smoking artsy folk, sipping a beer or three. Dress down and come ready to enjoy an attitude-free evening.

There are a number of touristy 'Turkish Shows' around town providing a snapshot of Turkey's folk dances (with belly-dancing). Shows are usually accompanied an expensive dinner and the food can be mediocre, at best. Still, if you're keen, these are th

During the summer months this huge outdoor club is where cashed-up beautiful people party until the wee hours alongside spectacular views of the Bosphorus. Food is available and the dress code is glamour, darlings. The fashionable arrive late, the DJ's

Home to Selim the Sot, who drowned in the bath after drinking too much champagne and İbrahim the Mad, who lost his reason after being locked up for four years in the infamous palace kafes (cage), the famous Topkapı Palace would have to

Mehmet the Conqueror built the first Topkapı Palace shortly after the Conquest in 1453, and lived here until his death in 1481. Subsequent sultans lived in this rarefied environment until the 19th century. Mahmut II was the last emperor to occupy

A triumph of harmony, proportion and elegance, the Mosque of Sultan Ahmet (known as the Blue Mosque), has six minarets and the courtyard is the biggest of all of the Ottoman mosques. The interior similarly grand: the blue tiles that give the building i

To fully appreciate the mosque's design you should approach it via the middle of the Hippodrome rather than walking straight from Sultanahmet Park through the crowds. Once inside the courtyard, which is the same size as the mosque's interior, you'll be

Kapalı Çarşı (Grand Bazaar) has been a shopper's Mecca since just after the mid-15th century, when the smallish warehouse was turned into a teeming bazaar by a constant stream of traders, selling everything from carpets to cummin. T

Tourist shops selling glittery geegaws line the main streets, but delve into the back streets and you'll still find Istanbullus buying a few metres of cloth, a gold bangle for a daughter's birthday, a beautifully crafted gold-plated 'eye' to ward off e

Emperor Justinian (527-65) had the Aya Sofya (known as Haghia Sofia in Greek and also called Church of the Divine Wisdom) built as part of his effort to restore the greatness of the Roman Empire. Recognised until 1453 as the greatest church in Christen

On entering his great creation for the first time almost 1500 years ago, Justinian exclaimed, 'Glory to God that I have been judged worthy of such a work. Oh Solomon! I have outdone you!' Entering the building today, it is easy to excuse his self-congr

Basilica Cistern, with its 336 columns and a high, vaulted ceiling, is an incredible Byzantine relic that was primarily used to store water for the Great Palace and surrounding buildings. Constructed using columns, capitals and plinths from ruined buil

Built by Justinian in AD 532, is a great place to while away time, especially during summer when its cavernous depths stay wonderfully cool. Don't miss the two columns in the northwestern corner supported by upside down Medusa heads or the column towar

Dolmabahçe Palace was designed to deny the overwhelming evidence of Ottoman military and financial decline in the mid-19th century. But when Sultan Abdül Mecit's architects concocted this dripping-with-wealth, Ottoman-European palace, it did

The palace is divided into two sections, the over-the-top selamlık (ceremonial suites) and the slightly more restrained harem-cariyeler (harem and concubines' quarters). If you only have enough time to see one, be sure to make it the

Back in Byzantium days, elections weren't decided by a namby-pamby voting system; often an emperor's fate hung on the outcome of a chariot race. Races were held at the Hippodrome between the rival 'Greens' and 'Blues'. Support for a team was akin to me

Ottoman sultans also kept an eye on activities in the Hippodrome. If things were going badly in the empire, a surly crowd gathering here could signal the start of a disturbance, then a riot, then a revolution.

Though the Hippodrome might be the

Divided into three buildings: the Archaeology Museum; the Museum of the Ancient Orient and the Tiled Kiosk; this complex houses the palace collections formed during the 19th century by archaeologist Osman Hamdi (1842-1910) and added to greatly since th

The first building as you enter is the Museum of the Ancient Orient. Overlooking the park, it was designed by Alexander Vallaury and built in 1883 to house the Academy of Fine Arts. It displays Anatolian pieces from Hittite empires and pre-Islamic item