Food and Drink
Turkish aliment combines comestible traditions from the people's drifting accomplished in Central Asia with influences of the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Guests are usually able to go into a kitchen and accept from the pots if they cannot accept the names of the dishes. A advanced ambit of all-embracing cuisine is aswell accessible in the aloft cities, and accepted German and British dishes forth the coasts.
Things to know: Turkey is a civil accompaniment and booze is broadly enjoyed, although during Ramadan it is advised affable for visitors to abstain bubbler booze in public. Some bounded restaurants do not serve alcohol.
National specialities:
• Köfte (spicy sausage-shaped meatballs fabricated of minced lamb).
• Shish kebab (pieces of meat threaded on a skewer and grilled).
• Pide (the Turkish agnate of pizza topped with cheese and eggs).
• Dolma (vine leaves or vegetables blimp with ache basics and currants).
• Lokum (Turkish Delight - originally fabricated from dates, honey, roses and jasmine apprenticed by Arabic gum and advised to sweeten the animation afterwards coffee).
National drinks:
• Raki (anisette), accepted as 'lion's milk', which clouds if baptize is added. Bubbler raki is a ritual and is commonly accompanied by a array of meze (small savoury appetizers).
• Ayran (a auspicious yoghurt drink).
• Çay (tea - usually bashed atramentous and able and served in baby tulip-shaped glasses).
• Able atramentous Turkish coffee (traditionally brewed over hot dress-down and served actual sweet).
• Turkish beer, red and white wines.
Legal bubbler age: 18.
Tipping: A account allegation is included in auberge and restaurant bills. It is accepted to leave a baby tip (10 to 15%) for barbers, hairdressers, Turkish Bath associates and waiters in smarter establishments. In bargain cafes and restaurants a baby alms is appreciated. If application taxis, cartage should just annular up the fare.
Nightlife
Turkey's newfound bread-and-butter affluence and cultural about-face to the West has angry abounding new nightclubs to accessible for business in contempo years. Istanbul has the better array with an affluence of clubs in the Taksim Square breadth that break accessible until the aboriginal hours. Some clubs accept a able Turkish character, with reside Turkish music, while others are adequately duplicate from those in western Europe and play annihilation from abode and techno to abundant metal. Istanbul aswell has absolutely a few applesauce bars. Cover accuse tend to be on the top side.
Belly dancing is a Turkish attitude but these canicule it tends to be put on mostly for the tourists. Shows are about staged at ample hotels. The attitude is to tip the ballerina by agreement a bankrupt agenda in an adapted allotment of her costume.
Turks like to banquet in tavernas alleged meyhane, breadth acceptable aliment is accompanied by folk music and dancing. Commonly these were all-male, rather base establishments but a lot of modern-day meyhane are adequate places for adopted visitors of either sex to visit.
There are theatres with concerts in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir and a lot of towns accept cinemas, although the contempo appearance of home DVD payers is now demography its toll. Turkish baths (hamam) are accepted and a Turkish institution. Even the aboriginal boondocks will about accept a hamam and beyond towns and cities usually accept one for anniversary alone neighbourhood. Baths are either appointed accurately for men or women, or a individual hamam will accept abstracted aperture times to board males and females.
Shopping
Istanbul's Kapali Carsi Exchange has jewellery, carpets and antiques for sale. There are aswell a ample amount of shops affairs carpets and Turkish handicrafts in the Sultanahmet district. The Egyptian Exchange abreast Galata Bridge is a acceptable abode to buy aliment products. Turkish handicrafts cover a affluent array of bolt and embroideries, online writing of copper, atramentous and tile, mother-of-pearl, inlaid articles, covering and suede products, jewellery and, aloft all, carpets and kilims. Nargiles (water pipes) and agreeable instruments aswell accomplish good, analytic priced souvenirs, as do spices like saffron and sumac.
Outside Istanbul, a lot of added cities and beyond resorts accept a exchange breadth breadth visitors can buy souvenirs and handicrafts. About this is a covered exchange breadth breadth the appurtenances on auction are bogus in workshops adjoining to the shops that advertise the produce. Acceding is essential, although you are absurd to abate the allurement amount by all that abundant unless it was absolutely unrealistic to alpha with. Begin acceding at a amount somewhat beneath what you are absolutely accommodating to pay. If affairs an old carpeting or kilim, it is important that the agent issues an balance (fatura) that states the carpet's estimated age and acquirement amount in adjustment to amuse community that it is not an antiquity. Beware of alleged ‘antiques' peddled at some archaeological sites like Ephesus. These are of actual ambiguous antique and, besides, would be actionable to consign if they were genuine.
Shopping hours: Daily 0930-1900 in day-tripper areas. Closing hours vary, with some shops blockage accessible until midnight. Outside day-tripper areas shops may abutting at lunchtime and on Sundays. Istanbul covered market: Mon-Sat 0800-1900 (closed Sunday).
