OK, OK, we know you live here, you’re not a tourist. But you still have visitors, don’t you, and they want to see the sights? So if you’d rather not see your entire month’s salary gobbled up while showing them round you’re going to have to find some ways

Complimentary culture

It’s not easy to get out of paying the whopping entry fees for the Sultanahmet attractions even if you’re in possession of a residency permit which should, but rarely does, make you an honorary Turk and eligible to pay discounted local prices. But one attraction is a real a bargain. With a little help from the nice people at the Marshall Boya paint company, Thursdays are free as a bird at the Istanbul Modern, letting tightwads in to gawk at the current Andreas Gursky exhibition as well as that by local boy done good, Ahmet Polat, for nits! (Watch out for the prices in the alluring café, though.)
Istanbul Modern
(0212) 334 73 00
Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi, Antrepo No 4, Karaköy. Map 1, G8.
www.istanbulmodern.org

Sufi surprise   

Now, what about watching the whirling dervishes whirl? That has to cost an arm and a leg, doesn’t it? Certainly if you choose to get your kicks at the Galatamevlevihane in Tünel or at the ‘semahane’ inside Sirkeci station (!), you’ll be looking at forking out around YTL30 per person. The cheapskate way of getting in on the act is to head for the Dervish tea garden in Sultanahmet. There for the only somewhat extortionate price of a glass of tea (1.50YTL) you can watch a dervish going through his motions for not a kurufl more. The really cheeky misers among you won’t even pay that because you’ll just lean over the wall and watch from outside!
Dervish Cafe&Restaurant
Mimar Caddesi, Map 2, K3

Bosphorus
without binging

Enough with the art and culture – your friends want to see the Bosphorus * and they want to do it by boat.  Of course the very cheapest way to view both shores of the straits is from the decks of your bog-standard ferry cruising between, say, Eminönü and Kadıköy. Your friends won’t be fobbed off with that? Well, next up in terms of cheapness is one of the short cruises run by the private companies down at Eminönü. The snag is that most of them only make is as far as Rumeli Hisarı or perhaps even Arnavutköy. For just 2YTL more you can take the İDO ferry all the way to the Black Sea – one of those cases where paying out just that little bit more guaratees you so much more of a bargain. Your friends probably won’t buy this one either, but another option is just to take a stroll along the banks of the Bosphorus. Everyone will have their favourite stretch, but ours at Time Out would have to be the bit from Bebek to Kuruçeflme that takes you past the lovely old wooden houses of Arnavutköy. This, of course, comes absolutely free.
Ferry crossing: 1.30YTL. Private Bosphorus cruise: 5YTL. İDO one-way cruise to Anadolu Kavağı: 7YTL

Gorgeous Gülhane

Often overlooked in the rush to see the main sites of Sultanahmet is Gülhane Parkı, the huge park behind Topkapı Palace that was once part of the imperial playground. It costs not a kuruş to come in here, and it’s a lovely place whether in winter when you can admire the huge heronry in the trees beside the walls, or in summer when the Belediye gardeners do their damnedest with the annuals. For anyone still having nightmares about the small zoo that used to lurk unloved inside the park, fear not – it has gone the way of the sultans. Use Gülhane as a short cut to get from Aya Sofya to Sarayburnu. So much nicer than taking the tram!

20 cheap eats on İstanbul streets
Street food is probably an endangered species, what with EU hygiene regulations, street-tidying schemes et al. Time was when it was hard to avoid knocking into a man with simits piled high on his head, and when the vendors of fish sandwiches hollered their wares from boats bobbing up and down beside the Galata Bridge (not that those fish ever came direct from the Bosphorus, whatever the implication). But now almost everything edible comes hygienically retailed from neat little street-carts supervised by men in clean white Belediye overalls. For the romantics among us, something has certainly been lost, but if you’re after a cheap eat there’s still no better way to find one than to rock up to one of these carts and wrap your gnashers around whatever's on offer. Pat Yale tramps the streets to see what’s still cooking.


1 The humble simit       

The roll with a hole, the snatched simit has been the breakfast snack of choice since forever. To make a meal out of a simit buy 100gr of eski kaşar (strong yellow cheese) to go with it. Or head for one of the many Simit Sarayıs (or anything with a similar name) where you can sit down and sample a stuffed simit for just a few kuruş more. 0.50YTL

2 Fish sandwiches
(balık ekmeği)       

Staple of the Eminönü, Üsküdar and Kadıköy waterfronts, fresh mackerel sandwiches served with salad and onions, then doused with salt and lemon are a to-die-for Istanbul institution. Real tightwads look for the stalls that throw in a soft drink with the sarnie.
3YTL

3 Fresh corn to go (süt mısır)

Don’t be fooled by the sneaky word ‘süt’ on the labels – there’s nothing milky about these cobs which are just advertising their freshness (think 'baby corn' as a translation). Served piping hot and sprinkled with salt, they’re the Turkish answer to fish and chips (well, almost). 1YTL

4 Rice with chickpeas (nohutlu pilavı)

The polystyrene containers they’re served in may not be good for the environment, but a tray-full of boiled rice perked up with a handful of chickpeas makes a quick, cheap snack for a vegetarian. Meat-eaters should keep their eyes peeled for the same thing topped up with chicken for just a little more. 1YTL

5 Mussels fried and stuffed (midye dolma/midye tava)

Mussels - now there’s something to get the tastebuds working overtime, especially, apparently, if you’re male. These little taste bombs come in two economical packages. You can buy them straight up, stuffed with flavoured rice and then sprinkled with lemon juice from guys who hawk trays of the things around the ferry terminals and along ‹stiklal Caddesi just as the bars are emptying out. Alternatively, you can duck into the Balık Pasajı, ignoring the siren call of  the Nevizade (or even Çiçek Pasajı) full-fish-meal-dispensing meyhanes nearby and pick up a bowl of fried mussels for a fraction of the bill just for a starter.
0.35YTL for small stuffed mussel, 0.50YTL for large one. 1YTL for fried version.

6 Oven-averse kebab
(çiğ köfte)

Technically speaking, it’s no longer legal to retail real çiğ köfte (ie the version that mixes uncooked meat with bulgur) on the streets for excellent reasons of public hygiene. Instead, most of the men apparently selling it from their little carts are actually retailing a mixture of potato and bulgur got up to resemble a hand-kneaded and uncooked kebab wrapped in lettuce. Word has it there are still some carts selling the sort of super-tasty, melt-in-your-mouth çiğ köfte that won’t send you racing for the toilets in the upmarket suburb of Florya. Otherwise, this is one to sample with all due caution.
2YTL

7 The meat with no name (kokoreç)

Strangely, it’s the thought of losing kokoreç that has turned many Turks against joining the European Union. Why that should be when it resembles nothing less than the wound-out entrails of some martyred medieval saint is a mystery known only to the locals. But once you’ve got over the initial prejudice, kokoreç is not really all that bad after all. OK, so it’s still made from roasted sheep intestines wedged into a sandwich but after one too many glasses of şalgam you probably won’t care.
2.50-3YTL

8 Naked cucumbers (salatalık)

Now here’s something altogether less alarming - simple cucumbers helpfully peeled by somebody else and sold to you for a handful of kurufl. Very cooling in the summer sun – especially if you’re just filled your stomach with kokoreç! 0.50YTL

9 Sausage sandwich (sosisli sandviç)

The Turkish answer to the hot dog, and just as moreish, with or without the ketchup and mayonnaise. 3YTL

10 Kebabs with a twist
(döner kebap)



As the traditional finishing touch to many a British pub-crawl, döner kebabs – thin slices of lamb cooked in their own juice on an upright grill and then stuffed into a pitta-bread sandwich – will hardly need much introduction to many readers. Indeed, it would probably be fair to label the simple döner Turkey's main contribution to world cuisine. Here in İstanbul they're usually served inside half a loaf of bread stuffed with salad and condiments. You won't find real pitta bread, although durum döners come rolled up inside a soft bread sandwich that's a pretty close thing. 2.50-3YTL

11 Baked potatoes to go-go (kumpir)

Baked potatoes may not sound like a particularly Turkish delicacy but the fact remains that they make a very popular local snack, usually served in outsize size and piled high with an array of different toppings. The best-known place to eat kümpir is Ortaköy where the streets leading down to the water are lined with stalls all selling exactly the same thing for exactly the same prices. Expect to pay a couple of extra lira for the setting. 5-7YTL

12 Turkish answer to pancake (gözleme)

Gözleme (Turkish crepe) is a traditional Anatolian dish that has started popping up everywhere, probably because it's quick and easy to make, and canny retailers know that tourists will enjoy watching women clad in flalwar and headscarves making them with their thin traditional rolling pins. The pancakes come with a choice of fillings including cheese, potato, spinach or mince. They're at their delicious best eaten within  five minutes of cooking.
1-3YTL

13 Finger-lickin' liver (ciğer)

If you were put off liver for life by school dinners, fear not because the Turkish version is soft and tasty and comes with a serving of salad. It's a particular favourite of the Urfa region of Turkey where, come evening, whole streets are set up with little wooden seats where men (of course!) can sit and indulge a taste for innards. 3YTL

14 Luscious lahmacun
Yet another émigré from the east, a slice of lahmacun resembles a diminutive oblong pizza with a very thin crust. Traditionally, it's served with a topping of meat paste, tomato and tiny pieces of mince. Piping hot, its delicious. Cold, it can be a greasy disappointment.
2YTL

15 'Brothel' pudding
(halka 'kerhane' tatlısı)

The name says it all really. This curiously-named sweet batter snack that resembles the Spanish churros only sweeter was (is?) popular with men who wanted to fortify themselves on their way to the Karaköy whore-houses. Don't say we didn't warn you. 1YTL

16 Super-thick ice-cream
(dondurma)

Another eastern delicacy that has colonized the west of Turkey too is special Kahramanmarafl dondurması, an ice-cream so thick that it can be eaten with a knife and fork. To mark it out from your average Magnum, Maraş ice-cream is sold by men in elaborate costumes who insist on serving it with much bell-ringing and general fanfare. Kids will love the show – although they may be pleading for a more familiar Twister as soon as it’s over. 1YTL

17 The sweet with no name (lokma)

A favoured sweet of İzmirlis, lokma are little balls of super-sweet batter served in syrup. A few of these go a long way taste-wise, and they'll cost you much less than a plate of equally sticky-sweet baklava in a pastane. 1YTL

18 Fruit-and-nutarama
(kuruyemiş)

Turks just love their nuts, chomping away on them everywhere and scattering nut shells on the ground with a blithe disregard for nearby rubbish bins. Their fave flavours tend to be pumpkin (çekirdek) seeds, which they nibble out of their shells with their front teeth like budgerigars, or chickpeas (leblebi), which are a bit less messy. Chickpeas are a tad on the dry side, a snag which can be overcome by buying one of the coated versions. The hazelnut industry has done its best to persuade everyone that their life will never be the same without a daily dose of said nuts. Walnuts are more familiar (but rather surprisingly costly). Look out, though, for baskets of the unripe version that look like miniature brains – another Turkish favourite that tends to leave Westerners scratching their heads. Those on the tightest budget should avoid the nuts in favour of the raisins – the Turkish grape industry generates so much surplus fruit that prices are pleasingly low.
Prices vary

19 Turnip juice with pickles (turşulu şalgam)

This is one of those snacks one can’t help but think only a Turk would love. fialgam is a bitter drink much loved by Adanalıs but which shows up from time to time on the Eminönü waterfront. Locals brighten theirs up by stirring in a spoonful of pickled carrots, pickled gherkins and all manner of other peculiar pickled veg, Not something to wrestle with if you’re in a possession of a very sweet tooth. 1YTL

20 The juicy stuff – orange
version (sıkma portakal suyu)

If you can’t cope with the flalgam, there’s always freshly-pressed orange juice to fall back on. In early summer this is not just ubiquitous but almost absurdly cheap. The trendies go for nar suyu (pomegranate juice) instead but fork out a few liras more for their vanity. Either way, you can be sure you’d pay nearly three times as much in a Starbucks. 1.50YTL