Cezayir means Algeria in Turkish and stands for excellent cuisine in Istanbul. The restaurant with the North African name is well hidden behind the Galatasaray High School and offers a state of the art blend of couscous and kebabs modernised and improved.

I bring my visitors there when they think they know all about what Turkey has to offer in terms of grilled meat, fish and mezze starters. Cezayir takes them to the next level.

Take the crispy pastry rolls (börek), which you will find in many Turkish restaurants. In Cezayir they are as thin as a pencil, twice as long and they come with pastrami served sticking from a small glass with a shot of a slightly spicy tomato sauce. And then, oh boy, there is the chicken liver pate made with whisky and pistachios. Usually it goes down very well even among those of my friends who don’t appreciate chicken liver or whisky.

From the list of main courses the sirloin with yoghurt and pita as well as smoked salmon with dried rose petals are all time favourites.

It all comes with an extensive wine list and an unusually knowledgeable and pretty good English speaking staff.

Cezayir, Hayriye Caddesi 12, Galatasaray; Beyoglu; Istanbul

 

Navigation among the calling touts of Istanbul’s Nevizade area is not an easy thing to do. The selection of restaurants and bars is vast, and you don’t even have to look for fish and mezze to eat, or beer and raki to drink – they will look for you, thanks to the multi linguistic waiters.

Nevizade is very crowded on weekends, even by Istanbul standards, but not all the city’s nightlife is equally amusing. I usually head to Peyote, located on a side alley to the main street of Nevizade, where amusingly enough it’s not a question of managing a tout, but more to convince the doorman to actually let one in.

Peyote doesn’t accept men only groups or male individuals on weekends. They believe women will be able to control otherwise uncontrollable men, and don’t give a damn whether you are a regular, a foreigner, sober or well dressed. Guys only groups cannot enter. Period!

If you are a man who doesn’t have female company, you can try to sneak in with a group who does, or try to convince any female coming in or out or passing by, to accompany you through the door. Once inside the GT’s on the roof top terrace are a pleasant, but strong reward. It’s the genuine and relaxed atmosphere on the roof that has earned Peyote its name among Turks in their 20’ies and 30’ies and expat residents.

Peyote, Kalyoncukulluk Caddesi. No. 42, Beyoglu, Istanbul

Go further: Read Mashup Culture's guide to the best roof top bars (including Peyote) in Istanbul here.

The Büyükada Island is a short 45 minutes boatride (with a fastferry) from Istanbul’s European shore, but a world apart. It’s the major of the Prince’s Islands in the Marmara Sea and an oasis alone to the fact that it has no cars.

Arriving in Büyükada is like arriving in any Turkish fishermen’s village, aside from the fact that the Asian side of Istanbul with its smog and high rise buildings is clearly visible across the water.

One has to hire a horse carriage, rent a bike or simply walk to get to the other side of the island – or to the Greek monastery on the hill top – to really appreciate the getaway and enjoy the rare silence.

Since horses are the main means of transportation and as abundant as taxis in mainland Istanbul, you may for once relax and not feel like a lazy tourist when sitting in the carriage. Just enjoy. The many horses in the island not only provide access to the far corners, but also a very rural scent of horse dung.

Although the island has no real beaches it’s a favourite weekend destination for Istanbullus eager to get their minds far away in a short distance. Either they go for daytrips or stay in rented houses or hotels while spending their day time in one of the plenty private swimming pools accessible with admission.

Büyükada, conventional and fast ferries leave Istanbul’s European shore from Kabatas, and the Asian shore from Bostanci.

For further info go here.

It’s beyond me what has happened to Turkish architecture over the last 100 years. Until the end of Ottoman empire Turkish-Ottoman architects build fabulous palaces, houses and mosques, but for the last century all but a few new constructions have only been build for their purpose and not for their beauty.

So even the most die hard visitor to Istanbul stands a chance of getting tired of all the ugly concrete and dirty, broken streets that happen to fill Istanbul.

When the fatigue hits me, I head out to Kanyon Mall, an architectural pearl a few metro stops from Taksim Square. Together with other Istanbullus craving for calm, coolness, soft curves and place to spend their buck, I window shop at the very pricey designer stores and then spend my lira at Wagamama or The Kitchenette restaurant, along side the westernised bankers and insurance brokers working in the vicinity.

Kanyon is the hyper modern Turkey that is just as much a part of the country as the sunny beaches and the sultan palace, but much less recognised.

It doesn’t matter how early one heads for breakfast at Leyla in Beyoglu’s Tünel Square - one seat is always taken. Smokey the cat is a part of the inventory and can usually be found in of the chairs under the first or the second table, and from its chair it does not move.

Smokey owes its name to its colour, but it’s hard to miss the reference to the lack of smoking ban in Turkish cafes and restaurants. Smoking is, until the summer of 2009, allowed everywhere.

The smoke in Leyla is by all means not heavier than the well nourished cat, and Leyla is no better or worse than most other places when it comes to smoke, but when it comes to a variety of breakfast, Leyla’s sure better than most.

If one is in a Scandinavian mood there is the Oslo-plate including smoked salmon, if Spain is your thing the Madrid-plate comes with chorizo and fans of British food may opt for the Londra (London) that offers bacon, eggs and more. If one of those isn’t enough there is also a choice of seven different omelettes.

I am very picky with my coffee and sorry to admit that neither Turkish coffee nor Nes-coffee floats my boat. It has to be filtered or espresso, and they do both pretty well at Leyla.

Leyla; Tünel Meydanı No. 4 Beyoğlu, Istanbul