Cooking Alaturka

Sultanahmet


This hybrid cooking school–restaurant serves a set four-course menu of Turkish home cooking, regional Anatolian specialities and Ottoman classics. Sampling dishes such as imam bayıldı ('the imam fainted'; eggplant, onion, tomato and peppers slow-cooked in olive oil) with a glass of local wine is a wonderful way to experience authentic Turkish cuisine.

The menu can be tailored to suit vegetarians, vegans or those with food allergies (call ahead).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Sultanahmet attractions

1. Arasta Bazaar

0.07 MILES

This historic arcade of shops was once part of the külliye (mosque complex) of the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii). Mosques built by the great and…

2. Museum of Great Palace Mosaics

0.09 MILES

When archaeologists from the University of Ankara and Scotland's University of St Andrews excavated around the nearby Arasta Bazaar in the 1930s and 1950s…

3. Blue Mosque

0.13 MILES

İstanbul's most photogenic building was the grand project of Sultan Ahmet I (r 1603–17), whose tomb is located on the north side of the site facing…

4. Tomb of Sultan Ahmet I

0.17 MILES

The türbe (tomb) of Sultan Ahmet I, the Blue Mosque’s great patron, is on the north side of the mosque facing Sultanahmet Park. Ahmet, who had ascended to…

5. Sultanahmet Archaeological Park

0.18 MILES

Excavations here have uncovered parts of the Great Palace of Byzantium. The park has been closed for restoration for almost a decade, with no signs of it…

6. Hippodrome

0.21 MILES

The Byzantine emperors loved nothing more than an afternoon at the chariot races, and this rectangular arena alongside Sultanahmet Park was their venue of…

7. Kaiser Wilhelm's Fountain

0.22 MILES

Near the northern end of the Hippodrome, this little gazebo with beautiful stonework was presented to the sultan and his people as a token of friendship…

8. Obelisk of Theodosius

0.22 MILES

In the centre of the Hippodrome, this immaculately preserved pink granite obelisk was carved in Egypt during the reign of Thutmose III (r 1549–1503 BC)…