With dishes named "Lady's navel, Sultan's Favourite, The Priest Painted and Ladie's Thigh" prepare for a tempting eating experience.

One of the most exciting aspects of a holiday is trying out new food and drinks. Turkey is ranked among the top five countries in the world for cuisine and no holiday is complete without a taste of some of Turkey's famous specialities. In most major resorts today, you will find a huge variety of "eateries" - whether you are looking for a quick hamburger, a hot and spicy Indian, Italian, French, Chinese or good old British food, you'll probably be spoilt for chice. However, as the saying goes "While in Rome".....

Food in Turkey is generally inexpensive, the price reflecting not so much the quality of the food itself but the standard of decor and service in the establishment. It is much easier to be led into a tourist restaurant where the staff speak English, but for the real taste of Turkey, try and be adventurous and venture into less predictable "lokantas" - especially at lunch time - to see what's on offer.

LOKANTAS

As in France, working people like to eat simple, well-prepared food at midday. In most lokantas you'll find a selection of meat and vegetable dishes which have been prepared and placed in warm serving dishes to await the noon rush. A few favourites of the country are: Kuru fasulye, Pilav: Beans and rice Kizartma: Fried peppers, aubergine, courgettes or potatoes served with warm yoghurt Tas Kebab: Lamb stew served with rice and salad Even if you don't know the Turkish names, you can walk up to the heated 'display' cabinet and point to the dishes you want. Most lokantas do not serve alcohol, so if you don't want a fizzy drink, try an 'ayran' (yoghurt and water drink) which is both healthy and refreshing.

TURKEY'S ANSWER TO 'FAST FOOD'

If you are after fast food, the Turks could almost be said to have invented it! Shish Kebabs, Doner kebabs and cop (pronounced "chop") shish (mini kebabs on little sticks) are available everywhere. There is also the Turkish pizza (called Pide) which is sold in special Pide restaurants. You can choose between meat or cheese toppings and then watch it being made and placed in a special oven to cook.

SOUP KITCHENS!

These establishments are very similar to lokantas - as above, during the day you can eat a selaction of stews, but at night, a variety of soups. These establishments can often be open 24 hours and even at 04:00 in the morning, you will see them full of Turkish people after a night of dancing having a bowl of soup before going home to bed!

SEAFOOD

Seafood is the big favourite of coastal areas and you'll often pass tempting displays of fish outside restaurants on the sea front. Grilled fish is wonderfully healthy and tasty and perfectly suited to a few glasses of the famous Turkish "raki". Don't miss out on starters such as Octopus Salad or fried Calamar (squid) rings to really get in to the local lifestyle. Just a word of warning, fish can be very expensive so before ordering from the display, ask your waiter to weigh it and give you a price before ordering.

STARTERS

(Mezes) Most Turkish restaurants will have a delicious selection of 'mezes' which are displayed in a glass chiller cabinet where again, you can point to the dishes you want. Most Turkish peopl would select several and have them placed (on small side plates) in the middle of the table so that everyone can "dip" in.