Private Guides and reasonably priced restaurants in Istanbul
 

My wife and I will be spending 7 nights in Istanbul staying in the Hali Hotel.
We plan to take the public ferry and do a one day cruise on the Bosphorus.
We also will see visit the usual sights in the Sultanahmet district independantly.
I have searched the archives and cannot come up with info on private Istanbul guides, much after 2002.
Any current information on private guides and reasonably priced eating establishments(under €15 each) will be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Richard.

This is not an answer to the guide question; I do not know of any. However, if you are planning to see the sights in Sultanahmet without a guide (and that is where most of the "sights" are), why do you need a guide at all? It is quite easy to make your way around the city without one; English is widely spoken. Two places that I liked which might fit into your price range are Haci Baba on Istiklal in the newer city, and Hamdi et Lokantasi on the Sultanahmet side. The first has all kinds of dishes; the second is a kebab specialist. You will also find many small places, not mentioned in travel guides, that offer delicious boreks filled with meat or cheese. These make a great lunch for very litttle money. Maybe one of our Turkish friends will chime in with the correct term for these borek places.

Any of our Turkish friends on-line???

Likewise I can't recommend anywhere specific but we drifted up and down Istiklal Caddesi and found a vast number of reasonably-priced and OK restaurants. We did everything independently, with a guidebook (Eyewitness I think) and had a fantastic time.

Guide recommendation: Nuri, phone 0533 769 9302. He is based at the Ambassador hotel but was very helpful though I was not staying there.
Restos:
Istiklal cadessi is lined wtih places - walk and browse. Check out the assortment of places popular with locals on Nevizade Sokak, off Istiklal near Galatsaray Square. Go into the Ciçek pasaji (old flower market), first right onto Sahne sokak then left onto Nevizade. Lined with restos; had espcially good seafood at a place called Lipsos. Around Taksim square at the top of Istiklal there are numerous places selling delicious kebabs, some take away only and some with tables. Click on my screen name to call up my trip report from June 2005.

A 2005 thread about guides in Istanbul.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34627318

Thanks everyone for their helpful advice, much appreciated.
Richard.