Anatolia Restaurant

Dilemma, nowhere to eat in Cambridge…and all the options were same same. We settled on Anatolia because of the cuisine, and the fact that they were running a good price set menu for lunch.

Food

We ate from the set menu, and had varying results:

• Mixed Meze:
  • Spinach Tarator - strained yoghurt with spinach, garlic and olive oil - pleasant, if a bit oily. We moped it all up with the bread though
  • Stuffed Vine Leaves - vine leaves, pine kernels boring
  • Pilaki - pinto beans in a tomato sauce - like baked beans, only better
  • Cacik - Yoghurt with cucumber and a hint of garlic - nice and refreshing
  • Humus - puree of chick peas, tahini, lemon and garlic - not really the best I’ve had, just better than the shop bought stuff
  • Tabbouleh - parsley salad with mint, bulgar, tomato and onion - again, very average
  • Borek - filo pastry filled with cheese, parsley and herbs - very oily, but tastes good
• Chicken Shish - Marinated grilled chicken on a skewer - a little on the dry side
• Kul Basti - Grilled fillets of lamb with oregano and mint sauce - tastily done
• Baklava - Crushed nuts in a filo pastry topped with syrup - very standard, and probably something we didn’t need

Rating - 6

Atmosphere

The restaurant is situated on two level, with a clean modern look on the upper level – but with cheap and tacky furniture, and a more Turkish feel downstairs with gold colouring, exotic decorations and an open kitchen. When we were there for lunch, only the upper level was open, but the toilets were located downstairs, and when I ventured down, there was a darkened restaurant space, with a guy sitting in the darkness in the open kitchen, grilling shish kebab. The whole thing was so comical, especially when he was surrounded by all these Turkish junkets.

Rating - 1.5

Service

We were served by what seemed like the owner and another waiter, who was very friendly. However, someone sitting close to us was Turkish, and the three of them started chatting and bonding over their shared heritage…and they started neglecting the rest of the clients. We waited for ages before

Rating - 3

C-factor

£9.95. Good value for lunch.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 12.5

Info

30 Bridge Street
Cambridge
CB2 1UJ
Phone +44 (0)12 2336 2372
Website