Anatolia Restaurant

Reviews 4

LE

Leila Rahil

I will preface this review with it was my first time here and I usually go to Turkuaz, but the friend I was visiting told me I had to visit this place, so most of the review will be comparative. The floor-seating here is a bit more comfy than Turkuaz, but the space is about the same size. We started our meal w/waters served in very cool copper mugs and ordered the feta plate and baba ghanouj. I ordered tea, sweet. Our waitress was a bit curt and not as friendly as the waitstaff I have encountered at Turkuaz. The drinks and food take just as long to get in either establishment... When the tea was brought out (the tea was just a bit too sweet and mild compared to Turkuazs), I ordered a beef and cheese pide to share between my friend and myself. The apps came out and the feta plate (which was my friends fav thing) was a bit lacking for my liking. I like my feta with more of a creamy texture and this was a bit brick-ish with flat flavor to expect from feta. The baba on the other hand was delicious and flavorful. I still prefer Turkuazs baba as it has a certain "zing", but this one was equally fantastic! The pide came with tomato soup and a side salad and both of these I definitely preferred from Turkuaz. Not sure if the soup came out only quasi-warm because we got there about 40mins before close or if that is just how they do theirs here, but aside from the temp, the soup was very bland and almost watery; just not good. The side salad was ok, but it was just a leafy salad with a very tasty house balsamic. I prefer the tabbouleh salad you get with your pide at Turkuaz. Now the pide here was actually really very tasty and though the bread was different than what I was used to the taste and texture was great! I prefer the beef here to the beef in the pide at Turkuaz. Though both are minced, the texture, flavor, and heft of the serving here is superior. The cheese had a different flavor here that I could not put my palate on, but was very good, gooey, and plentiful, so absolutely no complaints. In a pide vs pide comp, Anatolia is the winner in this round. If I could get the soup & tabbouleh from Turkuaz and the pide here, it would be the absolute perfect combination! Maybe I can convince the respective owners to join forces? But, I digress...we finished the meal off w/dessert and the dessert here was a 50/50 split. The turkish coffee was not on par w/Turkuazs at all. But, I think the servings we got were either old, a bit burnt, or the bottom of a remaining pot as the restaurant was 5mins from officially closing. Also, I have had enough turkish coffee in my life to know there are grounds in the cup (they are my fav part!), but to have half the cup be grounds? Not okay. So I am hoping it was a one-off situation. The baklava here, on the hand was magnificent! It definitely beats Turkuaz in a taste test hands down. So what I think I learned from my visit here is: Next time I visit my friend in BTown I am getting the pide and baklava to go and might be willing to give the turkish coffee a second chance.

AL

Alisha Kirchoff

Summary: very poor quality of food for the price and lots of mistakes in the kitchen. My husband and I were really disappointed. He ordered the stuffed mushrooms, I ordered the veggie guvec and it was cold in the middle and the salad that came on the plate had a piece of plastic in it. My husband ordered the stuffed mushrooms and they were completely cold and had a slice of what appeared to be American cheese on them that was also cold despite the fact that it was a hot entree and should be served with feta. We both sent ours back. His returned with just the american cheese peeled off and feta sprinkled on, still cold. He sent his back again and it returned piping hot and the salad on the side was completely destroyed because they had heated up the entire plate instead of clearing off the salad, reheating and then replating the cold salad. In the mean time, they offered to bring us a new entree, which I took to mean that I could order something else instead of the guvec that I had ordered. I ordered the stewed artichoke hearts. Then, they brought out my reheated plate of the guvec and by this time the vegetables were so horrible overcooked that it was complete mush. There werent any of the good flavors that are typically associated with Turkish cuisine in it. It was just like an overly salted, oily vegetable stew that was vaguely greenish-brown in color. Then, they brought out the artichoke hearts, which tasted like canned artichoke hearts had just been dumped into the guvec and served. Even the rice was oily and over salted. The only saving grace of this place was that the waitstaff really did try to make things right. They brought out hummus and bread for us while we were waiting on our new entrees and they did comp us one of the entrees. The two people we were satisfied with their meals, but they had meat and seafood. I can only surmise that this is a place that really does not know how to do vegetarian/vegan food well. Which is really a shame because I have experienced Bloomington to have lots of great options for vegetarians and vegans and to generally be friendly to plant-based eaters. The staff tried their best and we were sure to tip according to what the bill would have been had we paid for all four entress, but one cannot fix truly horrible food.

SA

sara larson

I want to start by saying this has been my favorite restaurant in Bloomington for a long time. Having said that, after my visit today I am very worried about it! When we went in today for lunch, the temperature outside was 13, so we were looking for a warm, cozy place with warm food. I didnt realize until we had already been seated that all of the diners and staff were wearing their winter coats and hats...it was not much warmer in the restaurant. We probably should have gotten up then and left, but I was really looking forward to a good meal. First to come out was the Red Lentil soup. Normally my favorite, I was disappointed to realize that it, too, was cold! Our waitress was less than friendly, and spent a LOT of time on her phone. The meal took forever to come out. My husband ordered the steak kabob. It was so burnt, he couldnt cut it, or chew it. I had the chicken kabob and all of it was great, except two pieces were burnt beyond recognition. I dont know if they are trying to cut corners, but they need to reevaluate thing! Very disapponted!

A

A Private User

The food was good and always has been (though the portions have gotten smaller over time)- and my kebab was really overcooked, but the service was so ridiculously disastrous the last time I went, that I think it will probably be my last. Beyond screwing up an order (and then making it seem like it was our fault)- though they brought out a soup for the person who we "didnt order for", so logically that makes all the sense in the world. I had to ask for water after not having any for probably 20 minutes, I had to ask for silverware since half of our party didnt get any, and I had to ask for our receipt. Then waited 10 minutes and had to ask for our change, then they had to recalculate our bill because they messed that up as well- then I came home to find out I was overcharged anyway. Absolutely appalling service, it made me publish this review and after going there probably 20-30 times in the last year or two, I wont be going again.