Bury New Road, Prestwich
Anatolian Grill is a modern
Turkish restaurant and wine bar in Prestwich Village, where there’s a whole
plethora of cuisines within walking distance. I last visited the restaurant
three years ago in its former guise of Turquoise. Except for a lick of paint, nothing
much has changed, although that’s not a bad thing.
It’s a modern, spacious
restaurant which, when you walk in on a sunny Saturday afternoon, immediately
makes you feel like you’re on holiday abroad. The interior has a fresh
lime-green and grey-blue colour scheme, with comfortable booth seating and
foliage across the ceiling. There’s an incredibly delectable dessert counter
next to the bar which cleverly gets your mouth watering as you mooch passed it
on the way to your table. The Mezze Bar, the first of its kind in the North
West, stocks a line up of boutique Turkish wines which the staff will match to
your choice of food, alongside the usual beers and cocktails.
The a la carte menu features a
wide range of traditional Turkish dishes, all freshly prepared on site. There
are also plenty of deals to entice you in, with a two course set menu available
everyday at variable prices, from £9.95 on weekdays to £14.95 on a Saturday
evening, which is superb value. There’s more than enough choice, too, including
plenty of vegetarian options.
To start, I had the Mini
Mezze, which was a selection of dips, all of which are available to order
individually from the main menu, tailored to a perfectly sized portion for one.
The very colourful and deliciously tasty plate included lots of traditional favourites
and was a light, satisfying starter. There was hummus, a favourite which needs
no explanation; tablue, which is cracked wheat with chopped tomatoes, peppers,
onions, cucumber and parsley; cacik – yoghurt with cucumber and garlic; spinach
with yoghurt and garlic, aubergine salad with peppers and tomatoes; and Kolezeme,
which featured aubergines, okra, green olive paste, chilli, garlic and olive
oil. Topped off with stuffed vine leaves and an olive and served with warm pita
bread, there was plenty of dipping involved and it made for a healthy yet
fulfilling starter. Most of the mezze dishes were new to me, so this was a
wonderful opportunity to try a little bit of everything.
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| Mini Mezze |
For main course, the set price
menu offers chicken, lamb, sea bass, chicken and vegetable casseroles and even
a donner kebab! I had the musakka, which I always thought was Greek, but I’ve
since learned that there are actually a number of interpretations of this
roasted vegetable dish. The Greek version is arranged in layers, similar in
style to lasagne, and whilst it is aubergine based, often contains meat and
eggplant. A Turkish musakka is not layered, and instead is traditionally served
up with salad and rice.
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| Musakka |
At Anatolian Grill, the
musakka was made up of aubergines, courgettes, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and
peppers – a concoction of colours and a plethora of textures – topped with
creamy Béchamel sauce. It was served with a small mound of rice and a nice
little, if somewhat basic, side salad. It wasn’t served piping hot, either,
which made a change. Normally, oven-baked dishes of this nature are served scorching,
meaning you have to leave the rest of your party to eat their meals whilst you
sit desperately waiting for yours to cool down so you can sample it without
tearing the skin off the roof of your mouth.
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| Musakka |
The portions are generous
enough for you to get your money’s worth out of the set-price menu. If dining a
la carte, however, my musakka alone wouldn’t have been much cheaper than the
two courses put together, so I might want a little bit more in that case.
I was definitely satisfied
after my two courses, but when there’s Baklava on offer, it’d be silly to turn
it down. Again, I thought this dessert was more at home in Greece, however, as
with musakka, there are many different interpretations. It actually originated
in Istanbul, but in Turkey is traditionally made with pistachios, almonds and
walnuts between several layers of filo pastry. Held together with honey, it’s
sweet, stodgy and sticky – what’s not to love? You don’t need a lot of it. The
menu states that a small slice goes a long way with a cup of coffee, but it’s
even better served up with cream and ice cream. It was a delightfully gooey way
to end a delicious meal. It was all going so well until this point. Turkish
cuisine is, on the whole, quite healthy, but I couldn’t help giving in.
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| Baklava |
Turkish cuisine is generally
light and quite healthy, ideal for the weather in this eternally hot summer.
The staff were friendly and accommodating; I asked for some extra pita bread to
mop up the remnants of my starter and they were happy to oblige, and the service
was quick and efficient.
Anatolian Grill is a perfectly
pleasant restaurant with multi-purpose dining options. In addition to their
two-course offer, they do a lunch menu where you can dine on a wrap or
something similar with chips, salad and a drink for just £9.95. Who doesn’t
love a bargain?
All the menus are available to
view online at:
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