Mary T.
Yelp
After experiencing Immersive Van Gogh, I was ready for dinner. I did a search and found Anatolia Turkish Restaurant. I love Turkish food. It felt fitting to have dinner at an eatery on my final full day in Nashville.
The drive over here was three minutes during rush hour. I parked practically in front of the restaurant, which is located in a plaza. I backed into a spot and headed over to the main door.
There have been times where I can't open the front door in my life. It happened twice at two different eateries in Charlotte, NC. Add this restaurant to my list. I'm not exactly weak, but I tugged at the door handle and it didn't budge. A woman opened the door for me on the opposite side.
Weird. It's me.
I was seated at a nice table, off to the side of the restaurant. I loved the artwork of Istanbul everywhere, which made me miss the city.
It was super hot outside. I wanted an unsweetened iced tea. My weakness is Turkish tea. I loved getting Turkish tea at the bazaar in Istanbul. I felt that I needed to relive that joy here.
My server was Marianne. She was knowledgeable and helped answer all my questions. I asked whether the Turkish tea was hot. It was. I ordered it because I missed it so much.
My favourite Turkish meal is kofta. It was on the menu. I was elated and was done making my mind up.
Marianne mixed the dip for my starter bread. Being stateside, the starter bread was half a loaf. It was warm. I loved that the exterior was crusty and inside was soft, just the way it should be.
The dip was flavourful. I enjoyed it as I waited for my main meal.
The unsweetened ice tea was excellent. The tea was strong and delightfully refreshing. My Turkish tea transported me back to Turkey. It was the real deal, served the traditional way in that iconic glass. It was black tea. It was fragrant and did not have any sugar. I loved it.
My kofta dinner came. In a nutshell, it was Turkish authentic food with American portions.
The kofta morsels were gigantic. In Istanbul, each one was easily half the size of what I had. The beef was done medium. I would have liked them medium-well or even well. However, each morsel was seasoned well and I loved them.
Luckily, I got a skewer of veggies. They balanced the meatfest that I was enduring. The yogurt sauce kept everything light. I loved it. The rice was the perfect portion for me. It was on the smaller side. I was thankful because the kofta was extremely filling.
Although I felt stuffed, my favourite Turkish dessert, kunefe, was on the menu. I asked my server how large it was. It was a decent size, but she said that she could pack whatever I couldn't eat in a box. I said yes to it.
The kunefe was fabulous. It was authentic, with stretchy cheese. It was crunchy and slightly sweet. I highly recommend getting it, stuffed or not!
Marianne packed up my remaining kunefe in a box and provided a plastic bag. She was great.
I paid with a credit card. She ran it through and all was great. I thanked her and left with my dessert. I had it as a snack later that evening. So good!
More patrons were there when I had left. It was a good sign of a great restaurant.
I would return to this eatery for my Turkish food fix in a heartbeat. If you want great food without flying over to Istanbul, come here. The atmosphere is casual, the food is authentic, and staff are great.
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