Anatolian Gyro

J and I haven't been going to new restaurants lately because we haven't really made the effort to. As of late, we've actually been visiting old places and just grabbing quick bites. Revisiting a familiar cuisine was definitely one in our books. Anatolian serves up Turkish food, and we been craving for hummus.

We both thought this place was more of a cafeteria style, you order at the counter and bring your food to the table but apparently not. We were told to have a seat and they'll serve us...haha we were such fools. For some reason, it was majoring hot that day. Weatherman said it was going to be cold, so I wore a thick long sleeve which was definitely not a smart move. There also wasn't much air circulation in the restaurant...

The waiters were extremely friendly, like big-smile friendly. I like that.

J ordered a Russian soft drink, I didn't notice it on the menu but it didn't surprise me since he's always up for trying something new. It was pear flavored and tasted good, refreshingly good. I can always count on J to order something different and good.

What we literally have been waiting for. The Hummus was served with fresh Home Bread; the waiter made sure to tell us that part. The bread was so soft and fluffy, spreading the hummus on top made it heaven!

The hummus quickly disappeared since J and I use a thick amount of spread on each piece of bread.

Another dish we have been ordering at Turkish restaurants are Fried Liver Cubes. Some might like the liver-y and iron-y taste of it but J and I love it. I mean, it's fried! Anything fried taste good, right? We squeeze the lemon all over and eat it with the raw onions they give and it's quite delicious. Great appetizer.

At this time, you might think that's all but we did order a sandwich each. We both had it on pita bread, I had the Shish Kebab while J had the Gyro. The sandwich came in similar form, meat on the bottom with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers on top. They also provide you with white and hot sauce so you can put as much as you desire.

I wasn't able to finish my sandwich so I started picking at the meat. There was a lot! I eventually gave up because I was so full. It was a really satisfying meal. Anatolian is moving soon but just around the corner for a more spacious area. Can't wait until they open up the new place!

Anatolian Gyro Restaurant
1605 Sheepshead Bay Rd
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 769-4754

Istanbul Fast Food - A gem in a big bag of rubbish

I never thought I can have really good Turkish food in Brooklyn, but I sure did. I also have another place similar to Istanbul near my house but that'll be for another post.

Istanbul is more of a cafeteria style kind of place. It's not exactly "fast" like it claims to be but it was pretty quick for what we ordered.

Ok, so the Hummus ($5) was a bit bland, could definitely use a bit of salt but it was overall pretty good. The consistency was smooth like baby's food and that bread it came with, was wowza!

J and I also got the Fried Liver Cubes ($8.50) which was pretty perfect. Adding the lemon juice made it that more amazing. It was a big portion and we ended up having to take that to go...
Liver is usually gamey but here, it actually just taste like chicken breast which means I can lie to anyone and have them eat liver while saying it chicken - I actually sorta of did that with the leftovers I brought to work and tricked my coworker.

The Mixed Grill ($19) over rice was a ginormous portion with a lot of meat. Some were mysterious to me but what I can recall, there were beef/steak, lamb, chicken, grounded meat kebabs and those spectacular bread! They gave us three, it was so warm and fluffy I can just use it as a pillow.

They also have the tzatziki sauce, which is the white yogurt sauce along with the hot spicy sauce. No idea if we're eating it wrong but I just dumped both sauces over the rice and meat, it tasted delicious. Really like the hot sauce, it brings out the flavor of the rice and flavors the grilled meats even more.

We left no room for dessert which was a bummer because they had so many on display. I know J wanted the rice pudding, I wanted the baklava...maybe next time, definitely next time.

Istanbul Fast Food
2202 86th St
Brooklyn, NY 11214
(718) 714-4300