Yesterday I ate lunch with a friend at Anatolia Turkish Cuisine.
Nestled in the strip on Main Street, the small Turkish restaurant looked like a nice little place to sit down and grab some unique cuisine.
We got there around 4:30 PM and there was not a single person in the restaurant. The inside was nicely decorated and it had a very welcoming vibe. We were greeted by a nice waitress who told us to take a seat wherever we liked. Of course we took the seat nearest the window, people watching is my favorite hobby. People who are familiar with New Paltz can surely agree that New Paltz main street makes for probably one of the top people watching locations in the country.
But on to the review....
Since we were the only people in there, not much could be said about the service. No complaints there.
We ordered the Baba Ganoush as an appetizer. Now I've never had Baba Ganoush before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was absolutely delicious. It was a wonderful paste of who knows what that came with nice crispy pita bread to dip. We were both very happy with the appetizer.
Peering at the menu, everything seemed rather expensive. However, there was a section in the back with your typical 8 to 10 dollar sandwiches. Since it was a pretty awkward hour, that's where I decided I would get my meal. I ended up going with the Anatolia Burger. It stated it was just a classic burger with traditional Turkish Herbs and spices and came with french fries.
I'll start out talking about the fries. They were DELICIOUS. The perfect amount of salt and crispiness, they were exactly what I look for in a fry. I honestly didn't expect much from them but I was blown away.
When it came to the burger, it really wasn't anything spectacular. It was served as just an average sized burger, actually pretty small for my sit down restaurant standards, burger on a bun, with lettuce, tomato, and onions on the side. It also came with a side of tzaziki(?) sauce and some mild pepper sauce. Since I was trying to get the full Turkish experience, I threw it all on the burger. I even threw on some left over baba ganoush. It was tasty, but it was nothing to write home about.
VERDICT
All in all, I was happy with the experience. Our server was nice and the food was good. As we were finishing up, the restaurant started to fill, so I'm sure around the normal dinner time the place gets pretty packed. I would probably consider going back again to a more traditional Turkish entree. I would give the overall experience a 6.8/10
