Anatolia Turkish Foods Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

I walked into this restaurant today as it is very near to apartment I have rented for a month in Airbnb. The location is very good it's near east village downtown Calgary. Train station is right opposite the restaurant. The restaurant is very spacious. It definitely is a good spot for family dinner or corporate get together. The menu is simple and focuses on the most popular Turkish dishes. This is something I like restaurant that keep the menu simple and focus on basic dishes that address the basic. I order the Adana kebab. It comes with salad , two minced meat kebab, basmati rice and three pieces of Turkish naan bread. The portions will fill you up. I have eaten a lot of Iranian, Turkish and afghani food in my travels in Europe and america and Asia. I can judge that the recipe is traditional but I find it more on the bland side. I guess they toned down the herbs, peppers and spices a bit to cater to the Canadian pallet. But to be honest Turkish food is not chilly spicy but it rich with herb spice and ground spice. I hardly tasted any sumac, cumin or pepper flakes. Even the onion flavor was very mild. The dish could have been executed better and amped up the flavor profile a bit more as it is done traditionally in turkish restaurants. One thing that was missing from kebab dish is a nicely grilled side vegetables like onion, chilly pepper and tomato that is slightly burned. They give you tomato but slightly sauted almost no grill marks with slight char flavor. You can see from picture I share the veggies are not grilled. Traditionally in central Asia and turkey they serve kebab with grilled veggies. That touch was missing . But according to Calgary standard this restaurant recipe is very good but if you compare to how it's authentically cooked I would give for food 3/5 max. The food is clean and presentation is neat. This restaurant has potential to do better in terms of food execution. I request chef if he/she is Turkish make it like the streets of istanbul. Don't be shy. Millions fly to Istanbul walk in bazaars to eat the kebab. I also request to introduce lamb chop kebab. The staff is extremely nice. Very friendly and polite. Aarif was the nice gentleman who served me. He took good care of me . The price is fair in terms of quality, ambience and location. They prefer you pay with visa or Mastercard. I would rate this restaurant for food max a 3 and for service 4. I cannot give a score of 3.5 and for the staff kindness I will round it up to 4. My final request is to be open for breakfast. Turkish breakfast is world famous. The Turkish cilbir or shakshuka. The olives, the cheese and bread. The sausages and meat. Show the folks if Calgary the grand Turkish breakfast. Once covid is over hopefully this can be an idea you can consider as business normalizes. Turkey has so much to offer. Please bring more of its...

The summary of our visit is that the service was slow, food took 45 mins and was cold by the time we got it, and portions are small. Recommend you don’t waste your money since each entree is $23-$30. More details below on service, portions, and what I recommend you order if you go. I’ve actually been to Anatolia before, back in 2017 for my graduation. We thought we would give it another try since it’s been 6 years. Interesting to see that the restaurant has not changed and the complaints we had back in 2017 were still true during our most recent visit on May 22, 2023.

Our family (a party of 6) went on a Tuesday afternoon to celebrate my younger brothers graduation. There was only us and two other tables both were a party of around 6. Other than that, the restaurant was empty.

Service: slow service, had to keep asking for refills of water. The food took 45 minutes, our family was STARVING since we hadn’t eaten yet. The meat was cold by the time we got it. Also the server didn’t check in with us at all during the meal. There was another server that took over and came to ask us how our food was after 5/6 of us were done and we wanted the bill. Also this server asked to clean up our plates while one of us was still eating and there was another table with no clients and had dirty dishes to be taken.

Food & Portions: each person got a side of rice and salad. The amount of rice was 3/4 cup per person which is so little considering the price of the meal. Same for the salad it was like 3/4 cup of salad. The lamb shank was the best tasting out of all the meals and was the only one that came out warm (however it’s $26, so considering the portions of the side dishes not very worth it).

All in all, after trying it twice and seeing the same result I wouldn’t go back nor recommend it, especially with the...

By far one of the “worst” restaurants and the most pathetic service and food I have ever experienced! Called 3 days in advance to make a reservation for iftar with friends. I was told to be there 25mins in advance so the iftar can be served on time. I showed up 35-40mins in advance. I was taken to my reserved table and I just couldn’t believe it. This table of 6 was was exactly in the middle of the cue of people ordering. On one side was the drinks fridge where people would go and pick their drinks(had to move our table each time someone came to fetch a drink) and on the other side was a pre-made boxes where people would go and grab sweets. Now imagine people cued up on either side of your table, you moving your table every 3-4 mins (32 in 1hr 25mins do the math) and you are constantly being elbowed since there is this shelf behind you where people would go and grab sweets. We requested for a change and were screamed upon. On top of that they kept on serving their friends and clients (basically their Turk folks) while we waited 55 mins for our food to be served (15-20mins after iftar). When I complained I was told they don’t care who I talked to over the phone but I will not be served on time- plain and simple without any apologies. Anyways, food showed up and yes it was all f’d up as expected. Now they don’t have the veg options that...