Local Turkish

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I don’t often go to Anatolia in Cambridge.  It’s nice enough and inexpensive.  Perhaps it’s because most of it is underground, and seems rather confining, especially given the deep décor colours.  On the few occasions I do go I prefer to sit upstairs in the small mezzanine section that looks onto the street.

The kitchens are on view, and the service fast and courteous.  I began with borek, the triangles of filo pastry stuffed with cheese and herbs.  They were all right, though I prefer spinach to parsley, and like a sharper cheese.  My companion’s calamari were unremarkable.

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For the main course I had lamb kofte (top photo), the spiced minced lamb with herbs.  It was rather good on its own, but even better when the chilli dip provided was used with it.  My companion had the house special mixed grill, which provided a ridiculously large quantity of meat, including lamb kofte, lamb kebab, lamb chops, what looked like spare ribs, and heaven knows what else.  With it all we drank a really nice Yakut, Turkish red.