Anar Turkish BBQ Restaurant

The clue is in the name, really, and Anar draws on the vast repertoire of the Mediterranean-meets-Middle Eastern cuisine of Turkey to serve up all the hot and cold mezze small plates you could think of plus plenty of meat and fish from the barbecue – it gives good grill.

Where east meets west, Turkey is a cultural melting pot, and no more so than in the kitchen. A descendant of Anatolian cuisine, inspired by neighbouring Central Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans, Turkish food also draws on the country’s own regions, from the Aegean to the Black Sea. For the former, think along the lines of vegetarian small plates the likes of hummus, aubergine tarator (like baba ghanoush but with yoghurt), cacik (tzatziki) and falafel; for the latter, lots of fish, such as chargrilled sea bass and sea bream.

Also cooked over charcoal is beyti – cumin-flavoured skewered lamb, wrapped in lavash bread and topped with rice and salad – and lamb rib kebab, popular in Central Anatolian cuisine, and served on the bone with a topping of fresh tomato and pepper. From the south side of Turkey come shish kebabs – lamb and chicken (tavuk sis), marinated over 24 hours for tenderness – as well as adana kofte, a spicy kebab traditionally made from finely chopped lamb. Iskender kebabs hail from the north-western corner, while shawarma has its roots in Ottoman Turkey, with slivers of marinated lamb or chicken slowly spit-roasted for juiciness. Anar also serves the Turkish street food dish tantuni, a spicy wrap of stir-fried julienned beef or lamb, plus slow-cooked guvec casseroles, and its signature dish incik kizartma, lamb shanks that have been bubbling away for hours in a rich, dark sauce.

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