What Do You Mean There's No Turkey in Turkey?

My dear daughter agreed to accompany me on another culinary excursion. Although, she may have been severely regretting her decision as after a 20 minute drive and then another 3o minutes of circling, swearing, strategizing, and we were still no closer to finding a much coveted parking space any where near our target zone. But, I'm just sayin'. Deep breaths. So, finally, I maneuvered my Honda Accord into a tight spot (have I ever told you that I managed to drive for 20 years without ever having to park my car in a parallel parking spot? And that I now have to do that quite frequently, several times a year here in the "we hate cars" capitol of America?).



So, after a severely edited version of our arrival at Anatolia, we set about to relax and enjoy our first foray into authentic Turkish cuisine. As has become my habit, I innocently ask my host or hostess what they might suggest for an innocent to their cuisine. I was very pleased by the helpfulness of the owner today. I guess it really didn't hurt that he was kinda cute...

While we waited for our server to arrive, I asked my daughter to count the number of seats in this small eatery. She quickly counted 22 regular seats and 12 seats on pillows on the floor. And no, we did not eat down there. Why? Did you hear of a crane being called in suddenly in Southern Indiana?

My soup was the 'white bean soup'. The funny thing is, as the owner pointed out, the red lentil soup, which my daughter chose, is lighter in color than my white bean soup.

My daughter and I chose the Tabuli as our appetizer. Hey, we wanted the real experience. And it was good, if not a bit dry. But the bread was to die for...

Well, okay. The tabula was very good too. I like this. I really liked this.

And I had the Adana kabab:
Ground beef and lamb mixed w/ vegetable
juice and spices; skewed and charcoal
grilled; served w/ rice

My daughter decided upon the:

Chicken Shish Kebab
Boneless chicken breast cubed and marinated;
charcoal grilled and served w/
rice…

And can I tell you how good the rice was? Or how good it all was? Now, I am not sure that we will be searching this cuisine out regularly (because of the damned parking issue), but I would gladly eat this food again.

And I most certainly would recommend Anatolia Turkish Restaurant and Kebab House (And no, I gain nothing by suggesting them and they have no idea that I am recommending them - don't ya just love these circular arguments?).