Shanghai Daily news

Front to back: Cold mixed starter, Turkish bread and lahmucan.

Long under-represented and over-looked, food from Turkey is slowly gaining popularity in Shanghai.　　　　　　　　
Turkey is a massive country betwixt and between the two great continents of Asia and Europe. This central, crossroads positioning has famously led to a diversity and complexity of culture and subsequently cuisine.
Contrary to some people's view point, Turkish food's defining moment is not the ubiquitous doner kebab. Not that the humble doner kebab is a dish to be sniffed at, filling as it does a very important culinary niche. Is there any other form of sustenance quite so suited to the post-pub, pre-home twilight zone than a kebab? This, however, has proved a double-edged sword all around. Many of those tired and emotional partakers, who each weekend pour vague approximations of kebabs over themselves in the wee small hours, are completely ignorant of the gamut of delicious Turkish food available. Perhaps accordingly, actual Turkish restaurants are still quite scarce.
Anadolu at Hengshan Road opposite the International Church does offer doner kebabs, and very fine ones at that. But thankfully, it also offers an array of other Turkish dishes. Prime for your consideration, delectation and consumption, I'd strongly recommend, is lahmacun (pronounced lamushan) or Turkish pizza; more in a minute.
Anadolu is a big restaurant capable of seating upwards of eighty. It's traditionally Turkish in character - tiled floor, some booths around the sides but mostly generous, if simple, tables and a false, tent-like, chiffon ceiling.
Under-utilised
Were the air fragrant and heavy with Cypress pines, the mercury hovering in the 30s, the stage graced by some supple belly dancer and the restaurant alive with the sounds of rumbustious diners Anadolu would be something to behold. As it was the night Shanghai Daily visited, Tuesday night, we were the only people in.
The delicately seasoned lentil soup with spices and rice was just what the doctor ordered on a chilly January night, especially so accompanied by the Turkish bread. The cold mixed starter encompassing potato salad, humus, mixed eggplant and mixed carrots looked and tasted good but was more suited to the afore mentioned 30 degrees setting.
Lahmacun is a lot like very good pizza: thin, bubbly, crunchy and tasting slightly of the oven (traditionally wood fired) where it was cooked.
Instead of tomato and mozzarella, the bread has a smearing of ground, minced meat that has a little tomato and a lot of parsley and assorted herbs through it. A lemon squeezed over it brings out the flavors. This dish is usually a starter or a light lunch but in Anadolu, two are served together as a main for 68 yuan (US$8.40). These proved a very good example of a very good dish although some more salad alongside would have been appreciated.
The main main we had was the shepherd's casserole, finely diced lean and succulent lamb in a spicy gravy with green peppers and tomatoes. This held some promise but, unfortunately, was brackish to the point of inedible - surely not a purposeful ruse in the hope that guests will bump their bill with more drinks to counter the effects!
Lahmacun and pides (with a salad) all the way then - avoid the stews.
A meal for two with four beers was 370 yuan.
Address: No. 4-7 Hengshan Road
Tel: 5465 0977