Anatolian Restaurant in South Benfleet is every bit the local Turkish grill house, serving up a range of hot and cold mezze dishes as well as flame-kissed meats from the charcoal grill.
The interiors are plain and workmanlike - solid wood tables and leather bound chairs, with smart wooden beams bracing the ceiling. Tables are relatively close together, but that's a necessity given how popular Anatolian Restaurant gets on evenings and weekends. The vibe here is very much substance over style, as the food more than makes up for what the interiors may lack in glitz and glamour.
The menu at Anatolian Restaurant is enormous, starting from hot and cold mezze right down to house specials, wraps, sides, salads and more. Start with mezze like falafel, meatballs, hummus, tarama, borek, and all your favourites, then get stuck into grill plates from the blazing hot charcoal grill. There's everything you could ask for, from a mixed grill or a chicken shish to lamb ribs, chicken wings, adana kofte, lamb chops and lamb doner. Many of those are available with yoghurt too, and the restaurant does an iskender kebeb too if that's more your style.
There are lots of vegetarian options too, including a vegetarian moussaka, vegetarian kebab and Imam Bayildi - casseroled aubergine, with tomatoes, peppers, chickpeas and yoghurt. If you still have room for something sweet, Anatolian Restaurant does a short but sweet dessert menu too, including baklava with nuts and honey syrup, Turkish rice pudding, chocolate fudge cake and a slice of carrot cake.
The restaurant is licensed too, so you can order alcohol on the premises. There's Efes lager on draught as well as a range of other beers, and lots of soft drinks too.