Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Back to Anatolia's Gate -- because there was a Meetup there tonight and my friend was interested in Turkish food, so I went with her. If you are in a group, the lavash bread that comes with your meal will also be communal! Meat Lovers Pide ($11.95) Anatolia's Ground Meat, Turkish Pastrami, tomatoes, cheese, egg Quite small. Rather thin film of mixed meat. Either some spicing to the meat or it was the influence of the Turkish Pastrami. Not that tasty to me, maybe because there was too little meat. Meat portion is basically around $8 since the bread portion is probably about the same as a medium lavash bread. Overpriced. If you don't need the cheese, consider getting the lahmajun instead -- more meat spread over a thin crust, $11.45 Chicken Curry ($14.95) chicken breast chunks with curry sauce, rice, and salads; served with a freshly baked lavash bread and yogurt sauce The curry here is strong and has some heat, but not too much. Very much not like an Indian c...

Dropped in to Anatolia's Gate late in the evening, about an hour before closing. If it's a really quiet night, they may start closing up everything even while diners are still in the restaurant. Baklava ($5.95) sweet Turkish pastry made of thin dough sheets and walnuts; four for $5.95 or 2 for $2.95 A full order is four. Each is about a cubic inch. Thoroughly soaked in syrup which thankfully did not include much, or any, rose water; and which was strangely not too sweet. At almost $1.50 per piece, this was not really worth it as it wasn't that tasty. Kunefa  ($8.50) sweet Turkish pastry made of shredded dough and our homemade cheese Price for portion is OK. Definitely a sharing at the size of approximately five packs of cigarettes. Tastiness is also OK. Not too sweet despite being soaked in syrup. Fun to eat because of the cheese that stays stringy even when the item has cooled to room temperature. TIP: Instead of trying to tear chunks or wrap it around yo...

Anatolia Express is a small establishment easily overlooked from being overshadowed by the big restaurants around Canada Place. Squashy seating but big tables. On the Saturday afternoon I was there, it looked like it was a mom-and-son operation. Price is quite good -- you can get a decent and interesting lunch for under $10, which is great for a prime downtown touristy location like Canada Place. The website menu is outdated. Most of the offerings are sort of boring (fish and chips?) so I recommend going for just the Turkish fare. If you are looking for a wider selection of Turkish food, Anatolia's Gate is a better bet with comparable prices. Kumru ($9.99) Basically a hollow pita with sausage and cheese. Supposedly has four types of Turkish salami. Good amount of meat from the sausage, but that also makes this item on the salty side. Slight heat from the bit of hot peppers. At $9.99 this is a reasonable alternative to a hamburger if you want "meat-and-bread" ...

I was previously at Anatolia's Gate over two years ago , and still remembered it had good eats for a good price. Dropped in with a friend last Friday and decided to try something different from the menu. She was in the mood for curry (in a Turkish place?) and I went for one of the wraps. Beef Curry ($12.95) About two cups's worth of curry, plus rice and token salad. This is a sort of drier bitter-spicy curry. If you're hoping for a South Asian curry, don't order this. I think this will end up being more of an acquired taste. Veggie Dürüm ($7.55) Roasted veggies Bell Pepper, Eggplant, Zucchini Mushroom wrapped in a freshly baked lavash bread with yogurt sauce Basically a donair or wrap using a thicker bread similar to naan. Price for portion is pretty good, considering you're getting about 2 burger's worth of filling. Roasted veggies were of course hot, but it was mixed with cool yogurt sauce and "salad" shredded veggies (mostly lettuce),...