Places

Review of Anatolian Palace Restaurant – Worcester

So on a Wednesday, we try to go out and have some fun. We try somewhere new on most occasions and we are always on the lookout for a nice place to have lunch. So when we heard that there was an elephant trail and hunt going on in Worcester we decided that that would be a lovely option for our day date. And so that is what we did.

It was a very enjoyable experience despite the fact that rain made several attempts to dampen our spirits. It didn’t win, thankfully. Initially, we did not know how many elephants there were to find but we had intended to find at least 12, then have lunch in time to get our train back to Birmingham. Well, we were set straight when we were told by a Worcester resident that there were in fact, 66 elephants to be found. So the challenge was on!

We still intended to find and photograph at least 12 of the beautiful elephants. In the end, we found 24, which was a mammoth task considering the distance apart that they were, the weather situation at the time, and the fact that Worcester was not really well known to us. Finding each elephant was such a celebration. They were all unique and all amazing to look at. Some were designed by children, some had various cultural references and all were truly amazing. You can check out the video we did of the elephant search adventure.

After the extensive walk, we were ready to sit down, rest our feet, and have a well-deserved lunch. We were spoilt for choice really as there were many places offering dine-in and takeaway food. We wanted to try something new and different. We had had Turkish food before but it had been many years prior, in Turkey. The previous week, we had had cuisine from another part of the world and so we decided on Turkish cuisine.

Anatolian Palace Restaurant

The restaurant looked very inviting and the staff we could see seemed friendly too. At the entrance to the restaurant, we met a young man who engaged in conversation with us. He spoke with a non-British accent and that was endearing. He spoke slowly as he carefully measured each English word he wanted to speak. It was quite interesting. Anyway, he invited us in and showed us to a table by the window as we had requested.

The atmosphere inside was fresh, welcoming, and chilled. Low, soothing music from the region was being played through speakers which were strategically placed throughout the restaurant. There were large, beautiful plants that adorned the space as well as some lovely art pieces which I suspect are from Turkey. The lighting fixtures were beautiful to look at too and one felt mesmerized to be in such a charming place.

Other diners were inside having their meals or some were waiting for theirs to be delivered. As we browsed the menu, we could not help but notice that there were covid secure measures in place at the restaurant and we were reassured by that. We ordered drinks to refresh us whilst we decided on the food to have. By the time the drinks arrived, we had both decided on our meals and so we made our order with the server.

In my estimation, the food took a little longer than expected to arrive, but the wait did not seem too long and boring because there was just so much to take in, in the beautiful space. As well, my sister and I were talking about our lovely experience of hunting the elephants and the various things we had noticed about Worcester. While we waited for our meals, one of the waiters brought over a platter of flatbreads and two lovely dips as accompaniment.

When the food arrived, honestly we were amazed! It was beautifully presented. The vessels were intricately designed and the food looked like what you would expect to see in a super fine dining restaurant, or on the front cover of some posh food magazine! I chose pan-seared sea bass fillet and my sister chose bbq lamb ribs. For both of us, the portion size was more than we expected, the flavours were delightful and the salad was a sight to behold. It was fresh and lovely with pomegranate mixed with various salad leaves, tomatoes, and carrots. Wow! It was definitely a taste sensation.

After we had finished eating, we sat and chatted for a few minutes. We were attended to by Jason who saw to it that we were satisfied with the meal and that we had as much drink as we wanted. When the time came to pay the bill, it came with a platter of Turkish delights, including baklava. How thoughtful of them! We paid the bill, which was not as expensive as some other meals we have had. We ate as much of the delights and we could, (they were very sweet) and then we made our way out of the restaurant, promising to return again when next we visit Worcester.

So the Anatolian Palace Restaurant in Worcester definitely was a great place to relax and dine. We highly recommend eating there. We would give our experience a rating of 5 stars. If you do get a chance to check it out, do tell us what you think.

See the video above for more of our experience there.