Every cuisine seems to have a love affair with bread; the steamed bao, brioche, Lavash, chapati, dosa, tortilla and for the Turkish it’s the simit, a sesame-crusted sensation. If it were a dog it would be a bagel/pretzel cross breed. Walk the streets of Istanbul and you will see coloured street carts piled high with the ultimate snack food.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that Somer Sivrioglu, the affable chef who redefined our understanding of Turkish food at Efendy, is getting his toes wet waterside at the first permanent restaurant to open at Barangaroo, positioned a few doors down from Noma.
Anason is a stunner. Designed by George Livissianis (Apollo, Billy Kwong) it’s handsomely painted bold blue. The main bar is tiled with peak-a boo views into the kitchen and the monster simit oven. Bottles of top shelf beverages seemingly go skyward creating a vertical mural. Whilst most of the formal seating is outside, this is also a bar where you can grab a stool by the huge open windows, order a few meze and watch the sunset with an ice cold Efes beer, a glass of 739 Cuvee Jacquesson or one of the remarkable cocktails from awarded mixologist Quynh Nguyen (ex China Diner).
Outside, the simit cart dazzles; so it’s rude not to order one (simit not the entire cart). In seconds you will be dunking simit into tarragon labne. The sag bread is softly puffy with a beautifully crisp underbelly and is perfect with pumpkin humous and atom, a strained yoghurt with smoked marash chillies. Chase it with mussel dorma (stuffed mussels), a street snack which Turkish night owls love! The cured Salmon pastirma is a chorus line of salmon, shaved chilli and zucchini flowers, yet it’s the calamari, stuffed with oozing shanklish cheese, avocado and mint which is the dish of the night. Wedges of charred cauliflower with a tahini tartor dressing and a copper pot busting with prawns, peppers and tomato guvech continue the fun.
Whilst Barangaroo can’t replicate the shores of Turkey, Somer’s Anatolian food transports you as close to the Bosphorus as you can be…without the jetlag.
Anason
Anadara Building, Wulugul Walk, Barangaroo, NSW
(our tip is to find Bungalow 8 and keep walking waterside towards Barangaroo, it will be on your RHS in a matter of seconds)
official website
02 9188 1581
