A new Turkish restaurant has opened its doors at Gloucester Quays.

Turkish and Mediterranean grill Anatolian Palace opened for business yesterday (Tuesday) at units 90 and 91, the former home of Bella Italia.

The premises were vacated in 2020 following the mass closures of the Italian restaurant chain.

Anatolian Palace, which already has established restaurants in Worcester and Stafford, says on its website: "Our dream is to transport our customers and indulge them in the best Turkish cuisine this side of Anatolia, without the need to jump on a plane!

"We wanted to create a place for people to step away from their hectic lives and enjoy being treated like royalty from the moment they step inside Anatolian Palace Mediterranean Grill and we have succeeded.

"We welcome you into our family and always strive to provide freshness, quality ingredients, delicately flavoured dishes, succulent meats expertly chargrilled, home-baked bread and most of all, a very warm welcome."

Erkul Kavalci, owner of Anatolian Palace, told Punchline this morning that the Gloucester restaurant had carried out a soft launch yesterday.

He said: "We have already had a lot of positive feedback and people loved the facilities, the restaurant and the food. It was very positive indeed.

"We have three branches in total now. Worcester and Stafford are well established and we've had five-star ratings on Trip Advisor and very strong Google reviews, so yes, we are doing extremely well. Hopefully we will repeat that in Gloucester."

The Worcester restaurant is currently ranked #9 of all the 204 restaurants in Worcester.

One satisfied customer said this week: "We ate here on the Sunday of the bank holiday so we booked a table which was a good job because it was so busy. We had the set menu which was amazing value for two. We had the hot meze to start with flatbread and dips and the main was a selection of meats, so much we couldn't finish it! There was a good selection of drinks. The staff were welcoming and friendly and the service was quick. We will definitely be back."

Another recent diner said: "Everyone was raving about what a good time they had and how much they loved the food. I would be at this restaurant all the time if I lived in Worcester. It's also really fun, if a bit loud, when someone has a birthday or other event to be celebrated. They turn the music on loud and everyone, including the guys in the kitchen, start dancing and clapping. Super fun."