When you walk into a restaurant and see a large Turkish man with a handlebar mustache behind the grill you can make a guess about two things: it’s not haute cuisine, and you’re going to get a generous share of the not-haute food. At Anadolu you’d be right on both counts.

The décor is straight out of a New York, London, or Paris kebab house, and the cuisine is too, full of late night food saviours the world over thanks Turkey for. Not that kebabs, or Anadolu, should be relegated only to the land of drunks. The dining room is as suited to a quick lunch (a ¥25 doner sandwich hits the spot, and cheaply) as it is a casual evening get-together. There are bountiful plates of grilled meats, appetizer dips that leave you asking for more bread, and delights like tulumba tatlis, Turkish fried dough with honey, around any of which you can build a leisurely meal. Add a feta cheese salad, heaped high with tangy curd, and the must-have beef doner, a huge pile of shredded salty beef in a light tomato sauce and doused with fresh yogurt, and it’s a great, inexpensive meal. It’s not subtle, and it’s not meant to be. This is no-nonsense, hunger-squashing food, equally as good at 3am on Saturday night as noon on a Wednesday, unpretentious and all the better for it.

More restaurants in Shanghai's French Concession