Restaurants give Bloomington international taste

Bloomington restaurants give students opportunity to taste ethnic cuisine from India to Turkey without traveling the world.

Taste of India
Address: 316 E. Fourth St.
Phone Number: 812-333-1399
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 10 p.m. for dinner Monday through Sunday
Atmosphere: Taste of India offers both a relaxed dining room and an outdoor patio. Private parking is also available for patrons.
Menu: The Taste of India has a Halal menu featuring chicken tikka masala, palak paneer and nawrattan korma. Although the restaurant has a beer license, the owners are still working on obtaining a wine license.
Specials: IU students and senior citizens are given a 10 percent discount for cash payments. Customers receive a 5 percent discount for cash payments. A lunch buffet between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. is offered seven days a week for $8.50.

Anatolia
Address: 405 E. Fourth St.
Phone Number: 812-334-2991
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday
Atmosphere: Patrons may choose to sit inside or outside the bright purple painted-house. If outside, a lively garden awaits them. Chairs are optional as many patrons choose to partake in traditional Turkish seating, with cushions and wooden and copper tables inside.
Menu: Offering Mediterranean and Turkish cuisine, staff suggestions included the pides and kebabs. All entrees come with a choice of soup, either white-bean or red lentil.
Specials: Complimentary Turkish tea and award-winning bread is given to patrons with their meals.

Mandalay
Address: 413 E. Fourth St.
Phone Number: 812-339-7334
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner Tuesday through Sunday
Atmosphere: Burmese decorations covering the walls contribute to the restaurant’s casual atmosphere. 
Menu: A notable appetizer is the tea leaf salad consisting of pickled green tea leaves imported from Burma, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, lime, garlic and nuts. The other Burmese cuisine options include coconut rice with chicken curry, paratha with yellow pea chicken curry, catfish curry casserole and nga chout tamin jo.
Specials: During lunch hours patrons receive an appetizer, rice and curry for the price of $10, which is the same price as one dinner entrée.

Siam House
Address: 430 E. Fourth St.
Phone Number: 812-331-1233
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m, Monday through Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday
Atmosphere: As an upscale fine-dining restaurant, Siam House is still very casual with both inside and outside seating. Owner Andrew Stevens said he is in the process of attaining a music contract for the outside patio that, in conjunction with the other aligned ethnic restaurants, lights up Fourth Street.
Menu: For dessert, try the fried banana served with ice cream and honey
Specials: The lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday is $9 per person. The buffet contains two curry dishes, two stir-fry, two noodle dishes, one fried rice, desserts and appetizers.