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Review Pera Soho

  • Blanca Valbuena
  • April 5, 2012

Review Pera SohoI had the pleasure of dining at two great Turkish restaurants last week. Savann and Pera SoHo. Both were wonderful and completely different. Savann was more traditional, what you would expect from a Turkish restaurant. Pera SoHo was trendy, modern and delicious. I think they both have great things to offer NYC.

When arriving to Pera one cannot help but notice the huge outdoor area they are currently working on. I immediately saw myself there during happy hour, sipping on some Turkish white. Sadly, the area is not ready yet, so I had to sit indoors. The interior of Pera is clean and modern but comfortable. There was a lot of attention paid to detail. There are soundproof curtains (they really keep the sound out) throughout the restaurant which allow for spaces to grow and shrink. There is also some gorgeous artwork, including a mural depicting one of the oldest subway systems (which happened to be located in the neighborhood of Pera in Istambul).

I sat at the bar to a glass of Greek white and waited for the food to arrive. I started with the grape leaf chips with Muammara ($9). I had never had fried grape leaves. These were divine. Thin and crispy with no greasiness. This could be because they were fried in a chick pea flour. There was a slight heat to the muammara (it’s a hot pepper dip). The plate was gorgeous. The green of the leaves was hidden by the creamy color of the batter. It ws then accentuated by the fire engine red of the muammara. These made for a great snack and a nice pairing for my wine.

The smoked eggplant with garlic yoghurt came out next ($9). It was creamy and tangy. I liked that this eggplant dish tasted not only off eggplant. It let other ingredients come out to play.

I love anchovies, needless to say, I really enjoyed the next dish. It was fried white anchovies with olives and grapefruit ($12). The anchovies came on a plate of greens and were coated in batter. The grapefruit contrasted the salinity of the fish. This was a successful combination of umami and citrus.

To continue with the maritime theme, we went with some grilled prawns.  They came on top of parsnip and kale, coco beans and bottarga. The prawns were perfectly cooked. While this was not my favorite dish of the evening, I’d happily order it again.

I was told I could not leave Pera without trying their lamb Adana ($27). It was interesting to have this dish here. The name comes after a city in Turkey. The dish starts off by butchering and cleaning the meat. The chef at Pera removes all the fat and sinew. The remaining meat is then hand chopped and remixed with just the right amount of fat for flavor. After it is remarbled, it sits in a dry marinade for 6 hours, is put on skewers and grilled. The result was divine. The lamb was juicy and flavorful. it was spiced with sumac and served with a side of lavash. I can see why this is their signature dish.

Dining at Pera SoHo was an incredibly pleasant experience. I look forward to dining there again and I am currently chatting with them to run a meet-up at the restaurant. If you’re interested, check out our group.

Highly Recommended

Pera SoHo is located at 54 Thompston Street. (212) 878-6305 (1 train to the Canal Street Station).

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