If you’re in the mood for a varied Mediterranean menu then look no further than Pera in London. Situated on Upper Street between Angel station and Highbury and Islington Pera is a delightful restaurant, especially in Summer as they open out the front doors so you can sit and enjoy a glass of wine whilst watching the busy people of London pass you buy.

I discovered Pera when searching for a restaurant that accepted Tastecard and straight away the restaurant stood out as it had top marks and a high number of fantastic reviews. Mediterranean food is one of my favourite cuisines and after having a peep at the menu and seeing they had such a varied menu I was excited to head down and try it out.

The restaurant is decorated beautifully with it’s wooden decor, little trinkets and big open window section which lets you sit out the front. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful in providing suggestions on what to eat. Craig was set on the lamb cutlets which were glazed in a honey and oregano sauce served with sautéed potato and we both wanted to try the mix vegetable mezze. I couldn’t decide what to have and finally opted for the chicken shish however, when we went to order we were informed that with a tastecard you are only entitled to 2 starters and 2 mains. That wasn’t a problem as it meant we could try even more dishes. As we were getting the mezze main to share I decided to mix two starters as a main and opted for the grilled mixed sausage skewer and the goats cheese served on bed of mix leaves topped with caramelized red onion and smoked red pepper. The sausage skewer consisted of chorizo, cumberland sausage and Sucuk (Turkish sausage) served with mix leaves and toasted baguette. The portion was a little on the small side however  the taste was very good and before the starters we were given freshly baked pitta which came in handy to have with the sausages plus I then had a big size portion of goats cheese and salad.

It was bread overload by the time our mix vegetable mezze platter arrived which consisted of Humus, cacik, smoked aubergine with yogurt, ezme salad (chilli tomato onion cucumber salsa), ratatouille served with pitta. The ratatouille and smoked aubergine were the highlights to this dish as they were flavoursome without being too oily, I have had aubergine before and found it can sometimes repeat on you if there is too much oil. Craig’s lamb cutlets were extremely tender and the honey sauce was sweet and addictive, I kept dipping my pitta bread in it to soak it all up.

We were heading to the cinema after and were pushed for time however when I next go back I will most certainly get dessert, the cakes looked incredible. I would say it’s worth even just going in to Pera to get a cake which are kept behind a glass counter as you go to pay (good bit of marketing there as I was super tempted just to pick one up for the road).

Good value for money, lovely staff and delicious food Pera is extremely reasonable (especially if you have tastecard) and will leave you full and satisfied and most likely coming back again.