Can you book? Yes
Food: 10/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Price paid per person: £25

Quickly becoming one of my favourite neighbourhoods, Stroud Green has no shortage of good restaurants. According to Google and TripAdvisor, one of the best is Petek on Stroud Green Road. We squeezed past people waiting for a table to claim our reserved one, to be greeted by very friendly and accommodating staff despite our being half an hour late. We were given menus to look at whilst we waited, then seated a few minutes later and instantly presented with olives.

We shared borek (warm pastry parcels with feta and herbs) and babaganoush to start, accompanied by chilli sauce and a very generous portion of warm bread to scoop up the babaganoush. Both were wonderful.

For main we shared grilled sea bass and a mixed grill (lamb kofte, chicken and lamb shish), which came with mounds of rice and salad. The fish was crispy on the outside but not at all overdone, the meat was tasty and tender; I really enjoyed both.

We finished off with a Turkish coffee strong enough to have strengthened the whole Turkish army going into the Battle of Gallipoli.

The meal was £25 per head, and given the very large portions this is great value. They even do a £15 per head mixed mezze/mains deal. The staff were extremely friendly and the atmosphere fantastic and bustly, akin to Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. I highly recommend Petek.