Perama - Take Two

88 Audley Street

Petersham NSW 2049

ph: 9569 7534

Bookings i assume are essential, as this place has been packed full on - both times that i've been here. Yes, i went back, again. The first time, a massive banquet, where David just kept sending out food, & more food, until we were begging him to stop..

I ate sooo much that night. A few weeks later, an email sent around from Karen, asking if we'd endure another round of dinner at the same place. We were all quite enthusiastic, & looking forward to expanding out waistlines yet again..

This time, i trained :) I drank HEAPS of water all day, in hope of 'stretching' my stomach, to be able to eat more! & i think it worked, because even byt the end of the night, i wasn't OVERLY full.

We skipped most of the original entrees, but the dips were the first to come out. This time i learned, NOT to fill my self up with the dips & bread! haha.

Assorted dips serve with bread

assortments: haloumi nuggets, pan fried haloumi, fig

I was glad, these came out early, because i really liked the haloumi (both fried & grilled).

greek salad

The greek salad was not touch muched, mainly for the reason that we KNEW there was MUCH more food to come, and it'd be a waste to get full on the salad way too early in the night.

grilled eggplant & lamb

zucchini fritters

These were passed down to be first, as i was the lone vegetarian. The fritters were golden & crisp, fritters are something so simple to make i think i'll try and make some at home.. they would've been nicer, served with some sort of dip! Possibly tzatziki.

cypriot sausages

chick-pea patties

These patties, were lovely. The chunky filling, contrasted well with the thin layer of crisp fried bread crumbs, i ate 2 pieces hehe..

pickled artichoke

I'm not a fan of pickled artichoke, unless it was in a foccacia with other things. The vinegar, was abit too strong (this is just me, i'm not a 'pickled' fan of many things).

patties of crab & calamari

pork belly baklava

chicken zagora

filo pumpkin pie with beetroot

Again, these were passed to me first (after everyone took a photo first ofcourse!). I love the thick pastry on these, and the flavours of the beetroot and pumpkin went together miraculously.

mulloway kaklava

lobster mousakka

desert dolmathes

These were something new, that we didnt get at our first visit. A creamy rice pudding, wrapped in vine leaves. Most of the group kidn of ate it, and shrugged our shoulders, cocked our heads to the side. For me, it wasn't one of my favourites because .. well the textures didn't go well together. The rice pudding sort of just splurt out, when you bite into it. This dish would've taken abit longer to make i think, it'd be a bit tricky using such delicate leaves?

lemon icecream, olive icecream

A classic bowl of icecream? i think not! I remember the olive icecream from last time. I liked it, as you swallow the icecream, olive flavour kidn of tags along afterwards and leaves a trail of its unique taste.

The lemon icecream though, was something different aswell! Quite nice :)

baklava icecream & bougatsa

This would have to be my favourite. I'm a HUGE fan of baklava, & to have the flavour in an icecream is just delightful. Paired with the bougatsa, it makes an excellent pair.

turkish delight

I don't like turkish delight, i never have, never will. I just don't like the texture... the taste. The sweetness of it. Call me wierd, i just don't like it at all.

ekmek

This was sickenly sweet i remember, so the cream lightened it alot. Cold cream, hot brioche. Yum.

pears poached in wine syrup

rhubard rice pudding

We also got a tiny glass cup of this... desert alcohol, Lemnos Muscat Dessert Wine. I didn't really like it at all, it was very strong.. & from what i saw, not many people finished it.

Have we covered the whole menu of perama, in two sessions? I think we did.. Perama is a great place to dine out with a large group of people (just like both the times i went) because you get to try so many things.

If i were to come back i would order... the zucchini fritters, chick pea patties, fried halmoumi nuggets, filo pumpkin pie, baklava icecream & bougatsa. Who's coming with me?? :)

Perama Greek Restaurant

88 Audley Street

Petersham NSW 2049

Ph: 02 9569 7534

How was I to know, that tonight I would be eating till my stomach popped open? Fridley & I got together a bunch of Twitterers (food bloggers & non-food bloggers) for a hearty meal at Perama in Petersham.

I was a tad bit late & got seated with the 'non-food bloggers' but also people that weren't on my twitter so that was fun introducing ourselves. I'm quite the twitter addict, sometimes I have it on all day at work .. which is so bad because I never get any work done hehe.

So tonight, because it was such a big group of us (and most of us had big flashy camera's & foodblogs), the owner @DavidTsirekas, cooked us dish after dish after dish (and supplied unlimited wines & drinks) for a measly $50 p/p!! Little did I know that we'd be fed soo much more then what he had bargained for..

When i sat down, there was already Greek salad bowls, & crunchy sesame seeded bread served with an assortment of dips. 

Greek Salad, Mixed Dips with Crusty bread (Tzatziki, Tarama, split pea, olive paste, roast eggplant

Picked mushrooms & octopus

The Greek Salad, had a huge chunk of fetta cheese sitting on top, which is unusual (usually you get small-medium sized cubes tossed throughout the salad). 

The platter of bread & dips was really nice, i tried all the dips, limiting myself with the bread (I really didn't want to get full on bread did I??), and sipped on my glass of 'Big Men In Tights' wine. I'm not usually a red wine fan, but this one was quite light, and refreshing (not too dry) so i was constantly topping up though out the night!

The pickled mushrooms were slightly too vinegar-ish for my liking, so I'd assume the same for the pickled octopus & cabbage.

Pickled artichoke & cabbage

Imambadli - stuffed roasted eggplant, Gravieria - crumbed haloumi

The crumbed & deep fried haloumi was divine (how can you go wrong with fried cheese??) So this is one dish i will DEFINITELY have to have the next time I am here :)

Sheftalies - cypriot sausages, Hand rolled Macedonian Filo Spinach Pie

Deep fried asparagus, shallots, oyster mushrooms, Zucchini & white Yam, BBQ haloumi cheese

The spinach pie was crisp & warm, the way a pastry pie should be, and i was glad i was able to eat this as it had no meat in it whatsoever. The deep fried vegetables were a bit, although the tomato based sauce I didn't have much of .. it had a slight tangy tomato taste which didn't mesh will with my tastebuds at all.

The bbq haloumi with figs, was a fresh dish, and a reminder that haloumi does NOT have to be deep fried in oil to taste nice (although i do prefer it that way hehe).

Vine Dolamathes, Stuffed filo pastries

BBq lambs liver, Chilli Black Mussels

The stuffed filo pastries looked very attractive (pastry! so good, but so so bad) & there was a special cheese filled one for the lone vegetarian a.k.a Me! I'm not a fan of the Vine Dolamathes, ever since i tried some with Richard (he loves these).

Hand cut chips w/ Ouzo Mayo, BBq octopus

Zucchini Fritters, Pork Belly Baclava

Fat deep fried potato chips, boy did my eyes light up when these babies came out. The dip, was Ouzo Mayonnaise, which was a bit too bitter for me.. I told everyone straight up that i didnt like it. Must be an acquired taste? (Ouzo is a Greek liquor flavoured with aniseed)

By this point, all the girls (including myself) were completely stuffed!! Whining of our bloating & asking 'when does it all end??'

Fried calamari, Hand rolled Filo Pumpkin Pie

Fakes Salad, Bezilia -peas cooked with tomato & herbs

Another pastry dish, this time filled with pumpkin with a thicker pastry shell, again, what can i say i'm a lover of pastries :)

There was no way i could try the peas or beans salad .. seriously this is the first time i've been overfed in a restaurant since i converted to vegetarianism!

Lamb Skaras - braised lamb with potatoes & string bean

Lamb Kleftiko - cooked in clay pot with potatoes & olives in a spiced tomato sauce & kasseri cheese

Roast Duck

Ahh.. but our stomachs, just miraculously called out when desert was being served :) Or was it our second stomach kicking in!?

Spiced pear in red wine sauce, Rhuburb rice pudding

Mandarin flavoured milk semolina custard wrapped in filo pastry

Ekmek - oven fired brioche soaked in spice sugar syrup served with clotted cream (kaymaki)

Olive baklava with olive icecream

My favourite would have to be the rhubarb rice pudding, and the olive oil icecream (i know, im thinking the same as what you're thinking!)

Richard for the spiced pear in wine syrup because of his no dairy no gluten diet. It was so nice to be catered for, so nicely, and fed so well by David. I had trouble walking out of the restaurant, for fear of knocking over chairs & tables from my buldging stomach lols.

Keep an eye our for Perama Take 2 (yes you heard me), we'll be making a come back later in the month. Why? Because we just, can.

I BIG thank you to Betty & Lorraine for helping me with menu & names :)

To see all the gorgeous pics (larger sizes) head to my flickr. I really didn't want to make it a heavy picture post, there are over 30 photo's!

Other foodie's posts (yes i think i was the last to write mine up hehe..):

Betty The HUngry Girl

Citrus & Candy

Pigged-Out

Foraging Otaku

Raspberri Cupcakes

Tummy Rumble

NotQuiteNigella

Spicey Icecream

Hope I didn't miss anyone xx