Peri Ela

Peri Ela Restaurant Review:

This diminutive eatery, fighting for affection on a mini-restaurant row on the Upper East Side, is well-suited to post-92nd Street Y literary events. Under an ornate pressed-tin ceiling, Peri Ela plates up Turkish standbys garnished with fresh ingredients. The peynir tabagi appetizer, loaded with feta cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers, is almost a meal by itself. Other specialties include spicy ground chicken kebabs char-grilled, sliced and served over onion relish, pilav and pita bread; and manti, Turkish dumplings stuffed with beef and topped with a garlic yogurt sauce. Vegetarians have a long list of choices, too, including a platter holding hummus, patlican salatasi (smoked eggplant with garlic), ezme (a spicy mixture of chopped vegetables) and stuffed eggplant. If you can’t score one of the 12 tables, you can also dine at the bar where you can get some nice wines by the glass. There’s also a coffeemaker brought over from Istanbul that makes semi-sweet Turkish coffee.