Restaurants: Jessica Sportsman

Pera serves up exotic dishes I have passed a fairly new restaurant, Pera, many times with an inquisitive mind, but just recently stepped inside to find out what the place is all about.

Pera, located at 349 Clement St., is a medium sized restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week. The menu touts traditional Turkish and Greek cuisine for lunch and dinner and offers standard breakfast fare for early morning diners.

The restaurant, located on the corner of the street, is well lit and airy. Tall ceilings and warm colors make the dining room comfortable and welcoming. Full-length windows on two sides add to the bright atmosphere, where one can dine in or wait for carry out orders. The menu is quite diverse and I wish more information explaining the dishes was available. There are many dishes that lack proper descriptions for the novice and do not do justice to the culinary choices available.

On my first venture to Pera, I decided to order several specialties. I did not choose the standard brunch dishes because I wanted to savor some of the more exotic offerings from Turkey and Greece. Having traveled to both countries back in the early '90s, I was looking forward to tasting some of the dishes I had during my travels.

First off, I ordered a "meze" platter, which was a combination of several of their appetizers. Included in the melange was Babaganoush (eggplant dip); hummus (chickpea/garbanzo bean dip); tzatziki (yogurt/cucumber dip); falafel, (deep fried balls of a garbanzo bean mixture commonly used in pita sandwiches); dolmas (pickled grape leaves wrapped around spicy rice); and fattouch, which is a lightly-dressed salad made of parsley, red onion, cucumber, bell peppers, garlic and lemon juice. Served with this generous platter of appetizers was homemade wheat rolls, which took the place of the standard pita bread that is usually served with these dishes. All of the offerings were fresh and flavorful and could have served as an entire meal, for just $8.

Among the salad choices was a beet and orange salad that quickly caught my attention. The $6 salad would have been enough for an entire meal. The baby greens salad was dressed with red wine vinegar and topped with bits of beets, fresh oranges and walnuts. It was very tasty and palate cleansing between the other courses of the meal I ordered.

Next, I ordered a mixed grill plate that included skewers of chicken, lamb and "Adanas," which are spicy seasoned Mediterranean meatballs. This plate for $12 was enough to feed at least two people. The meat was grilled well-done but was tender. The dish comes with fries or rice and a small salad.

All dishes at Pera were extremely well balanced and accompanied by generous portions of salad and fresh bread. Besides many other combination platters, Pera offers a wide variety of coffee, wine, tea and soft drinks. There are several choices for late night desserts and hot and cold drinks as well. The waitpersons are helpful and attentive.

I would like to try some of the other grilled dishes and hope you will as well. Pera adds to the great diversity of cuisine we have available to us here in the Richmond District.

Pera 349 Clement St.
(415) 666-3839
Catering available