Pera Turkish Cuisine

PERA Turkish Cuisine sits at the corner of N Second St and W Laurel in Northern Liberties. This neighborhood gem serves up traditional and authentic style mezze plates, charred eggplant, salmon/shrimp/lamb kabobs, gyros and a ton of sweet desserts. Recommend trying it all!
Favorites included-
TURKISH TEA
FRIED CALAMARI
MEZZE PLATTER
SHRIMP KABOB
FALAFEL PLATTER

I might have set my expectations a little too high but Pera was definitely still good!

We started with tabulli and I wouldn't recommend but the bread was great. We also had the calamari and it was really good but not super special.

The shrimp kabobs had a great flavor but the shrimp themselves were kind of tough. Boyfriend ate himself into a coma with the doner gyro so I would say that was a good order.

Service was phenomenal. The space itself is cute but I wouldn't really recommend for large parties

Had a great visit here with a friend. Have you ever had some awesome halal food from a food truck around town? Coming here is like taking that food truck food and making it 100x better.

The location is unassuming but very cute. Service is friendly and servers are happy to help pick items for you. We ended up getting a great assortment of dishes, but what really stands out is just the perfectly cooked, tender meat that they served up. Great value for money as well! Although they have gotten quite a lot of fame recently it still feels like a neighborhood joint. Do not forget to order the baklava, not only is it to die for, but it is very pretty as well.

Pera is consistently great and the staff friendly. This BYO with its cozy decor is definitely a highlight of the area. Being small and cozy, they do have a limit of 90 minutes for your seating which is more than enough time to dine and socialize. Don't be that group who thinks that they can camp out for the evening at a table because they paid for a meal depriving the restaurant of more revenue. My typical evening starts with the hummus served with warm pita bread followed by the perfectly fried calamari. My main is usually the Manti. These little lamb dumplings in a delicious sour cream sauce will make any person who is not a lamb fan craving for more. Last but certainly not least is the Kunefe. Served warm, this shredded wheat with a cheese filling drizzled with hot syrup and pistachios is the perfect way to finish off your meal.

We did delivery on a Friday night as we were craving salads and meat. It was a new place to try and the food looked delicious. We got a few dishes which included the tabouli, mixed grilled, egg plant dish, a salad and it came with some pita bread. The food was absolutely delicious! Who knew salad could taste that good specially how fresh it was. The grilled meat was so flavorful and delicious as well. My favorite part of all of the pita bread. It was so soft and yummy. The only downside to this place is that the prices are a bit high for the portion size that you get. However, don't let that deter you from trying as you will love the quality that you get.

Great Turkish BYOB in northern liberties. Although they do not take reservations, I've never had difficulty getting a table. The food is phenomenal and never disappoints. Their lamb dishes are incredible and their grape leaves are my absolute favorite.

Really fresh and flavorful ingredients in every dish. I think I liked every dip that was provided in the sampler. I really enjoyed the white eggplant dip (maybe I'm wrong and it's not eggplant !?)

The Turkish coffee was great and it came with small Turkish delights. The candy paired well with the coffee.

In a city with so many Middle Eastern food options, Pera has become one of our favorites.

We love their gyro and falafel sandwiches for lunch (affordably priced at ~$12). For dinner, our favorites are the doner/gyro platter ($21), which is SO much food and always is full of flavor, and the iskender ($25), a decadent, filling platter of bread and gyro meat layered with tomato sauce. We have discussed trying some of their cold meze and dessert (the baklava in the little bakery case looks so good), but the mains are so large, we end up too full to try anything else!

Service is always friendly and the restaurant itself is cute, with blue plates, tiles, and evil eyes, as well as photos of Turkey on the walls. I believe Pera is BYOB as well. Its location in Northern Liberties makes it a bit of a long walk from Center City, but that is probably for the best - we'd probably come here all the time if we lived a little closer!

Came back to Pera for lunch because I loved it so much the first time and was NOT disappointed! I love this place so much!

The staff is extremely warm and makes the dining experience so pleasant! The food comes out
in a timely manner and is plated so beautifully!!

I opted to try the hunkar begendi, which is a slow cooked lamb shank over mashed smoked eggplant. The presentation of this dish is outstanding! (My picture does not do it justice) The lamb was so tender that it fell straight off of the bone! I tasted a hint of cinnamon in the seasoning which really brought the dish together nicely. The eggplant reminded me of mashed potatoes and tasted different from the baba gannoush.

I still recommend getting the combo platter for mezze. You get to try six different dips. The atom (which is the white dip) and the ezme (red dip) were my favorite!

Combo platter $24 six mezes selected by the chef. All were really good. They only bring four small pieces of pita out at a time but when they see you run out they bring out more

HUNKAR BEGENDI $32 slow-cooked Lamb shank over smoked eggplant - good with rice. Boyfriend really enjoyed this. I liked the eggplant more than the lamb

Baklava $8 four pieces. The syrup seeps out the bottom when you bite into it. It was good but definitely no more than two pieces at a time