Peri Ela

Having spent several months living in Turkey I miss Turkish food a great deal in NYC. Peri Ela is a small romantic restaurant that feels more like a little French café than Turkish. There are some gaudy art pieces of women in various states of undress, but overall the place feels very upscale with a gorgeous bar, dark wood, and dim lighting.
The patican appetizer is incredible; the eggplant is creamy and smokey, and the garlic isn’t too heavy-​handed. The fried cheese appetizer was not what I was expecting (i was expecting the pan fried, but these were dipped and deep fried).
I have tried both the manti (one of my favorite Turkish foods) and the swordfish skewers. The manti was authentic, handmade with light yogurt sauce, and the swordfish skewers were meaty and a perfect portion with some salad and rice.

Let me start by saying I love Turkish food. I also don’t like to give bad reviews because I know how hard it is to run a successful restaurant. But Ive been to Turkey on numerous occasions and have found several outstanding Ottoman Empire restaurants around NYC. Done well, the food can be magical, given how basic most dishes are. It’s not like French haute cuisine that calls for complex recipes and techniques. At Peri Ela, it is not done well. The food was bland to a degree I’ve never experienced when dining on Turkish food. The Imam Baldi dish had no discernible flavor. The swordfish shish was one skewer and lots of greens. It had no flavor. The vegetarian plate, basically a mezza, didn’t have a single item I would order again a la carte. The hummus and eggplant dip were so dull, I didn’t bother finishing them. I only stopped in because I was going to the 92^nd Street Y for a performance, which might explain why the place was packed. It’s just a block south of the Y. Think twice before you make this a destination for satisfying your craving for a good Turkish meal

Sub-​par food and service. Expensive. If you don’t care about tasty food or good service, and have money to waste, this place is for you.

The Turkish meatballs are amazing, the hummus is great. I’ve never had to wait long for delivery and the food always arrives hot. It is a bit expensive for take out but it’s always been worth it!

I love this restaurant! The stuffed grape leaves, the almond pudding, the stuffed cabbage. The aesthetics is amazing, love the paintings and the staff is super kind

We ordered food to be delivered. The order arrived without the main dish. After a call to the restaurant the main dish was delivered. The portions were incredibly small, The chicken
kebob had 4 pieces of chicken and some rice and potatoes and was priced at $ 20. The shepards salad was also small. A call to the restaurant yielded little satisfaction.

Recently came here for a lunch. It was early and pretty empty but I was not happy with the lack of air flow. I was impressed with the lunch prix fixe at only $ 20. However, that is where the impressiveness ended. The cuisine is turkish but I’ve eaten at any many turkish restaurants — in the US and in Turkey. This meal was not impressive. I had the chicken shish. It was dry, contained no sauce to moisten the dryness, and lacked any pizzazz. It was delivered with bland and (also dry) potatoes, and a grilled tomato (probably the only authentic thing on the place). My friend disliked her tilapia as well. Sorry; I won’t be returning.

3.5÷5 for food only… some dishes were better than others. I did enjoy their calamari and cacik though. The space is small and cozy, and surprisingly, they were able to accommodate our family of 9!

Warm, cozy, wood paneled, friendly atmosphere. Great food with a wide variety of tastes, Friendly service and relatively quiet. A really nice refuge.

FOOD: The Turkish menu is fairly comprehensive, but there are certain things they seem to do better than others. I highly recommend the Cheese Cigar Borck — it helped me rediscover phyllo scrolls — simply a divine way to start the meal. The Hummus is excellent here as well, and you will not regret taking the plunge, even if you have a favorite hummus elsewhere. For main courses, I had the Adana Kebab which will not leave you disappointed either. The lamb is bursting with flavor. I have not had the seafood, but I was told before coming here to stick with the meats… so I’m not sure how good the seafood is. My only complaint about the food, if you can call it that, is the size of the portions. While extremely manageable, I found myself wishing there was just a tiny bit more. You won’t go home hungry, but you certainly won’t have leftovers, and you’ll be ready to eat again in a few hours. ⁴⁄₅
SERVICE: Service was excellent. There aren’t many tables, so it is easy for staff to be attentive to your needs. Everything is pristine inside the restaurant, your water will be refilled as needed, and you won’t have to wait long for a pass-​by if you decide you’d like something more. Dishes arrive fairly quickly as well. ⁵⁄₅
AMBIENCE: The ambience is exquisite. It is hard to believe when you are in this restaurant that you are on Lexington Avenue with the subway roaring by under your feet. Rather, it feels like you have made your way up to a small restaurant in a quiet cul de sac in the suburbs, where you are doted on by staff and fed delicious food off the beaten path, and away from the crowds. The décor is beautiful, the setting intimate, the candlelight romantic, and the atmosphere sublime. ⁵⁄₅
PRICE/​VALUE: As mentioned under «food» you may find the portions a little smaller than you might expect given the price… but no one will go home hungry so «it ain’t that bad». It can be easy to run up a tab if you get multiple appetizers, or order drinks (a bottle of wine is certainly never a bad idea though), but at the end, you will probably find yourself wishing there had just been a tiny bit more food, and not entirely all of that sentiment is coming from your stomach… some of it will be coming from your wallet too. ³⁄₅
SUMMARY: Delicious Turkish eats tucked away in plain sight on busy Lexington Avenue. Walk through that door and disappear from the struggle and the noise with your significant other, and walk back out later into moonlight well fed, your taste buds and imagination stimulated and then relaxed, your wallet a little lighter than you had anticipated, and not just because you tipped so well for the great service. ⁴⁄₅

We ordered a bunch of the small plates and shared among our party of 3– tapas style dining is hit or miss for me but this place was excellent and the portions exceeded my expectations! Really amazing Turkish food and fantastic atmosphere for the price. Servers are very sweet. We came at 7:30 with no reservation and had no problem getting seated, though the place was still far from empty and buzzed pleasantly with more patrons as the night went on. I didn’t try any drinks, but my friends had the Turkish rosé and enjoyed that very much. Nothing is too spicy; the bread, hummus, okra and cheese-​based plates are all standouts.

This place is very cute, well priced and tasty. The lunch is a wonderful deal, as is their wine+appetizers offer at dinner. Try the smoked eggplant appetizer and the okra with lamb — you won’t regret either!

I’ve been wanting to try peri ela since forever, as it seems to have an old charm from the outside looking in. I called around 7 for a table late one Friday night but didn’t expect them to be so busy, that I could only get seats at the bar. When I got there my bar seats looked ok as they were tucked into the corner. But that also means we would get less attention from the waiter. Ordered hummus, an eggplant dish and had a lamb dish too. The hummus was slightly disappointing as there were so many good reviews on Unilocal about it, however it didn’t live up to my expectations. The eggplant stew was even more disappointing, I could make a better tasting and looking stew at home! The lamb dish was just ok, nothing fantastic to scream about or give 5 stars to. The dessert of rice pudding was however the most disappointing part of the whole dinner affair. The prices were really high for a ues out-​of-​place restaurant. You could try it, once, but anymore than that I wouldn’t recommend it.

What a find! The meze and wine ($ 35 for 2) were an ample supply as a starter for 4 with delicious warm breads as bases for the creamy hummus and other spreads. Entrees were served perfectly hot and beautifully plated. Peri El salad topped with warm grilled chicken was deliciously spiced in a light lemon dressing while the mixed grill and beef dumplings of my fellow diners were well executed. Seating was tight for our tall family but the stylish surroundings made the meal feel quite the occasion. I will be back.

I really wanted to like this place: It is utterly charming in appearance on the outside and inside – a little black jewel box on a quiet stretch of Lexington Avenue, which you enter to discover a convivial and relaxed dining area and bar filled with families and couples. We were all set for a lovely meal, but then came the very disappointing, bland food. The eggplant, the taramasalata, and especially the shrimp casserole were all sadly lacking in flavor and topped with ugly decorative garnishes that did nothing but get in the way. Everything was bland. Nothing was memorable. Perhaps the chicken and lamb are better, but for meze and seafood I say look elsewhere.

Pleasant surprise for my 1^st Turkish restaurant.
Had the yogurtlu chicken adana which was quite good — little spicier than I expected but it was good stuff. Also had some of the smoked eggplant which was very good but I still prefer the texture of hummus more. Next time I’m there, hummus it shall be!

One of my favorite restaurants on the UES. The hummus is to die for, the salads are fresh and original, the bread is incredible, the kabobs are awesome, beware of the HOT pepper on your plate. I’ve never had a bad meal here.

The one star review here is a complete red herring. My dining companion and I shared 2 entrees — the lamb and okra which was a reasonably generous portion to share and superbly prepared. It was delicious. We also had the vegetarian platter which was also simply great. The most delicious stuffed grape leaves I have ever eaten. I will definitely come back here. It’s also a lovely, intimate setting. Nice for a date, or to get together with a few friends. I have only good things to say about Peri Ela and I think you will too.

I really enjoyed this place as a nice spot to relax before taking in a talk at the 92^nd St. Y.
Very quaint, and cozy spot, with small panes of windows that fill the place, with low lighting and small tables. We found our spot at the cozy little bar, that reminded me of a French Bistro. More than enough seats of 6 or 8, that wrap around the corner of the bar. (cozy spot for looking out)
They have a very nice selection of wines, and we opted only for he hummus platter, that included such nice bread and olive olive oil that it was like a meal in itself. Specialty drinks were about $ 12. Most glasses of wine were in the 9 to 12 dollar range.
Our server disappeared at the end, slightly delaying our exit, but all in all, I would surely remember and return to this spot.

Solid Turkish with a local crowd, cozy little interior, and sweet staff.
Oh, right: the food. I’ve never been disappointed. We had the lunch special, at $ 20/​pp, and everything was nicely done. Smooth hummus benefits from a squirt of lemon and is served with a basket of warm, pillowy squares of bread (not pita). The cheese borek are fantastic – the crispy exterior encasing the most savory feta cheese that actually does melt in your mouth.
Adana kepab was flavorful and just this side of charred. The manti (dumplings in yogurt sauce) were a little out of proportion: too much sauce, I thought, but my husband loves them.
Dessert is part of the special: Today it was rice pudding, which was creamy perfection – and I don’t even like rice pudding.
Not cheap, but you can tailor the menu to your appetite and budget. I found the lunch special to be a good value. At night, if you want to stop short of a whole meal, try the Meze and Wine for 2 at $ 30.
The interior is a weird mish-​mash that somehow works. Old-​fashioned wood panelling is punctuated with oversized paintings of bosomy models. Peri Ela is one of the few sexy local options for a late-​night date, but it also works for cultured folk on their way to a lecture or concert at the 92^nd Street Y.