Petek; has anybody been there yet?
  • petra
    We have been twice now and I highly recommend it.

    The food is great, really nice atmospere, friendly staff and very reasonably priced.

    ...and there is a good choice of vegetarian dishes as well
  • andy
    I keep trying to go there - after many recommendations about the food and service - but SOMEBODY prefers the attention they get over at Pappagone.
  • petra
    Oh, SOMEBODY should try their halloumi. Yum!
  • Lucy

    who is this mysterious SOMEBODY that you're talking about? I am partial to a bit of halloumi though - if there are kisses too then I may be sold!

  • Liz

    Sounds good. When are we going?

  • SimonB
    I finally went for the first time on Saturday night - excellent food and great atmosphere.
  • katiejane
    I can't recommend it enough. John (one of the owners - the tall one who doesn't look like Roman Abramovich) rocks. We go there often, and within minutes of us sitting down, he's fixed a fancy pants complimentary mocktail for one of the younger members of our party.

    If, on the very rare occasion, John's not around, the front of house/service can be a bit dour, but hey - the food's tremendous.
  • naomi
    oooh, we were there on saturday night! i often look at the people in stroud green and wonder if they are members. we loved petek by the way.
  • andy

    haven't we taught you the secret handshake yet?

  • naomi
    will i have to go up to random people in stroud green and try it?
  • andy

    yes.

    exactly that.

    shake enough strangers hands in a special way and you might get it right.

    don't forget to use both hands, a bit of tongue and a strange, rapid blinking.

    (Colette, I've got a few apostrophes wrong in there. Could you get your red pen out?)

  • flembo
    Went again on Wednesday. John wasn't there but the service was great and the staff friendly and the food as ever excellent.
  • Ian
    I always make the mistake of ordering starters. Why oh why oh why ...
  • flembo
    Never order starters, the bread, dip and olives are enough and the mains are always very filling.....
  • poxy
    Nah. Order all the starters and no mains. The starters are the best.
  • tosscat

    That's what the vegetarian fiesta is - all the veg starters and a bit of rice rolled up into one main course.

  • katiejane
    If they did a little complimentary pot of houmous along with the dip, then I'd be a happy bunny and go straight to the vegetarian kebab.
  • flembo
    I just find that the dip and olives along with the bread are quite filling. The veggie fiesta is massive and you have to be really hungry to get through part of it...Delicious though..
  • Ian
    All this talk of Peteks ... right that's it we're off there for tea tonight. The power of suggestion
  • tosscat

    We all realise that the gritty lumps in the amuse bouche dip are pieces of dirty pear, don't we?

  • David

    my preferred phrase for a sub quality pear is moody pear.

  • katiejane
    I always thought it was potato - but yes, pear - it all makes sense!
  • dominic
    What's wrong with pear?
  • Colette
    Pear? in a dip? what madness is this??
  • David

    You'll be telling me they make alcoholic drinks with it next. Oh.

  • tosscat

    Yuck perry.

    They've tried to rebrand perry as some fancy pear cider in an attempt to get some of the Magner's trade - you can't polish a turd.

  • katiejane
    Steady on tosscat! There's no need for that.
  • tosscat

    Don't get me started on Midori.

  • matt

    There's an excellent organic pear cider that I could drink until the cows come home, or at least did at a Festival last summer.

  • tosscat

    Moo.

  • wideboy
    Been twice now. Both times the meat was mind-alteringly salty. Like, *crazy* salty. Am I alone in this opinion?
  • Papa L

    I've never thought the meat salty and eaten in their loads. What did you have?

  • Misscara

    I've only ever had really good dining experiences at Petek. There was a time when we ate there 3 or 4 times a week and even though they changed the set menu, they'd still give us what we wanted for the same price. I don't go there so often now, but still giggle when they read out the specials menu as you can never understand what they are saying, wonder how many they actually sell.

  • wideboy
    Lamb shish and Lamb Kofte. Apart from the salt, the minced lamb was also pink in the middle from end to end :(
  • Misscara

    It's supposed to be. If you want it well done just tell them and they will overcook it for you.

  • wideboy
    I would ordinarily order steak medium or medium rare. Leaving minced lamb or minced beef rare is a different matter. At the very least I would expect them to ask how I would like it cooked and not serve something contrary to food heath guidelines (for good reason) - by default.

    This would only be different if they made their own mince from whole, trimmed, cuts like steak tartare and ran a pretty tight kitchen in terms of hygiene (looks good). But even if this were true, they should ask how I would like it cooked regardless.
  • Misscara

    So you don't fancy trying my steak tartare then?

  • Ali

    Wideboy, don't worry about the advice the LibCons are going to close the Food Standards Agency down. I guess they might outsource it to MacDonalds

  • wideboy
    @Misscara hmmm, not a fan of raw meat or raw egg. Perhaps if rather tipsy..

    So it seems that I am alone in the mega-salt experiences. Puzzling.
  • Emma
    I was in there Sunday lunchtime, oh how I love Petek. I normally have mackrel or the fish special nowadays but I don't recall the lamb being too salty when I had it in the past. Try the fish instead Wideboy, it is awesome!
  • Papa L

    I tend to go Petek special Kofte, that comes with a yoghurt and tomato sauce - never noticed it being pink or particularly salty. My missus usually has a chicken shish, again obviously not pink and never noticed it being salty.

    Maybe some of us have a high salt tolerance level, or you may be unlucky Wideboy.

  • wideboy
    This is quite odd. Too elaborate further; The first time there was four people in our group. Three of us ended up sending it back because it was just far too salty. Two or three bites and then had to stop. Second time, it was two of us, consciously giving it another go after the last experience four month previous. Same result, crazy salty, both dishes unfortunately sent back. They were very good about it both times.

    My point is just that it was three different people eating different things on two different occasions.
  • Tallboy
    Wideboy. It is odd that nobody else has had the same problem. Have you considered the option that the staff at Petek really don't like you?
  • wideboy
    Considered, and quite likely.
  • Ian

    @wideboy. One person could have percieved salt and then kicked this off

    Petek's food is great and Jon, the manager is really friendly and hard working. This makes up for the fact that the service can be a bit random ... I always go Petek Special and we always eat too much bread and starters.

  • JaneDoe
    This thread reminded me that I hadn't been to Petek for a while so we popped in last week. I had my usual shish mix (lamb and chicken) and my other half had the mackrel special which was really good value. I was looking out for signs of excess salt but couldn't detect any. I also ate too much bread and starters. I never learn but it was all as good as I remember.
  • j
    I once tried the place soon after it first opened - and as I found my food (lamb shish, if my memory serves me correctly) insanely salty I never considered going back.

    That was my observation back then; certainly no contagious psychological factors at work.
  • wisteria53

    We eat there about twice a month and have NEVER had any problems with over-salted food. I don't add salt to my food so I'm sure I would have been able to tell!

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