Perama

88 Audley St
Petersham
NSW 2049
Ph : (02) 9569 7534


The visit of my sibling en famille back to Sydney provided a good excuse for me to introduce some more folks to David Tsirekas' restaurant Perama.

Besides which I really needed some of his Caramel Baklava ice cream and Bougasta.

Upon our arrival, there was some degree of confusion when neither myself nor the increasingly puzzled woman who greeted us could find my name on the bookings list. I wasn’t there under my surname, I wasn’t there under my first name, and I must have been temporarily even more blind than usual, as the capitalised “APTRONYM” completely escaped my notice.

When I finally figured it out, I think that my Twitter related babblings confused the poor woman even further.

Before we had time to settle, a tin full of coloured pens and pencils were brought out for the 4yo and 6yo, who were told that they had carte blanche to draw over the paper topped tablecloths. This was unexpected but happily received by the Eating Machine and her brother, both of whom spent a good deal of time either solving mazes or drawing all manner of incomprehensible things during the meal.

For entrees we ordered the Fried Calamai ($17), "lightly floured calamari deep fried and served with an ouzo garlic mayonnaise", plus the Mixed Dips ($13.50) of “Tzatziki, tarama, split pea, olive paste and smoked eggplant served with paximadia seasoned with white sesame seeds and oregano”

Soon after these arrived, some Graviera Crumbed Haloumi, Pickled Octopus, and Pickled Mushrooms made a surprise appearance. The pickled octopus was somewhat monopolised by the 6yo, who has a fondness for octopus, though not baby octopus, as he likes the suction cups.

The pickled mushrooms were particularly interesting, as they were not only Chinese Black mushrooms but also had a definite Chinese influence to them tastewise as well.

We also ordered some Rustic Grandma’s Chips ($5) which I forgot to photograph (one of 3 things I forgot to photograph alas). The BIL enjoyed more than I’ve seen him enjoy chips in a long time. He was much taken with the potato (Russet), and the fluffiness of the innards.

At this point, we were filling up so quickly just on entrees that there was fear expressed as to whether someone could finish their main.....

The first main was the Roast Duck ($32), “Roasted with a Cumin spiced quince and served with Wilted Greens” which was umm “deconstructed” before I got a chance to request a photo op. The report was that it was perfectly pink in the middle and purely on the basis of my view from the other end of the table, I think that I shall order it when I next visit.

Second main was Lamb Skaras ($28.50), “slow braised shoulder lean lamb with oregano, olive oil, wine and garlic, then char grilled with a lemon, olive oil baste and served with baked oregano lemon potatoes and string beans”. As usual, the lamb was meltingly soft comfort food, and even better then next day when I had some in sandwiches :D

The two other mains, including mine own, was the Lobster Moussaka ($35), “layers of potato and artichoke dauphinoise, grilled eggplant, poached lobster and a lemon and saffron bechamel. Served with minted ribbons of cucumber”.


This modern version of Moussaka is rich, but in a different way to its progenitor. The poached lobster refreshingly cuts through the creamy richness of the béchamel, and being a big fan of things citrus, the lemon component is a win.

The Human Eating Machine and her brother shared the Hand Rolled Pumpkin Pie ($26), “baked village style hand rolled filo and pumpkin pie served with a roasted beetroot, leek and mustard puree”. There were two filos, which was perfect for them. The HEM finished hers, despite having eaten an extraordinary amount of the entrees and dips, but her brother failed at the last step.

Dessert anyone?

I was going to have dessert, come Hell or high water. I realised that I couldn’t possibly fit in the two desserts that I had wanted, so I stuck with the Caramel Baklava Ice Cream ($13.50). Somehow, the others managed to also find their Dessert Stomach, so we ordered two of them.


Oh David.....


This is his new Avgolemono ice cream, which, if memory serves me correctly, he will eventually serve with a dessert Dolmathes; sounds intriguing! I thought that it tasted like a cross between lemon sorbet and ice cream. My sister, equally enamoured of it, put it more eloquently – it’s like a modern tastier version of the old fashioned Lemonade Spider. The Eating Machine put it the most eloquently, by upending her emptied plate so she could lick off the remaining droplets. I tried to take a photo, I truly did, but she demurred, and who am I to gainsay a 4yo in the middle of an ice cream epiphany?

@tomatom and @chocolatesuze would understand.

[AP]