A restaurant recommendation

Yesterday I was in Islington and we decided to have a late lunch after our business was concluded. Upper Street is packed with eateries - most of the chains are represented along with a very healthy number of independant and local places.

We settled on one of the three branches of Cafe Gallipoli. All three are on the same 100m stretch of road and called Cafe Gallipoli, Gallipoli Bazaar and Cafe Gallipoli again. I don't know how they differ from each other as they all appeared to offer the same menu.

The menu is a collection of dishes from throughout the Middle East, with the restaurants having suitable authentic looking interiors. We shared the Meze Bazzar, a selection of 5 cold and 2 hot starters. I wish I'd taken some notes of what was included (or pinched a menu) but I was too busy enjoying the food.

What I can remember of the meal was felafel, a filo pastry filled with cheese and herbs, a superbly smoky flavoured hummus and some yoghurt dish, potatoes in a tomato sauce with some fantastic seasoning, a bean dish and a very real tabbouleh which featured parsley to bulghur wheat in a 10:1 ratio; really a salad flecked with grain rather than the more usual intreptation of grain flecked with herbs. The tabbouleh really was the highlight of the meal. Bowls of olives ae provided on every table and there are bowls of breads to rip and share and dip.

It was one of those restaurants where the staff eat at the same tables as the customers with their families and their children, an always reassuring sign I think.

The bill for all the meze and a beer, a glass of wine, some bottled water and mint teas came to under £20 and I shall definitely return to explore more of the menu. Highly recommended.