Harman, located on Holloway Road, is one of the few ­authentic Mediterranean restaurants in Islington.

It’s a family-run business, with three generations of chefs having plied their trade in the kitchen.

The place looks gleaming from the outside and inside is a huge space, which would no doubt be perfect for party bookings.

It has a proper Turkish feel, complete with loads of hanging lanterns and all-seeing Turkish eyes and I absolutely loved the décor.

We were greeted by Denniz, who has been running the show for the last 25 years, and shown to our seats with a couple of belly dancer cocktails waiting to be imbibed. These strong and sweet little numbers are Harman’s signature cocktail.

Denniz told us a bit about the history of Harman and the menu, with its ancient, traditional recipes, and we prepared ourselves to tuck into some home-cooked treats. We kicked off with an enormous array of vegetarian hot and cold meze dish – from the popular tabuleh and hummus to stuffed peppers, dolma and falafel.

We then sampled an ­aubergine boat with potatoes and yogurt all very delicious and topped up with fresh home made bread.

Cocktails

In between dishes we tried some of the many cocktails on the list; including pina colada, cosmopolitan, and Long Island ice tea. They all helped to open up a little more gap in my stomach, because by this point I was as stuffed as the pepper.

For the main course we had seafood dolma which consisted of rings of squid stuffed with salmon and mussels in a creamy sauce with winter veg and new potatoes.

Being a seafood lover, this was right up my street and all the ingredients worked really well.

They have a huge selection of desserts too, some authentically Turkish and also some good old favourites like a knickerbocker glory, which I must say I haven’t seen the likes of for some time.

Harman has daily and weekly specials, so there is always something different to cater for all palates, and I would heartily recommend a visit to this cosy, friendly, family run restaurant.