I haven’t been to Little Petra since it moved from Mill Road. As a previous big fan of the restaurant, I have been both excited and wary about visiting. Some mixed reviews on facebook made me nervous as well as my own pre-conceptions about what make a good restaurant. Whilst I enjoy and appreciate places such as Giggling Squid, Pho, even a shameless Byron burger in town, one of the things I really love about Cambridge is the local food scene; the small, basic eateries with exciting flavours and even more exciting atmospheres. Would the new, larger (and being on the main road, possibly more touristy?) ‘Little Petra’ still hold that distinct atmosphere? Rather obnoxiously, I like to feel like I’m the only one that knows about a place.  

The restaurant now has two spacious rooms; one surrounded by large windows letting in both the light and the buzzing atmosphere of the busy street outside. There is also a small cubby hole with two tables and no windows. We were initially sat here but our request to move was kindly accommodated; this spot might be perfect for a party who were looking for a more private area. The whole restaurant is decorated tastefully with accents of its Middle Eastern heritage.

My group consisted of four adults and a toddler. We, not including the latter, are passionate foodies and had been looking forward to the meal. For us, a sharing table is the stuff of dreams (not for the Smithy characters of the world). After starting with a delicious bottle of Jordanian wine, we ordered two mixed mezes, a portion of chicken livers, additional falafels, a hummus fatteh, a vegetable rice and a whole chicken cooked in traditional Jordanian spices with salad. This also came with a generous serving of flat breads which I believe would have been topped up if necessary.

The whole chicken really was the headliner; perfectly spiced, carefully charred and served with a flavoursome accompanying salad; the olives and pickled vegetables complemented everything on our expansive buffet. If I’m to stick with the festival style metaphor, the mixed meze was the dream support act. The baba ganoush had a smokey aubergine flavour while its neighbour, the raheb, had turned the aubergine into a sweet, fresh reveller. Crispy falafels and soft halloumi played incredible solos and all of this was garnished purposefully with pomegranate, parsley, lemon and olive oil. The vegetable rice was surprisingly well flavoured and added some additional carbohydrate to our meze driven meal. Although I am personally not a fan of chicken liver, my fellow festival goers delighted in it but could only muster the word ‘liver-y’ to help me describe it.   

Our group were split 50:50 on the fatteh; whilst I found it to simply be a bowl of yoghurt garnished with nuts and crispy bread at the bottom, others felt that the creamy yoghurt with the well-chosen Jordanian ingredients was the perfect addition to the plate. It is a large serving; maybe more of a dip sized portion would have been better? The hummus at Little Petra was delightfully smooth but the tahina flavour was a little on the strong side for me.

For those that are interested (or desperately trying to live their foodie lifestyle with a little one in tow), Little Petra works reasonably well for a two-year-old. They have plenty of high chairs and the lack of children’s menu didn’t present a problem. The staff even accommodated an urgent order for some fries when a stray splodge of tahini put her off her plate. The busy atmosphere meant that any sound effects coming out of her were easily covered and didn’t disturb our more civilised neighbours. It’s casual- we popped in and out with her whilst we waited for food without feeling like we were out of place.  

So does ‘Little Petra’ still hold the special atmosphere of its smaller predecessor? I’d say yes. Even at 6pm almost every table was full and reserved signs were spotted everywhere. Guests chatted happily while food was hustled back and forth. Our massive meal worked out at about £30 a head which we felt was pretty reasonable. One of our group even declared it to be the best Middle Eastern food he had tasted. It’s different from Mill Road, yes, but in some ways more of an occasion. We’ll be back… especially to see that headliner again 😉