The Terrace by Megan’s is a slice of summery escapism

We headed down to check out Megan’s latest summer offering. They’ve just launched their live music nights which run from 7-10pm on Fridays and Saturdays and from 12pm-3pm on Sundays exclusively at the Terrace location and, though this summer isn’t exactly the most summery right now, you can at least pretend it is at Megan’s.

The al fresco vibe is really nice. If it had been a bit hotter we could literally have been anywhere in Europe- the decor of The Terrace is clever- yes you’re outside, but the heavy foliage means that you can’t see too far beyond the perimeter of the restaurant. It manages to live up to everything you’d imagine when you hear the words ‘summer oasis’; loads of flowers, white painted wood, string lights and, now, live serenading from a local musician too. And the music was perfectly done. Though there will be a rotating roster of performers, we really lucked out with our singer/ guitarist. He played all the classic tunes in a very unique style, so we often found ourselves singing along without realising it. Though he was extremely talented and caught our attention, he trod the line between being entertaining and not being too distracting to take away from our conversation. Bravo.

As always the food at Megan’s hit the spot. If you’ve not tried the Terrace branch yet then it is a little different to the other locations. This one has a slightly smaller menu, but each item packs a punch. We started off with a duo of the famous espresso martinis. They are slightly sweeter than your average, but you’d not want to have more than one anyway… there’s a lot of alcohol hiding behind the sugar. Some blistered padron peppers came with flakes of sea salt so big that they added some texture to the dish complimented the cocktails perfectly. As did the fried chicken- so crunchy and with a subtle spice that were good on their own, but even more delicious when dunked in the date sauce that came with them.

Mains were punctuated with sips of the very drinkable, very smooth Tomero Malbec which, ok we know is red and therefore not the essence of summer, but was so good we couldn’t help but get a full bottle of it. We had to get a Terrace special pide, which they have several flavours of. If you’re unfamiliar, a pide is a Turkish bread which is kind of like a pizza that’s been pinched at the sides. It makes a boat shape which is perfect for filling with toppings. There’s a n’duja and labneh, a tenderstem and piri piri, a green basil margarita… it was hard to choose but eventually we settled on the burrata and Prosciutto number which was oozy, salty and moorish. The dough was really nicely cooked and we appreciated that it had bene sliced into helpful strips to make it easier to share around a table. It’s the little things. We also tried their chicken and avocado Caesar salad, and were grateful to the team for being flexible with dietary requirements- when asked they were more than happy to remove the chicken for us. The edited avocado Caesar was so good. Very fresh with loads of crunch from the spiced pita chips and we loved that the dressing was made from labneh. It made the salad feel a little lighter and zingier than the usual Caesar and gave a nice nod to Megan’s Mediterranean influence.

It really was a lovely little evening. Relaxed, great music, wonderfully helpful staff and we left full and satisfied. The only player that didn’t turn up at 100% was the weather… but we can’t blame anyone for that. If you’re looking for a little bit of escapism but don’t have a holiday for a while then book in a return trip to the Terrace.