Review: Vourla, St Albans' newest Mediterranean restaurant

Vourla welcomed its first customers on Monday night, as part of a short-notice 'soft launch', designed to avoid disappointing customers with an initial rush.

While owner Erhan Atilganer had hoped to open in August, problems with electricity and the need for fine-tuning saw a delay into September.

I headed down on Wednesday evening - the first full day of operations, with bookings being taken - to meet Erhan and sample an impressive looking menu.

Vourla's menu at launch. (Image: Liam Fitzpatrick) Based next to The Pudding Stop at 3-5 The Colonnade, Vourla is an impressively spacious and easy on the eye venue. While the food is the reason customers come, pleasant aesthetics are always a plus!

Taking its name from the Greek name for Urla, the Turkish birthplace of the owner, Vourla provides a menu consisting of mainly Greek and Turkish dishes, with plates that combine the two cuisines.

Vourla has an impressive and spacious interior. (Image: Liam Fitzpatrick)

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• St Albans: Vourla Mediterranean restaurant set for opening

While the starter menu boasts an impressive array of options, there was only one choice for me - King Prawns Romesco.

King Prawns Romesco (Image: Liam Fitzpatrick) I've eaten many a plate of prawns in my time and they're generally pretty hard to get wrong - what often sets a great dish apart from a good one is the sauce.

This is where Vourla delivered, with generously sized and juicy king prawns served in a lovely warm Romesco sauce, with almond flakes and lime.

This added a real flavour to the prawns that will live long in the memory.

Of course, a staple of any Mediterranean restaurant is the bread basket and Vourla doesn't disappoint in this area - providing a complimentary basket of flat and sourdough bread.

For my main course I went for Chicken Souvlaki, a dish which exemplifies the fusion of Greek and Turkish cuisine that Vourla sells itself on.

Chicken Souvlaki (Image: Liam Fitzpatrick) Two sticks of juicy chicken chunks on (very) sharp skewers, served with Greek lemon, tzatziki, hand-cut wedges and a chilli dip.

This was nothing short of magnificent - filling, flavoursome and cooked to perfection.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give Vourla is that I would go again in a heartbeat. The menu had several dishes I would relish eating and the chefs are keeping a few aces up their sleeves with more to be added in the coming weeks and months.

Erhan explains to me that his goal is for customers to come back again and again - vital in a relatively small city of 80,000 people.

This customer will certainly be doing just that.