London's top 50 restaurants: Middle Eastern
Great grills, kebabs, and salads – a series of exciting new restaurants serving fantastic Middle Eastern cuisine have opened in rapid succession
The Levant and Anatolia were the cradles of civilisations. Now, they are the melting pots of diaspora, the bread baskets of the Middle East. From Anatolia to Tel Aviv, these restaurants showcase the Eastern Mediterranean. Do you agree with the choices? Use the comments box below or tweet your suggestions.
Honey & Co © Alys Tomlinson
Honey & Co
- Rated as: 4/5
- Price band: 2/4
If you’re in Fitzrovia it’s worth making a beeline for this little Israeli-run café. The menu is full of homely Middle Eastern dishes alive with colour and texture. The husband-and-wife team who run it have impressive credentials as the ex-head-chef of Ottolenghi and executive chef of Nopi. Made fresh on the premises, their window is filled with breads, pastries and exotic jams.
When to go: When you want to be transported to a sunny Middle Eastern place.
What to eat: Plenty of small to plates to pick at, plus something sweet – their cakes are too good to pass up.
- 25a Warren Street, W1T 5LZ
Britta Jaschinski
Hummus Bros
- Rated as: 5/5
- Price band: 1/4
As the name suggests, this laid-back snack bar is devoted to one of its most popular preparations of the humble chickpea. Topped with anything from guacamole to salad or sautéed chicken chunks, their houmous is silky-smooth and delicious. Sides include zingy tabouleh, falafel salad and smoky, slow-cooked aubergines. Young, up-beat staff keep things moving at an efficient pace.
When to go: It ain’t glamorous, but it’s perfect for lunch – or a quick, cheap evening meal.
What to have: Houmous, obviously. We're particularly keen on the cumin-scented fava beans topping.
- 88 Wardour Street, W1F 0TJ
Rob Greig
Mangal Ocakbasi
- Rated as: 5/5
- Price band: 1/4
- Critics choice
Stoke Newington is Turkish territory and a fine place to eat, but kebab connoisseurs know to head down a quiet side street to this longstanding ocakbasi favourite. The in-out service and occasionally raucous atmosphere doesn’t make it a place for relaxed dining, but as an informal dinner stop-off it’s perfect and still brilliantly cheap. Choose one of the juicy skewered meats on display, enjoy the anticipation as the dextrous grillsmith chars it to perfection, then tuck into one of the best meaty meals in the city.
When to go: Only when seriously hungry. Far more than just a ‘kebab shop’.
What to have: Lamb shish.
- 10 Arcola Street, E8 2DJ
Rob Greig
Yalla Yalla
- Rated as: 4/5
- Price band: 1/4
From the original shady Soho side street to a new spot just off Oxford Street, this likeable Lebanese café now has two branches in locations with very different feels. The second branch (Winsley Street) benefits from a space more than three times the size of its Soho sister, so the risk of a stranger’s elbow straying into your baba ghanoush is considerably lower. The variety of little mezze dishes to supplement the hearty mains (smoky grills with fluffy vermicelli rice, say) are fresh and balanced, and well-priced to boot. You can eat very well here for under £20 a head.
When to go: For a quick post-shopping fuel-up.
What to have: Mix and match the mezze (we love the houmous and chicken wings in pomegranate syrup) with charcoal-grilled lamb or chicken.
- 12 Winsley Street, W1W 8HQ
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