Restaurants

Were usually very distrustful of any restaurant that overdoes on the ethnic decor, but Iraqi restaurant Mesopotamia which exhibits all the restraint of a national pavilion at a worlds fair is a delight. The walls are gussied up like a Babylonian palace, with parades of stylised lions trotting along the rough plaster walls, and a turquoise-tiled frieze with other regal creatures picked out in gold. If so inclined, you could turn your back on all of this and bag the table at the front of the restaurant with its views of the arch of Wembley Stadium, just over the road. The menu combines the houmous, fattoush and tabouleh typical of Lebanese cuisine with Turkish dolma and Iranian fesanjun (chicken stew with a sauce of pomegranate juice and walnuts). Iraqi specialities include dhob, a lean prime cut of beef braised in a rich gravy spiced with cloves, black peppercorns and cardamom a dish, so the menu claims, served nowhere else in the UK. Dates also feature heavily (Iraq being a prolific producer of the fruit). On a Friday and a Saturday, the short dessert list is supplemented by a chocolate fountain, or the Babylon Tower!! as the menu has it.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008