Best Middle Eastern restaurants in London

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Share delight: mezze dishes at Comptoir Libanais are great to enjoy with friends

It's remarkable Middle Eastern food has taken so long to get the attention it deserves in London. This year, however, a series of exciting new restaurants serving the cuisine of Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Iran have opened in rapid succession.

Palates are awakening to the joys of dark pomegranate molasses, smoky aubergines, saffron, pistachios, cool sesame pastes and fresh hummus, falafel and kebabs. See for yourself at our choice of the newest Middle Eastern eateries.

Comptoir Libanais
Think of fledgling chain Comptoir Libanais as the Lebanese Leon. After opening in Westfield and Wigmore Street, there's a new one in Paddington and another coming to Finchley Road. The more the merrier, we say! These stylish, affordable shops-cum-cafés boast cool looks (kitsch murals and graphic prints) and delicious food. The mezze — cinnamon-scented cheese sambousek (pastry parcels) and roasted pumpkin kibbeh (wheat shells) with walnuts and pomegranate — are £3.30 for three pieces; manoushe flat breads, perhaps topped with za'atar herb mix, just £1.90. Fattoush (baby gem salad with herbs and pitta croutons), £5.50, and smoky baba ghanouj (aubergine purée), £3.30, also get our vote.
lecomptoir.co.uk

Pilpel
Thanks to such new mini-chains as Hummus Bros, Middle Eastern snacking's coming to every high street. Latest arrival is Pilpel, where Israeli owner Uri Dinay serves falafel, falafel and, er, that's about it. The wonderful herby chickpea fritters are made to his grand-father's recipe and fried fresh to order. Enjoy them in a hot pitta, £3.99, topped with feta, (50p extra) or aubergine (40p), and with crunchy salad and a dollop of tahina (sesame seed sauce) and chilli sauce. Not sure what to eat? The generous staff let you try before you buy. But beware queues of Spitalfields workers snaking out of the door at lunch. Inside are 10 perches: get there early to beat the rush.
38 Brushfield St, E1 (020 7247 0146)

Yalla Yalla
Teensy Yalla Yalla, tucked down a Soho alley, has salivating critics, bloggers and foodies piling in. The charming café barely fits 20 but there are queues every lunchtime for takeaway wraps of halloumi, marinated chicken or lamb, all £4.50. The Beirut street food menu offers the usual kebabs, wraps and sambousek pastries, but made with love and sparkling fresh ingredients. Must-tries are kibee knayye (a kind of lamb tartare) and garlicky chicken livers sticky with pomegranate molasses. Don't miss the orange blossom-scented semolina cake — if you can resist the baklava, that is.
1 Green's Court, Soho, W1 (020 7287 7663)

Laya'Lina
champers is quaffed and cocktail glasses clinked with live music and belly dancers at this chi-chi Knightsbridge spot. The mezze, a tad pricier than elsewhere, has unshowy classics. Fish is quite a main course focus with sayadieh (baked rice and fish), £16.95, and red mullet with spiced lentil sauce, £18.50. A full selection of takeaway wraps (from £3.95) and mezze (£2.50-£6.50) is also available.
2/3 Beauchamp Place, SW3(020 7581 4296)

1001 Nights
The name conjures up (Middle) Eastern promise; so does the glam decor. The blingest of the 2009 breed of Lebanese eateries comes from fine stock, being sister restaurant to 30-year-old Fakhreldine, below which it lies. Here the classic Lebanese cuisine is served in a less formal setting and without the
wallet-walloping bill. Breakfast is manoushe, a Lebanese “pizza” topped with feta, sesame and olive oil, with shawarma wraps and mezze for lunch and some nice fishy options for dinner including frike samak (mullet, bass and calamari with smoked green wheat). Go to toptable.com for their current offer of 50 per cent off food and a free glass of wine (before 6.30pm).
85 Piccadilly, W1 (020 7629 4440)

Del Aziz
this chain's branches (Fulham, Bankside, Swiss Cottage, Westfield, Bermondsey Square) offer confident, contemporary cuisine, taking in North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Try hummus burger, £5.50, saffron-scented chicken kebab, £5.50, tagine of monkfish with cinnamon, £14, or even Parma ham-filled ciabatta, £5.75. Mezze dishes (£3.50-£7.50) are a good way to explore the menu. We'd also tip the “tea” pots of Del'Aziz “grog” (Moroccan rum punch), £10 for three servings, and the Lebanese date cocktail, £7. Moroccan and Lebanese wines cost from £16.50.
delaziz.co.uk

 

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