Spit-Roast Duck @ Kebab Queen
Posh kebabs. You might wonder just how posh they could be. Or how they could be particularly different. Can you really get excited about a kebab when it’s not 3am, grease dripping down your hands and fluorescent lights challenging your already blurry vision? Well anyone who’s ever been to Le Bab knows that the answer to this is yes, yes and another hell yeah. A modest façade on the top floor of Carnaby’s Kingly Court harbours the passion project of three Le Gavroche alumni who have channelled their classical French training into this Middle Eastern dish. Beautiful flatbreads, sumptuous meats expertly blackened, clever bits of pickle, crispy bits of onion, chilli or garlic sauces exemplarily executed… these guys take each component of a kebab and make it as good as it can be. The second branch was Maison Bab in Covent Garden and now? Now, you are invited to head downstairs of the latter, ring the doorbell, and head through the kitchen to one of the most enjoyable chef’s table experiences going.
Ten seats up at the kitchen counter await to provide you with undeniably fine dining food (there are some very small creations put in front of you, with many a tweezer required for exacting garnishes) but a totally relaxed and convivial atmosphere. Pink velvet curtains and a couple of rosy neons provide a nod to those typically British kebab connotations, along with the free and easy eating vibe: you literally eat off the table and they don’t even give you cutlery for half the menu. This is thanks to a non-porous surface called Dekton and an edible disinfectant made of vodka and citric acid. The six-course set menu features the wagyu of pork, known as secreto steak (tender and fully-flavoured from the fat without actually being ‘fatty’) with lardo pickled in beetroot, seared foie gras on flatbread with cardamom potatoes, a ‘döner risotto’ topped with grated lamb tongue (you do get a spoon for that one), a monkfish shish grilled in chicken skin for extra seasoning and tenderness, and spit-roasted duck doused in pomegranate molasses to be scooped up with sticky rice. For £60 per person, you don’t just get a lot of food, you have a really rather absorbing experience, too. (Note: if you don’t like fraternising with strangers, you are under no obligation to chat to your neighbours and the space doesn’t require it, though you will find yourself eyeing up their dishes if they get served before you).
4 Mercer Walk, London, Wc2H 9FA; kebabqueen.com
Pistachio Croissants @ Caravan-To-Go
If you’re a breakfast person, then upgrade your usual croissant at Caravan, where they are into the second of a three-month charity drive that’s seeing them team up with some of their favourite cooks to create far weirder and more wonderful pastries than normal. April saw writer Ed Smith’s ‘nduja, honey and walnut croissants topped with crispy sage, with money going to Hospitality Action. May hails food author and presenter John Gregory Smith, and his twice-baked pistachio frangipane and pomegranate seed croissants glazed in rose and pomegranate. They're sweet but not too sweet, and ideal with a rich coffee. Proceeds go to The World Food Programme and this creation will be available until the end of the month. A delightful way to perk up your morning.
152 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 6AJ; caravanrestaurants.co.uk
Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder @ Momo
Momo has been lurking off Regent Street for some 23 years, and it has always been sultry with a touch of glitz, but the north African restaurant has just reopened after a huge (and expensive) refurbishment and people are even more excited about it than before; same ambiance, same Moroccan-cum-Mediterranean food, but lower tables, plusher seating (plenty of romantic banquettes) and some big, brass palm trees in the centre of the room. The menu manages to be both glamorous and comforting at the same time, with octopus and beetroot, and pan-fried chicken livers with pomegranate and Aleppo pepper both flavourful but well-balanced starters. In the mains, there is a whole page of tagines, so get ready to recreate holidays past. But it’s the sharing options that mark the really good bit: smoky Scottish beef rib which comes pink and tender as you like, with a gently warming red chermoula sauce and batata harra (potatoes so thin and so fried they’re almost crisps); or the spiced lamb shoulder, cooked for 18 hours and served with couscous, dry fruits and veg. Finish with the milk pastilla mille-feuille for some sweetness and light – it’s made with crunchy, caramelised filo pastry, condensed milk and poached pears, and is a satisfying but beautifully restrained way to round the meal off. Of course, some Moroccan tea is always a good bet on the side.
Drinks-wise, this is one wine list you might need help on since there is a wonderful variety of options, but many that you won’t have heard of – bottles come from Algeria, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Greece, Portugal and more, so recommendations are both welcome and happily provided. In a matter of weeks, the basement cocktail bar will reopen too, with Erik Lorincz in charge. Formerly head bartender at The Savoy’s world-famous and award-winning American Bar, we’re surely in for something special.
23-25 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BH; momoresto.com
Burgers and Spritzes @ Rotunda’s Terrazza Spritz
If you're in search of a terrace this weekend, head to King’s Cross where the recently refurbished Rotunda restaurant in Kings Place has just opened its doors onto the canal and put two bars outside. Spritzes are the name of the game here, but with some more interesting Venetian-inspired flavours than you usually get: ‘basil and black olive caipirinha spagliato’ (that’s cachaça and sparkling wine), ‘peach and pinot frizzante’ (bergamot liqueur, Pinot Grigrio, peach, lemon and soda) and a ‘Sicilian sunset’ (made with gin, grapefruit, juniper syrup, soda and basil foam).
A food menu is available featuring some of the restaurant’s top class meat (smoked brisket, truffle baked potatoes – that sort of thing) but if you are gathering en masse, then you can book a private area and Big Green Egg barbecue for your group to enjoy Northumberland beef burgers, whole grilled mackerel and more. Tuesdays have a sort of happy hour at 5pm, where you can buy the spritz of the week on two-for-one. Happy days.
Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG; rotundabarandrestaurant.co.uk
