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| King prawns with peppers, garlic and the sweet smokiness of Turkish |
PLACES / FOOD
& DRINK
By Leyla Kazim
“An Iranian and a part-Turk
walk into a Levantine-inspired bar (and restaurant)". Remarkably, not the
opening to a joke with potential to offend, but an innocuous intro to an
evening at recently launched Arabica Bar & Kitchen in the thick of Borough Market.
For me to delay a visit to
a newly opened Middle Eastern restaurant for much longer than it takes to
glance over the online menu, would mean committing nothing les
The Arabica brand began life on this very ground over 14 years
ago, selling a modest range of home-cooked meze wares amongst what was then just a handful of
other merchants. Since then, it has expanded into trading at several London
The opening of Arabica Bar & Kitchen – with its splendid high arched ceiling and bare
bricks – sees the brand come of age. It has blossomed into a devilishly
handsome and confident young buck that feeds people great food and flirts with
wild abandon from the menu. There are exposed steel ducts and mirrors to widen
the space; there’s a long bar, booths and tables with those on-trend (but
somewhat uncomfortable) classroom-style chairs, and full-length bi-folding
doors to let in the sultry night.
The clientele is an
eclectic mix; from straight-from-the-office types who – in spirit – clocked out
shortly after lunch, to those free from the shackles of 9-5 LED strip lighting,
sporting burnt calves and rosy cheeks from a day lolling about in London’s
sunshine. The atmosphere is entirely at ease, whilst still sophisticated enough
to impress a date or play host to a few suits.
The menu
– “whoever devised it is a clever sod”
The menu is portioned off
into manageable chunks – dips, raw / cured, fried, clay oven, stove / grill /
charcoal, salads, veg. / rice / pulses – each offering a handful of choices.
Whoever devised it is a clever sod, because the format dictates what feels like
natural logic: these are all small sharing plates, so we’ll choose one from
each group. Be warned, doing so can unwittingly push up the bill and result in
a spread in excess of what is reasonable for two people to consume. Or in our
case, a mere nod of acknowledgement from Gluttony.
We of course, cleared the
lot.
And the lot we got was very
good indeed. Let me begin with the Lebanese lamb and beef tartare, and the fact
that it was just about the best I’ve encountered. A fabulous grainy texture
from the presence of bulgur wheat, hand-chopped meat, expertly seasoned, with
herbs and onion and great olive oil – so easy to eat. I could sit in front of a
film with a bucket of this and a wooden paddle and reach the bottom within six
minutes (£9.50)
Chicken
liver is up there with the best the food world has to offer
The texture of a
well-cooked chicken liver is up there with the best the food world has to
offer; the ones here were velvety and tickled by the sweetness from sticky
pomegranate molasses, dressed with jewels from the fruit and a flourish of
crisped onion slithers (£6.50).
A moat of glossy whipped-up
humus (with ghee!) surrounded by a chunky island of tender lamb fillet and
toasted pine nuts (£6.50). The cacık – strained yoghurt with garlic, cucumber, lemon,
olive oil, mint and dill – was better than my dad’s (£5.50), and the moutabel – smoked aubergine with tahın and bejeweled with pomegranate seeds – managed to
beat the other two in the which-dip-can’t-we-leave-alone game (£6).
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Levantine pastries of akawi cheese, nigella seeds and parsley were good, if a
little heavy. I prefer the thinner filo used in böreks, probably because they’re what I’m used to. The
advice to wrap them in the lettuce leaves and fresh herbs they were served with
did lift them, however (£6).
King prawns with peppers,
garlic and the sweet smokiness of Turkish Urfa
“Order meat in Edgware Road
Then there were beef and
bone marrow köftes with a
defiant love-it-or-get-the-hell-out promise of “served rare” on the menu. My
dining partner applauded the fearlessness; “Order meat in Edgware Road
Our banquet closed with knafeh – a slab of shredded filo pastry cooked in butter
and soaked in syrup, encasing a treasure of cheese at the centre. I’d prefer
the cheese a touch more salty and it needed more butter or syrup as filaments
of pastry were catching in the Iranian’s throat and was a little dry on my
tongue (£7) - I had a glorious one in Istanbul once. Then there was a Turkish
coffee, with warming undercurrents of cardamom, affogato over halva ice cream which I thought was very clever (£5.50).
This place makes people
happy through that age-old winning combination of warm hospitality and very
good food. The entirety of the remaining menu are things I want to eat more
than three times and so I suspect this place will become a regular.
My final words: chef James
(who you’ll find in the kitchen) has lovingly recalled and transcribed the Arabica journey from its conception to the present day.
It’s a great story, he tells it well and it will make you appreciate the passion
from the kitchen even more – do have a read.
Liked lots: a great looking menu, that tartare, dips, kofta,
cocktails, design, atmosphere, staff, a spot on wine list devised by wine man
of the moment Zeren Wilson - we enjoyed a very agreeable bottle of
Grenace-Cinsault 2012 rosé.
Liked less: I'd like to see more bread options: the land of
the Levant is so good at bread – not
showcasing them here feels like a missed opportunity. Portion sizes can feel a
little conservative for the amount paid - specifically with the dips. But then
they were very good, so...
Good for: exciting Middle Eastern food that isn't stuck in
the tired old ways of Edgware Road
My rating: 4/5.
Arabica Bar & Kitchen, 3 Rochester Walk, Borough Market , London SE1 9AF
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