The other day, me and my work mate Lianne
found ourselves looking for dinner around the Oxford St/ Regent Street area. In
my head, all the main restaurants on these roads seem to be of the usual chains
– pizza hut, Angus steak house, Garfunkel’s etc. Now don’t get me wrong, these
are all fine but personally I like to try to eat out in local, independent or smaller
restaurants. We had no idea where to eat but we came out trumps in the end.
After Lianne declared “I could really eat something like a Lebanese”, we took straight to
google (what on earth did we do before google, seriously!) and found a place
called “Yalla Yalla”, advertising
itself as ‘Beirut Street Food’in Soho, just off Brewer Street.
Perfect, just a short walk and we were there.
Although, you will need to keep your eyes
peeled as we nearly missed it – the shop front is tiny. Actually the whole
place is tiny. But my god does it do good food!
Seeing as Lianne is a veggie and I am not a
massive fan of most meats, Lebanese suits us well, as many of the dishes are
veggie friendly.
Like tapas, Lebanese is great for sharing, which
means sampling as much as possible that is on offer! We opted for the:
- Baba ghannouj (an aubergine dip)
- Tabboule
- Falafel
- Grilled halloumi
- Samboussek Jibne (little pastry delights)
- Pitta bread
- Makale samak (deep fried prawns, calamari and white bait)
- Washed down with fresh mint tea
Tabboule |
Doesn’t sound that much for two, but the
dishes are so filling, we really didn’t need this much. If I went again, I
would go for 4 dishes between two plus some pitta bread on the side. Having said
that, if I was going with a bloke then perhaps order more! These dishes are moreish. I couldn't stop eating!!!
Time Out voted the "sawda djej" (the chicken livers) as one of the top 100 dishes in London, although we didn't give this a try.
Prices are reasonable too, with each dish costing between £3.75 for the tabboule, to £5.50 for the sea food dish, which was huge!
I loved the style of the place too. Restaurant
come café it has a really relaxed, chilled vibe, everyone bunched up together for
a real social atmosphere, the chitter chatter creating the musical backdrop.
When we arrived it was empty apart from
another couple dining in the corner, but we did arrive at about 6.15pm so
before the rush. In the time that it took for me to look down and drool at the
menu, and look back up again, the place was packed! Admittedly there is only
enough space to seat about 20 people but I looked outside and there was a queue
of about 10 people waiting to get it! And it was freezing!
If you go, get there early, otherwise be prepared
to wait, even midweek. They do offer food to go, in the form of tasty looking
wraps and pastries etc, if you can’t be bothered to wait.
Anyone else been there? Let me know!
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Haven't got round to tasting Lebanese food yet, but it's definitely one I'd like to try after reading this, although I think I'd be a bit daunted being a newbie going inside!
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Ping Pong in Soho on 45 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7JL? It's a Chinese restaurant and they do some really good dim sum and pork buns. There's a whole host of dishes that are suitable for vegetarians, so it should be good for your friend too!
I haven't seen Yalla Yalla, but it might be worth taking the time to trying to find it after this.
Hi Jackie
ReplyDeleteDon't be daunted! All the food is superb. I would be more than happy to share with you my fav dishes - tweet me @likesandlove
Not tried Ping Pong yet but I think you have convinced me to go - I love dim sum
xxx