Kingly Court just got a new crown.
The upper deck of the Soho culinary castle is now home to Donia, a modern Filipino restaurant which now rubs shoulders with the likes of Imad’s, Le Bab, and Korean Dinner Party.
It’s actually housed in the former Imad’s space (before they outgrew it), and it’s been given a moodily intimate upgrade to the decor.
It comes to us from the team behind Mamasons, the first Filipino ice cream parlour in Europe, which serves distinctive purple ube (purple yam) ice cream. That led to the opening of a similarly successful Filipino bakery, and now the next domino has tumbled, and they now have a proper restaurant in Central London. The driving forces behind it all are Omar Shah, and Florence Mae Maglanoc, who grew up on Filipino street food, and wants to recreate the experience here at Donia, chicken offal skewers and all.
Thus, the menu is packed with Filipino recipes made using predominately British ingredients, including the likes of classic lechon crispy roast pork with ‘Mang Tomas’ sauce (that’s Filipino for “Mr. Tomas”, and it’s a super-popular pork liver & peppercorn condiment); prawn & pork dumplings topped with crab and draped in a brown butter, lime sauce, and some chilli oil; and some chicken Inasal (that is, marinaded & chargrilled) served with a butter emulsion. And yes, there’s purple ice cream to finish.
As for the drinks? They keep the Filipino flag flying with cocktails like the Mango (which includes gin, prosecco & lemon) and the Milo, which brings together the iconic malted drink (well, iconic in Southeast Asia) with vodka with espresso & coffee liqueur. Our advice?
Don’t sleep on it.
PREVIOUS PERK: Nudge Members got 50% off the food bill from 8th – 22nd December.
NOTE: Donia is open now, Tuesday to Sunday. You can find out more, and make a booking at their website right here.
Donia | Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby St, W1B 5PW
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