One of Soho's Best-Loved Restaurants is Expanding

Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is run by a Syrian refugee named Imad Alarnab.

And his story’s pretty extraordinary. He was one of the most famous chefs in Damascus, then civil war forced him to flee to Europe, eventually making it to the UK where he started a pop up restaurant and donated the proceeds to charity. After several years, he finally has a permanent place of his own again, which we consider to be one of the best restaurants in Soho: friendly staff; great food; and Imad’s often there welcoming guests himself.

And now, that place has become so popular, it’s about to expand.

Come May, Imad will be taking over a much larger space in Kingly Court, (where you’ll find the current restaurant right at the top, looking down on the small piazza below). The feel will be similar in the new space, recreating his Damascus restaurant with lots of light, simple wooden furnishings, white walls, and the occasional splash of colourful patterned tile. And there’ll still be an open kitchen at the back, where you can see (and smell) the fragrant food being made.

Naqaniq

That food includes the Middle Eastern classics you’d naturally expect: hummus with sumac, delicately spiced falafel, baba ghanoj with pomegranate seeds, etc. But the larger space will also allow Imad and his team to cook up some dishes he hasn’t served here before, and that you may well not have tried – like Naqaniq, garlic & lamb sausages with Aleppo peppers; and Konafa Nableseh, a dessert of crunchy vermicelli with sweet cream cheese. Most excitingly, he’ll be serving breakfast for the first time, lavishing you with the likes of Fatteh (crisp pitta with creamy chickpeas and melted ghee).

Best of all, the move will mean more seats available at his evening supperclubs, which so far have raised incredible amounts for charity.

Like we said, he’s pretty extraordinary.

NOTE: Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is open now, but will be launching in the new space sometime in May – we’ll update this when it opens. You can find out more, and book a table, right HERE.

Imad’s Syrian Kitchen | 2.14 Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby St, W1B 5PW

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