Once upon a time, the Lebanese cooked their chicken directly on charcoal. But then the French came along, and gave it a very literal twist: the rotisserie. This is the merged culinary pulpit that Toum proudly preaches from – chicken drenched in Lebanese flavours, and cooked in the French rotisserie style.
You’ll find the space just off the insane bustle of Regent Street, in a surprisingly quiet little corner down the road from HUMO, and across from Bombay Bustle. Walk in, and you’ll find an open kitchen flanked by counter seating on the left. To the right, a smattering of booths and tables bathed in the warm glow of burgundy tones and framed by floor-to-ceiling windows. Downstairs in the basement they’ve got a little cocktail bar too.
So the centre of this restaurant is that grill, which is marshalled by Andreas Kizoub, formerly Head Chef at Milos. The chicken itself is all about moisture. Super tender, impossibly juicy (brace yourself for that word), and kissed by the smoky embrace of the rotisserie. But the real magic? The sauce. Choose from three options: the all-important, garlic-laced toum, a herbaceous chimichurri, or their signature chicken jus. The jus, to be clear, is borderline addictive — imagine all the golden goodness at the bottom of a roast chicken pan before you dilute it into gravy.
There’s other stuff of course. The sides are lovely too. Case in point: their roasted romero peppers with goat’s feta, toasted hazelnuts, and thyme (a smoky, tangy, nutty trifecta that balances the rich rotisserie fare), or the roasted octopus with hummus & parsley pesto.
Drinks? They’re handled by cocktail guru Jad Ballout, known for his work at Dead End Social in Beirut, a regular on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. He’s crafted four signature cocktails here, including the Tomatillo Martini—tiny green tomatoes blended with martini magic, finished with a drizzle of olive oil and cracked black pepper. And you can always head to that bar downstairs for more…
…just remember there is such thing as Toum-much of a good thing.
NOTE: Toum is open now, seven days a week. You can find out more, and make a booking at the Toum website.
Toum | 18a Maddox St, W1S 1PL
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