Middle Eastern Eating and Drinking

Abu Zaad (Syrian)

Abu Zaad is at the heart of a short stretch of street just west of Shepherd's Bush Green that has become known locally as "Little Syria" because of the high numbers of Syrian-owned cafés and restaurants. It's filled with long glass-fronted counters of food. So if you aren't that familiar with Syrian food you can just look and point. Prices are cheap but the food is excellent. 29 Uxbridge Road, W12. Tel: +44 (0)20 8749 5107

Ali Baba (Egyptian)

The family-run Ali Baba could have been transported to this London terrace just north of Baker Street straight from a suburb of Cairo. Come for the authentically Egyptian cuisine and atmosphere to match.

Al Waha (Lebanese)

For consistently excellent food, Al Waha is definitely one of the most reliably fine Lebanese restaurants in town. The choice of meze runs to around 60 and everything we've ever eaten here has been top notch. Baklava comes on the house.

Alounak (Iranian)

From humble beginnings in a Portakabin beside the railway tracks at Olympia, Alounak has cemented a reputation for the best Persian-style kebabs in town - and rightly so. It's perpetually packed as word has spread beyond the Persian community. Booking is essential.

Fairuz (Lebanese)

Just off Marylebone High Street, Fairuz has a distinctly Mediterranean look with walls of lemon yellow and beach-hut blue, and a fold-back frontage that accommodates pavement seating in summer. It is regularly filled with parties of celebrating office workers drawn by the idea of shared meze meals and well priced Lebanese wines, but the food is nevertheless superb. Fairuz scores high on presentation, and for main dishes that are that little bit more inventive, including unusually for a Lebanese restaurant, several vegetarian mains. Reservations are definitely recommended.

Maroush (Lebanese)

There are now 8 Maroushes in central London - the Edgware Road alone has 4. For fine dining, Maroush Gardens on the corner of Connaught Street is a lovely big airy place and the food is superb. It represents some of the most refined and satisfying Lebanese cooking you'll find in London.

Mohsen (Iranian)

Mohsen is an Iranian favourite in this corner of West London The menu is all the standard Iranian kebabs: barg, chenjeh, joojeh or koubideh (that's lamb fillet, lamb pieces, chicken or minced lamb; £6-£9). The meat is marinated in lime juice (or saffron in the case of the chicken), seasoned and served with a huge mound of gorgeous, unsticky, fluffy rice and a grilled tomato. Specials of the day (mainly stews) explore Iranian cuisine a little further.

Noura (Lebanese)

The new face of Lebanese dining in London, Noura is smart, sleek and modern. Its slickly designed menu offers around 50 meze dishes, plus grilled meats and, for dessert, some terrific own-made ice-cream or aish as-saraya, a caramelised bread pudding with clotted cream.
16 Hobart Place, SW1. Tel: +44 (0)20 7235 9444

Patogh (Iranian)

Patogh is tiny - just 4 or 5 tables downstairs and the same number again upstairs. The focus is on the action in the open kitchen, staffed by three chefs, brows glistening as they busy themselves over the smoky charcoal grill. The menu is simple - kebabs plus typical side dishes such as sabzi, bushels of mint and fennel with a square of white cheese. But it's all good, no-nonsense cooking accompanied by bicycle-wheel-sized hot disks of flat bread studded with sesame and poppy seeds fresh out of the clay oven.

Ranoush (Lebanese)

This landmark snack and juice bar is an authentic Beirut-style hangout of polished brass, marble tops and harsh lighting. As much social centre as eaterie, Ranoush is busy throughout the day with locals, expat and visiting Middle Easterners meeting over coffee or freshly-squeezed juice and garlicky shawarma (lamb or chicken kebab).

Yas (Iranian)

Yas has been a cornerstone of London's Iranian community for decades now. The menu is mainly kebabs but beautifully done, plus a variety of specials, most of which are stews. Yas is unusual for an Iranian restaurant in that it's licensed and unusual for a London restaurant in that it's open until 5am.

Arabian Cafés

Recent years have seen the popularity of smoking the sheesha, also known as the hookah, nargileh or hubble bubble, spread, but on Edgware Road it has always been part of daily life, not just a fashion-led fad. Try these cafés for an authentic experience. Since 1 July 2007 there has been a ban on smoking indoors, although sheesha establishment owners have been campaigning for an exemption.

Al Shishaw

Al Shishaw is the real deal, a vast Egyptian-owned qahwa with an incredibly OTT interior of mother-of-pearl, beaten copperwork and coloured stone, all especially imported from Cairo. It has a pull-down big screen that comes into use for major Arab world football games, risking riots twice or more each year when Ahli play Zamalek (Cairo's two top soccer teams).
51-53 Edgware Road, W2. Tel: +44 (0)20 7262 6212

Amazon Café

A modern update on the traditional qahwa (Arabic coffeeshop), Amazon Cafe is also a patisserie and juice bar, and internet and Wi-Fi centre. It's bright and cheerful and the closely packed tables are usually busy with a predominantly young crowd (lots of females too) chattering away beneath curling clouds of grey sheesha smoke.
151 Edgware Road,W2

Mamounia Lounge

Moroccan-owned, Mamounia Lounge looks like a Marrakech carpet merchant's lair, a warm and fuzzy, twinkly Oriental den of soft cushions, rug-covered walls and filigree lanterns. Very relaxed though with a colourful mix of African businessmen, holidaying Gulfies and local Anglo-Arab youth.
8 Queensway, W2. Tel: +44 (0)20 7221 0202

Mo Tearoom

Mo Tearoom is only a few bus stops from the Edgware Road but it's unlikely that this little annexe next to the famed Momo restaurant gets too many Middle Eastern customers. It's a whole other world from the average coffee shop, mixing sheesha with custom-created cocktails for the pleasure of a glamorous and fashionable crowd. It is undeniably appealing though.