The sheer diversity of London’s dining scene continues to defy expectations, as smaller, tightly-run ventures serving microcosms of global cuisine continue to come online. In the kitchen are usually chefs with impressive credentials, and anxious to leave the comfort of grand, five-star establishments to strike out on their own in less conventional settings.
Case in point is Le Bab, a small, brash, noisy nook on the top floor of the buzzing Kingly Court complex of small eateries, masseurs and yoga boutiques. Designer Angus Buchanan literally didn’t have much room to work with – an entire wall opens out into the central courtyard, while the kitchen and open grill, flanked by concrete and copper-tipped bar counter, takes up another corner chunk.
The square Middle-Eastern wall tiles, if not the restaurant’s name, though, are a dead giveaway to the menu – a series of interpretive takes on the kebab. Manuel Canales Garces and Angus Bell, respectively the sous chef and chef de partie of Le Gavroche, no less, work with organic vegetables, free-range meat and home-made bread and pickles.
The result is imaginative with rarely a dull moment as one small plate after the other emerges from the kitchen – the familiar, reimagined with bright results. Paneer kebabs are accented with beetroot puree, pickled rainbow chard stem and curry mayo. Lincolnshire endives spiced with sumac share the plate with Iranian pomegranate and a shallot dressing, while a kofte features spiced date brown sauce.
Wash it all down with an unexpectedly inventive round of tipples. If the craft beers don’t tempt, perhaps the house cocktail of spiced rum, or the Laphroaig smoky sour laced with mezcal might.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
2nd Floor
Kingly Court
-
Waiting for Ideas have recast the turntable as a minimal aluminium altar for vinyl worshipThe PP-1 turntable is an ultra-minimal, all-aluminium record player designed to enhance the vinyl experience
-
Fendi celebrates 100 years with an all-out runway show at its new Milan HQIn the wake of Kim Jones’ departure, Silvia Venturini Fendi took the reins for a special co-ed A/W 2025 collection marking the house’s centenary, unveiling it as the first act of celebrations within Fendi’s expansive new headquarters in Milan
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellionThe new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
London's coolest design-led coffee shops for your Fashion Week fixCoffee shops are the heart of London’s neighbourhoods, discover those fusing speciality beans and stylish interiors for the perfect brew
-
Shakara is a stylish new addition to London's West African dining sceneShakara, a new Marylebone bar and dining room, adds to the city's ever-more impressive high-end West African dining scene
-
First a fishmonger then a restaurant, how Applebee’s became a Borough Market stapleIn line with the London seafood restaurant’s 25th anniversary, Applebee’s is reopening with a new menu and a new look courtesy of design studio A-nrd
-
Mayfair restaurant Silva is a dainty ode to the MediterraneanEnvisioned by Studio Wren, Silva is a dynamic, textural restaurant that reflects nature’s rhythms through its cuisine and design
-
Peek inside Heathrow’s new VIP terminal: exclusive travel from door to departureThe Windsor is Heathrow’s newly refurbished private terminal boasting a private gallery, cuisine from a Michelin-starred chef, and butler and chauffeur services
-
Night at the museum: the best art hotels to book nowSleep amid surrealists at London’s Broadwick Soho, or wake up to contemporary favourites at New Hotel in Athens – indulge in an immersive art hotel experience
-
London’s Piraña restaurant combines Japanese-Peruvian fusion with lavishly moody surroundsPiraña restaurant wraps a delicious Japanese-Peruvian fusion menu in an alluringly moody atmosphere in central London’s Mayfair
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Park Hyatt London River Thames: ‘Luxury meets the skyline’Tour the long-awaited debut of the Park Hyatt brand in the UK, soaring within a KPF-designed sleek glass tower in Nine Elms
