Honey & Co

Homely Middle East food

Honey & Co in Fitzrovia has become one of the most popular restaurants in 2013, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand as well as winner of the Observer's OFM best new comer. Honey and Co is a tiny restaurant and it looks more like a local cafe with about only 20 seats inside, Run by the husband and wife team, Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, together with bags of experience behind them such as Orrery and Yotam Ottolenghi. Honey & Co label themselves as food from the Middle Eat, showcasing the food they love and grew up with.

Honey and Co

To keep up with the middle east tradition, we ordered a bit of everything off the menu and shared for the whole table, first was the seasonal mezze of pickles, baba ganoush, hummus, chilli tomatoes, olives and pitta bread. I was in love with the baba ganousch, it has a very settled flavour from the aubergine and spices with a hint of smokiness, it was such a treat with the freshly cooked warm pitta bread. Yemeni style falafel was a class above the usual falafel you get elsewhere, beautifully blended and full of exotic flavours from the coriander and cardamom. 

seasonal mezze

hummus with warm cumin and lemon mushroom

Yemeni style falafel

roasted violet aubergine, tahini,
egg yolk and parsley dressing

The grilled octopus was heavenly and perhaps the best dish on the day, it was soft and tender with a hint of smokiness and sweetness, it was such a flavour sensation together with the spiced lentils and sweet roast pepper. Shish brick: Braised brisket dumplings in rich yogurt sauce was a very interesting dish, slow cooked beef brisket wrapped inside a very thin dumpling layer, the currants and pistachios added some crunchy and nutty texture and overall a very impressive dish. Prawn and fennel tagine on the other hand was all about rich and powerful flavours, the fennel and other spices offered some very herbal and robust flavours to the sweet prawn while the arak sauces offered just the right level of bitterness.

grilled octopus

Tunisian meatballs

shish brick

prawn and fennel tagine

The dessert at Honey and Co was fantastic, the cold cheese cake with kadaif pastry was a thing of beauty, not overly thick, very soft and delicate flavours, it was the best cheesecake I've had in a very long time. Warm chestnut and whisky cake with salt caramel was also excellent, the level of sweetness was just right, nutty, oaky and fruity flavours shining through and a few dashes of cream made this a perfect dessert on a cold winters day.

chestnut and whisky cake

cheese cake with Greek pine and fir honey

marzipan cake

I can see why Honey & Co has become such a hit, it was a very impressive meal, I am not much of a fan in Middle East food but Honey & Co was a different story. The level of flavours of all of the dishes were just right, it was neither too intense or too weak which I found in a lot of Middle East eateries. The service was also very friendly and heart warming which was a real big plus, especially in a small cosy neighbourhood restaurant. With a regular changing menu, I am more than happy to return in the future.

Food 6.5
Service 7
Ambience 6
Value 6

£40 per head

25a Warren St, London W1T 5LZ


http://honeyandco.co.uk/