Never has a restaurant caused quite such a stir when the Palomar opened in the heart of Soho in the summer of 2014 and quite right it was too. Introducing modern day Jerusalem to Londoners the Israeli cooking is influenced by Southern Spain and North Africa which causes a hybrid menu that makes choosing all the more difficult. The staff (and rightly so) recommended nearly every dish when we visited which is not exactly helpful but proves the point that you can’t go wrong whatever you choose.
The famed ‘Kubaneh’ is alarmingly filling – a Yemeni pot baked bread served with tahini and grated tomatoes – wiser to instead opt for the beetroot carpaccio with goats cheese and honey syrup and the salmon tartare. We moved onto sharing the wild seabass with lentil and octopus salad and deconstructed ‘Shakshukit’ kebab enjoying the sights and sounds of the bar counter seats watching the chefs in action.
Reservations are hard to come by so book well in advance to avoid disappointment. Easier to come by is the endless Instagram photos that appear on our stream reminding us of the delicious New Jerusalem food round the corner. What a tease.
