I love getting food and drink recommendations from friends and one that has popped up quite a few times was Baba. So I finally booked a table for lunch to go check them out!
Baba is inspired by the flavours of the Levant and describe themselves as mezze, charcoal grill and cocktail bar. We were shown to the table and ordered of a waiter who didn’t seem to have the best of days. Perhaps we were just a bit unlucky but it was quite a stern and tired greet and introduction of the menu that we received, however the rest of the staff was super lovely and helpful. We did get some recommendations for dishes and decided to order a variety of foods to share between myself and my friend. The recommended mount was three plates per person, with one of the mains included, and it was a great amount. We were worried it would be way to much but it was reasonably sized dishes. Even the mains are quite small so something to keep in mind. We didn’t need to order dessert as we both got full of the savoury plates but couldn’t resist trying the labneh cream.
You can see what we ordered here below and my recommendations would definitely be the venison and urfa pepper carpaccio which was the standout of the meal, along with the cauliflower fritters and hummus with pita bread. Me and my friend both love buffalo mozzarella but this was actually the one we liked the least – not that it didn’t taste good, it just lacked of flavour compared to the other dishes. I will definitely be back to try some more of the dishes and really liked the lunchtime vibe in the restaurant. I’m also a big fan of any restaurant that encourages smaller dishes for sharing so you can try a lot of different flavours and textures.
With the meal I had a Grapefruit Margarita which went with the food really well. I’d probably say it’s almost easier to have a cocktail like a margarita with a meal like this as it can be tricky to choose a wine which goes with all dishes, unless you fancy more than just one glass with your lunch.
What we ordered:
cauliflower fritters, zhug and crème fraîche (£6.00)
hummus, zhug, pine nuts and lemon (£6.50)
venison and urfa pepper carpaccio, whipped feta, pistachio dukkah and pickled shallots (£9.50)
buffalo mozzarella, zhug, pickled chillies and herbs (£9.50)
blackened sweet potato, saffron crème fraîche and harissa (£4.50)
whipped labneh cream, roast plum, cashew nut meringue and mint (£6.00)
We also enjoyed a pork belly dish which seems to have been removed from the menu so I can’t tell you exactly what else was with it.
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