Harden's says
Maison Bab, a branch of Le Bab, shares this site.
Harden's survey result
Summary
Aiming to “disrupt the conventional norms of what it means to fine dine” is the stated mission of Le Bab’s weird, no-longer-secret 10-seater in the basement of their Covent Garden branch. The concept includes no cutlery or plates for your £110 menu (the wine flight is £65 per person): instead you grab each of the nine courses with your fingers after it’s been dolloped onto a custom-designed heated counter. This entry is for completeness: yes it has 27K Instagram followers, but it provokes little feedback in our annual diners’ poll.
Summary
Pamir Zeydan and his team spoon indulgent, vaguely kebab-inspired creations (eight courses of them for £95 per person) onto a custom-designed, heated countertop at this hidden 10-seater: Le Bab’s zany, once-secret flagship in the basement of their Covent Garden branch. The idea is for you to scoop the courses up in your fingers as part of a zeitgeistily offbeat foodie adventure. But while it has proved an enduring pitstop for those seeking something out-of-the-ordinary – and won excellent ratings last year – it generated little feedback this year either in our survey or the press. It’s still well-followed by the Insta-crowd though, with dishes, menu-changes and chef holidays regularly updated.
Summary
“I know that I am not the first person to have been blown away by the imagination displayed in this deconstruction of the kebab!” – this no-longer-secret 10-seater counter in the basement of Kingly Court’s Le Bab aims to rocket-propel the kebab taste-palate to new heights, with a multi-course tasting menu served (smeared?) onto a special heated countertop (you scoop with your fingers). “Tasty… good patter from the chefs… engaging… quite the experience”. In August 2023, it relaunched with Pamir Zeydan as the new head chef (although he had already been working here with departing Manu Canales). The sort of dishes to expect? ‘Dover sole kebab delivered on an ironed hispi cabbage taco with roasted red pepper purée’.
Summary
“Real wow factor” inspires fans of this not-very-secret counter, in the basement of Covent Garden’s Maison Bab, which aims ‘ to push kebabs as far as they can go’. “The service experience – with food served by the chef onto the actual surface of the special heated counter directly in front of you” (no plates, you scoop it up in your fingers) – “brings a brilliant sense of fun to the whole meal”. “But it’s not at the expense of serious culinary intent”: ex-Gavroche chef, Manu Canales creates “original food, with exceptional quality of ingredients and cooking”.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Kebab Queen?
4 Mercer Walk, London, WC2H 9FA
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £36.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.20 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 10.00% |
4 Mercer Walk, London, WC2H 9FA
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑4 pm, 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑4 pm, 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑4 pm, 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑4 pm, 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑4 pm, 5 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12:30 pm‑9:30 pm |
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