Angel, Middle Eastern Restaurant Guide

“This ever-friendly cafe sibling of next door Moro is a wonderful place to eat great tapas” – “especially sitting outside in Exmouth market”. Husband-and-wife team Sam & Sam Clark’s 15-year-old spin-off provides “superb tasty food at very reasonable prices” in a “casual but professional” environment, encompassing “interesting plates” of Spanish and North African-inspired food that is “not pretentious but delivers great enjoyment”. There’s a second branch in Hackney Road.

It’s “difficult to have a bad time” at Josh Katz’s funky duo, which started as a “cool little place in a railway arch near the canal in Haggerston” and later added a shawarma bar spin-off in Exmouth Market. On the menu: “delicious small plates of Middle Eastern-inspired food” – “gutsy food and great staff too”. (It’s no criticism to say that ratings are not as white hot as when it first opened: it’s just that the competition has caught up with them a bit). Sample dishes – Miso-harissa BBQ butterflied poussin, salata mashwiya; Whole sea bream, moroccan chili honey, saffron aioli, lemon; or Smoked lamb mechoui, harissa, cumin salt, grilled flatbread.

“In a corner of Islington” – Chapel Market – Tel Aviv-based chef Maoz Alonim earns universal praise for this late 2024 newcomer, particularly applauded for its “lovely service” and a menu featuring “superb shellfish” (“excellent oysters”) and “the best taramasalata ever eaten”. The Sunday Times’s Charlotte Ivers is a big fan, and in her January 2025 review she described a "gorgeous" little place with “perfect seasonal cooking, with warmth to cut through the English winter but all the vitality of the Mediterranean”.