The Palomar
Soho, London
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Although it's been refurbished to extend the eating counter for groups of four, provide velvet-lined booths for couples who want privacy and add larger tables for up to 10, the real energy at this buzzing Israeli-inspired joint in Chinatown nevertheless centres on the stools at the counter facing the open kitchen. The easiest way to decide what to eat is simply to watch the procession of dishes being assembled in lickety-split time for neighbouring diners and choose whatever looks tastiest. Otherwise, graze on a couple of snacks – nuggets of zaatar chicken schnitzel or bitesize lamb skewers with carob molasses, say – while perusing the menu. The kubaneh is an essential accompaniment whatever you order, a puffy dome of golden-brown bread that could be the perfect embodiment of 'tear and share'. Dunked into tomato and tahini sauces, it is a course in itself but it’s also an essential conduit for mopping up the last morsels from any plate: the confit garlic yoghurt beneath a fleshy pair of spiced lamb cutlets, say, or the sunset-orange chimichurri pooling around slices of rare ribeye. Vegetables are a good shout: aubergine served as baba ganoush or as a carpaccio with white miso; a risotto made with freekeh and stirred with kale and dukkah. However, most of the fish and meat dishes come with some intriguing interpretation of greenery: an Israeli spin on kimchi with bream, or a jumble of kohlrabi, molasses and feta beneath dusky-pink chunks of tender glazed octopus both get a big thumbs-up. There’s wine to drink – the Lebanese house Cinsault rosé from the Massaya Winery is lovely – but cocktails are arguably even better: try the Bumblebee, a food-friendly mix of gin, honey, ginger and lemon. The Palomar may no longer feel like the hippest venue in town, partly because so many places have copied the formula – not least its Covent Garden sibling, the Barbary. But when the flames are shooting up behind the counter and your new-best-friend chef is offering a shot, there are few more thrilling perches around Soho.
