A delicious Syrian food experience with initially confused waiters: Restaurant Imad’s Syrian Kitchen (10. November 2023)
Given I haven’t had the chance to try Syrian kitchen on a regular basis, I was intrigued to try Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. The place is located in the Kingly Court, which is a nice area full of a variety of restaurants. The Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is on the top floor and is actually super booked out, hence, it’s highly recommended to book in advance. I went for the “hummus (tahini, urfa chilli, crunchy chickpeas, pita)” (GBP 9.00) with “extra pita bread” (GBP 1.50). The hummus was actually quite rich, and the crunchy chickpeas really added a little bit extra to the dish.
The “saroja (aubergines, feta, halloumi, sour cherry molasses)” (GBP 9.50) was something surprisingly nice. I’m not a colossal fan of aubergines dishes, but given the aubergine sticks were fried and soaked in the sour cherry molasses, they turned out to be delicious.
The “mtuma bitinjan (fried aubergine, tahini yoghurt, barberries)” (GBP 9.50) sounded quite interesting and turned out to be even tastier than it sounded.
I liked the “makmour yaqtin (butternut squash, cumin, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, bulgur)” (GBP 15.00) as it wasn’t so heavy and nice in terms of flavour and texture combination. Especially after I’ve had a week full of seafood and meat – the balance with some vegetables really worked well for me.
However, I also wanted to try something meat-based and decided to go for the “shaqaf (lamb skewers, butternut squash, greens)” (GBP 19.00). The lamb was prepared deliciously, and I am quite sceptical of lamb, since it’s very often not very enjoyable. The wild broccoli – as always – obviously kind of ‘won my heart’.
The “bulgur” as a side dish was decent. Sure, it wasn’t anything outstanding, but nice to be added to the dishes.
For dessert, I went for the “Syrian ice cream (mastika ice cream with pistachio crust, candy floss)” (GBP 7.00), which was labelled as pistachio ice cream. In any case, it was much more mastika instead of pistachio, but it was absolutely delicious. And the candy floss on top added the little extra, which really made it interesting in terms of flavour and texture profile.
The place is quite large, but the space between the tables isn’t too wide, so you do not really have much privacy. As mentioned, the place is booked out quite a bit on a Friday evening. Hence, I would highly recommend you to book your table in advance, as else you won’t stand a chance to get a table. The service quality highly depends on the waiter, respectively, the waitress. While in the beginning they were quite confused since there were dishes ending up on the table, which hadn’t been ordered, the ‘final’ waitress did a marvellous job and really made you feel welcome and comfortable. All in all, the experience at the Imad’s Syrian Kitchen was a very positive one, one, which is definitely repeatable.
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Imad’s Syrian Kitchen
2.5, Top Floor, Kingly Court
Carnaby Street
W1B 5PW London (UK)
Tel.: +44 20 74 34 24 48
Homepage: http://www.imadssyriankitchen.co.uk
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
