Jenny Conlon visits a new kitchen concept in Battersea and enjoys fantastic méchoui, marshmallows and margaritas…
A welcome awaited us from owner Eve. We were seated at a table on the side of the open-fronted restaurant, which was the perfect spot to watch the hustle and bustle of the warm (31 degrees) evening go by. Eve recommended the Baba’s bergamot frozen margaritas to cool us down and they were exquisite – they are a must!
As we surveyed the menu, based on modern Middle Eastern cuisine with a traditional Mangal Grill, we immersed ourselves in the eclectic ambience. The interior decor is light and fresh with homely trinkets dotted around, as though you are sitting in a friend’s kitchen. For starters we had flatbread and raw veg with rose harissa labneh and
dukkah whitebait. The whitebait came as a generous portion and tasted so fresh off the grill. You could taste the rawness of the veg as if it had just been just plucked from the garden.
For the main course we ordered the broad bean falafel with Baba’s hummus and za’atar crisp fattoush salad, lamb shoulder méchoui and pomegranate onion kebab, and sides of smashed aubergine and Barberry slaw. You could taste the goodness and freshness in every bite and the smashed aubergine was one of my favourites.
The desserts were like pieces of art, and the fusions that graced our taste buds were dreamy. We had the Toasted Boom! Mallows peach melba and the chocolate cardamon bowl with crackle and pop. The presentation of the mallows meant they looked almost too good to eat! But we managed to devour it and I can confirm they’ve definitely got the melt-in-your-mouth “Boom!” factor, and the chocolate cardamon had its own X-factor.
Overall the whole experience at Baba-Boom was flawless. I was amazed to hear that the restaurant had only been open three days as the service was second to none and there was a constant queue of people arriving
to check what all the Baba-Boom was about… I’ll certainly be back for the margaritas!
