Kebab Queen
Covent Garden, London
*Following the conclusion of Philli Armitage-Mattin's residency, the restaurant will re-open on 16 August 2023 with Pamir Zeydan as its new head chef. He has previously worked alongside chef/patron Manuel Canales. Watch for a new review coming soon.*
Red herrings are not on the menu at Kebab Queen, but they should be. Diners arriving for the restaurant’s 7pm sittings are led into the basement of Covent Garden’s Le Bab and through the mocked-up frontage of what looks like a suburban high-street kebab shop. A detour through Le Bab’s high-spec kitchen is the first clue that this venue will not be a direct homage to the post-pub ’bab queue; the next is a ravishingly stylish dining room-cum-open kitchen and chef’s table for 10, where Manuel Canales (ex-Le Gavroche) serves six-course menus of the most refined finger food imaginable directly onto a heated counter: there is no cutlery or crockery here. Once reassured that the non-porous surface is hygienically treated between each course with an organic, edible spritz – and reminded to keep one’s phone on a heat-proof block – it doesn’t take long to conclude that Kebab Queen is more wonderful than weird. Only one course follows the expected template of protein encased in a wrap, except here it’s a leaf of hispi cabbage flattened and scorched on the counter with a smoking-hot iron and filled with monkfish tail grilled in chicken skin. Monkfish and chicken bones provide the sticky sauce, red and green chillies the seasoning. Each course is made up of separate multi-ingredient components, gone in a single mouthful: a stunning doughnut of almost-liquid duck liver vies with walnut praline as the most delicious thing in an assembly of Creedy Carver duck. A wood grill flickering and sizzling behind the counter creates anticipation for the courses to come: a ‘mixed grill’ of slow-roast chicken suprême, retired dairy cow and aged Texel lamb kofta with a trio of sauces that smear into a riot of colour, or a final flame-licked flourish of grilled banana shish. The closest comparisons to this experience are the ultra high-end sushi specialists where each finely crafted morsel is placed straight onto a pale-wood counter by a master craftsman. At £95, Kebab Queen isn’t cheap, but it’s a fraction of the price of such Japanese places.
Dining Information:
Counter seating, Pre-payment required
4 Mercer Walk, Covent Garden WC2H 9FA
020 7240 9781
