BabaBoom
Turkish
Bababoom
189 Upper St, Islington, N1 1RQ
£
Eve is a marathon runner who wanted to make Kebabs something to be proud of. The first establishment she opened was in Clapham, August 2016, and she has since added an additional venue in Islington. I had heard of BabaBoom a few times before dining, but it was my 50% of voucher which eventually led me to the Islington branch…
Small and perfectly formed, this venue manages to pack a lot of tables into the space, whilst being able to keep the atmosphere feeling light and airy. We got there around 8pm on a Wednesday evening, and the restaurant was around 1/3 full – with the best seats in the house (comfy chairs, big open windows, prime spot for people watching) unfortunately taken. Warm orange walls and traditional Turkish tiles keep the setting on brand, yet the vibe is distinctly modern, millennial and trendy. BabaBoom has been voted amongst the best dishes in London by Time Out, as well as the best veggie comfort food and best bottomless brunch, so it's no wonder they wanted to include it in their delicious deal.
We ordered some of the Baba’s whitebait (£5.25) to start, with dukkah sprinkle and a garlic yoghurt dip. At first, I was disappointed by the amount of coating on these teeny fish, but I soon realised that this meant they were a lot crunchier and prevented the flavour from being overpowered by the fried batter, as it so often is. To follow, we went for a Broadbean Falafel Kebab (£9.95), which came complete on hot chargrilled bread with sweet potato hummus, pickles onions, pickled chilli’s, harissa sauce and a sumac, parsley & red pepper salad. We also tried the Crisp Halloumi BabBowl (£9.50) which was accompanied with cos lettuce, smokey pink kraut, sweet potato hummus, pomegranate jewelled rice & rocket – and some harissa sauce on the side. This dish, I felt, was just as tasty but more substantial than the kebab, with a freshness of flavour and overall a better deal.
A couple of days later, I had the good fortune of sampling BabaBooms dishes again – when my company decided to get some of their BabBowls delivered for a training lunch. Again, these were both satisfying and delicious – the broadbean falafel an interesting twist on the traditional, awash with flavour and crispy on the outside. Overall, a really pleasant and no-frills dining experience both inside and outside the venue. The service in the restaurant is friendly and relaxed, with Bababoom priding itself on its choice of ‘killer tunes’ on the in-house playlist (I've had a listen and it's not my thing). With our voucher the bill came to just over £6 each – simply unheard of in London. There might not be heaps of va-va-voom to BabaBoom, but it’s definitely the classiest (and best) kebab you’re likely to have both ends of London Town.
OVERALL RATING: ****
http://www.bababoom.london/
