Honey and Co, 25a Warren Street, London W1T 5LZ

Honey and Co, 25a Warren Street, London W1T 5LZ
18/08/2012
http://honeyandco.co.uk/

She said... I was in the mood for some middle eastern food and had read about a little restaurant in Warren Street run by former chefs of restaurants I have enjoyed so off we went. At the unassuming end of Warren Street, this little café/restaurant has a certain charm with homely cakes on the counter and jars of various foods on shelves. The changing menu was well catered for vegetarians with a number of mouth watering dishes. The friendly staff and chef made us feel very welcome and we ordered ambitiously as one often does on an empty stomach. We waited in anticipation...and waited…and waited…and then watched numerous customers who had arrived after us receive their food so we chased ours up then waited…and waited…after chasing again we were presented with 4 of the six mezze dishes we ordered which included a tomato salad, falafel and the highlight – a heavenly fig salad with soft goats cheese that melted in the mouth; it may sound like nothing to read but it really was perfection on a plate. After we finished, the fifth dish arrived – a courgette and crispy rice creation which was okay. It’s only when we got home that we realised our sixth dish never arrived but we had still paid for it thanks to the hand written, illegiblebill. Each dish averaged at around the £7 mark which was reasonable and the food is definitely worth the visit. It’s a shame that the friendly team just weren’t on the ball when it came to service (and remembering your order) – especially in a restaurant of around just 20 covers. They’d been open for 11 weeks when we visited so it really should be past those teething issues. If they can get that bit together, it’ll be a fantastic place for good food with a good vibe.

He said... The Euston road is the busiest road in London, and probably one of the most polluted, judging by how many air-quality monitoring stations are dotted along it. But just one road over is Warren Street, and Honey and Co where you can find some of London's healthiest and freshest food. And it really is all about the food here; the space is small and lo-fi but clean and inviting. The cooking is of the Mediterranean stripe made popular by Ottolenghi in the last few years, and here it's even less fussy, if that's possible, and stripped down to dishes that each allow its few, superfresh ingredients to sing out. For me the outstanding dish was the salad of figs with soft goat's cheese and pistachios. I cannot imagine ever having a better one. The tomato salad also obviously used top notch toms, and demonstrated the same passion in the kitchen for cooking with the best that's available at the time. We ordered Imam Bayaldi which, sadly, never came - the dish, a real classic of the region, translates roughly as 'the imam fainted', which is what he did when he tasted how good it was. I'm sure Honey and Co's interpretation would have been as legendary, but I only noticed the oversight after we left. Service was more chaotic than you would expect for such a small place, and the type of cuisine: in the Middle East restaurant service is one of the few things done with efficiency that would be the envy even of a German car factory. Lunch for two came to £40 including a delicious rose flavoured iced tea and more food than you can remember. This will definitely become a regular, especially if the breakneck pace of restaurant openings in London slows down a touch.