Ali Baba, 32 Ivor Place, London NW1 6DA

Ali Baba, 32 Ivor Place, London NW1 6DA
www.alibabarestaurant.co.uk

28/02/2015

She said: He had watched that hairy biker exploring the cuisine of Egypt on the BBC and so we googled Egyptian restaurants in London. Surprisingly very little turned up but Ali Baba on ‘the other’ side of Gloucester Road caught our eye as somewhere we might not get food poisoning. Ali Baba is easy to miss, tucked down a side street behind the Marylebone Station it looks like a kebab shop from the outside. But when you go in you walk through to a sweet little restaurant which feels more like Mrs Baba’s living room with around 8 tables. The heating wasn’t on when we visited and I suspect in comes on when there are more than two customers (such as in the evening) but we weren’t there for the radiators. He had tried making falafel at home ‘the way we had them in Cairo’ many times but failed. We learned from the hairy biker that it’s because Egyptians make it with beans rather than chick peas. So, our first order was the falafel. We were transported immediately back to Cairo. It was light and fluffy on the inside and deliciously crispy on the outside and came with a yummy tahini dip. Second round was Koshari – the only vegetarian main on offer but an Egyptian stalwart. Consisting of rice, lentils, chopped macaroni, fried crispy onions and a spicy tomato sauce, this dish will take care of your carb needs for the week. My portion could easily have fed two and I thought I was smart to say ‘spicy’ when given the option of a mild or spicy sauce which though delicious was too darn HOT for my English-corrupted palate (would opt for mild next time)! He wanted to try the Um Ali dessert which the hairy biker had talked about so despite being full we shared this strange hot dish which seemed to combine bread or pastry with cream, milk and raisins – an acquired taste but glad to have tried it (wouldn’t have it again). Ali Baba really is a delightful throwback of a place and the place to go to for authentic, delicious Egyptian food. Besides, at £6 for my main and just £4 for five juicy falafal and a basket of piping hot pitta – where else would you go?

He said: I liked everything about Ali Baba, including having to walk through the take-away at the front to get to the neon-lit dining room at the back, spotlessly clean, and the walls decorated with cryptically relevant art and the inevitable flat screen (off when we arrived).  I like that it’s the same family run operation as it was when it opened decades ago; that the front of house is still run by pop, a grizzled and wiry man whose style has not softened one iota over the years, that the kitchen is run by an invisible but no doubt portly mom, and that some younger relative is waiting the tables. It's all efficient but with no lack of charm or warmth, and the short menu clearly honed to perfection over years of repetition and refinement. Everything we had was excellent – as it should be, mom would no doubt say. Even the desert, Umm Ali, although the creamy, bready concoction is not really to my taste. But we had to try it because a TV show we watched revealed that this, Egypt’s national desert, is not named after a wise old denizen of the Nile valley, but after an Irish woman traveller called O’Malley! The falafel was delicious, as was the koshari, which is one of the most satisfying of all comfort foods. Including coffee, water and service I think we payed something like £8 each for one of the most memorable and authentic meals in a while.  Ali Baba is the real deal; may it thrive another few decades!