Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan’s new restaurant in Notting Hill, AKUB is certainly one you must try. If you love food with full of flavour and aroma then this is for you. Kattan originally had a restaurant in Bethlehem and now opened up one in London.
Akub, is the Arabic word for cardoon
A name that hints at the seasonal Palestinian produce that Chef Fadi imports from the Zaytoun co-operative back home. As soon as you step inside, you feel at home.
The menu is split between salad and starter plates and larger options, with a range of breads, drips and condiments.
The restaurant is two levels with an internal courtyard, Akub has been designed by hospitality designer Annie Harrison of FARE INC, with the colour scheme that expresses Palestine's landscape, focusing on olive green, earthy pinks, oranges and sand tones.
The tableware from Jaffa-based Palestinian ceramicist Nur Minawi focuses on similarly earthy hues.
All of the fresh produce, meat and fish are sourced in the UK. AKUB has two sections to the menu one being Ard (land, aka veg dishes), Bahar (sea) and Lameh (meat). The perfect place for sharing and tasting Palestinian flavours. Here are the dishes we tried out:
From the Menu:
Bread selection
Labneh
Fava Bean Foul
Sheikh El Mahshi
Crunchy Mansaf
Kattan aims to reclaim the Palestinian identity of certain dishes and ingredients whilst allowing it to develop a new identity in a new city.