This is a review of the new branch in Kings Cross, which doesn't have it's own entry in the Zomato database yet.  Decent Levantine food, but not as good as my grundgier but cheaper favourite Mangal1 in Dalston for charcoal grilled dishes.  You are paying for chic surroundings here.  Unlike Mangal1, Arabica would be a suitable venue for bringing a date.  Mezzes not as inventive as some pricier other favourites such as Morito in Clerkenwell or Tuyo in Hackney. 

What they do well at Arabica is classic middle eastern comfort foods that I rarely see on menus.  I love that they do batata harra and mejadra (spelt here as Mujadarah).  Another thing they do very well is efficiency.  Huge quantity of personnel in the open kitchen and food arrives very quickly.

We started with the Moutabel which was pleasant but not as good as the cheaper Patlacan Salata at Mangal1.  The smoked aubergine lacked a pronounced charcoal taste.  I had the same complaint for the grilled meat dishes too.   Though I could see the charcoal grill and open fire in the kitchen I couldn't really discern it in my food.  Moutabel was served with some exceptional flat breads.  Extremely thin and delicate.  The green zhug arrived soon after.  Not as punchy and bright as my favourite zhug at the Good Egg in Stoke Newington.

Both of the starchy comfort foods were excellent.  The lentils in the Mujardarah were nicely spiced and the crunchy paper thin tangle of fried onions was lovely.  Batata harra (fried potatoes) were fabulous too.  Very crunchy so probably fried in quite a lot of oil and  pronounced flavouring of spices and garlic as well as fresh coriander.

Our grills of chicken wings and beef shish were a little disappointing.  Beef was tender and perfectly medium rare but a little underseasoned and lacking smokiness of charcoal.  Accompanying braised onion in a sweet date sauce was very nice though.  Wings did have a light whiff of smoke.  Fat rendered off well but also under seasoned for my taste.  They did come with a rather refined toum, or garlic sauce.  I don't mind my toum to be aggressively garlicky, but if you prefer a milder more nuanced toum you will like this.

We were too full for desserts, though the desserts did look great.  They had no problems with providing a takeaway box for unfinished food.

I would recommend Arabica especially for beautifully executed traditional starchy comfort foods associated with home cooking and street food that don't appear regularly on restaurant menus.  The charcoal grill section of the menu is more varied than most middle eastern restaurants, not being limited to lamb and chicken.  Also they are good if you prefer middle eastern sauces such as Toum and Zhoug to be toned down and refined.  I didn't try their Harissa but expect that would have been the same story there.  For charcoal grilled meats and aubergine, my favourite London address is still Mangal1.  For creative mezzes still I prefer Morito and Tuyo.

Arabica seems to be my default option for dining out around London Bridge.It’s right on the edge of Borough Market and is surrounded by lots of other cute restaurants and bars if you fancy sticking around the area afterwards. As you walk in, the restaurant has an old school regional map in the corner; this gives you a pretty good idea of the cuisines that this place is aiming for – a mix of Turkish, Iranian, Lebanese-esque food. They have a range of cocktails, each with an inventive Middle Eastern twist, but I couldn’t resist going for one of the house G&T’s – refreshing and delicious.