Palmyra’s Kitchen

"Follow the smell of slow-cooked, deeply flavoured lamb shawarma in N4 and you’ll find Palmyra’s Kitchen, sandwiched in between the glassy development behind Finsbury Park. A Middle Eastern restaurant that serves dishes from Syria and Lebanon, this homely spot suits solo diners whose sole desire is to inhale a superb shawarma. Everything is flavour-first: the labneh has a strong fizz of garlic, and the soujuk oozes cumin and pepper." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing, sinead cranna, rianne shlebak

"Hidden in plain sight around the back of Finsbury Park station, Palmyra’s Kitchen is a Middle Eastern restaurant serving dishes from Lebanon and Syria. A lunchtime visit for a lamb shawarma wrap is very much recommended—the meat is rich with juices and fat, and combined with a zinging parsley-heavy salad, it’s one of N4’s finest handheld meals. Sitting down is equally good though. The back of the restaurant is a homely space, and a mixed grill with some wonderfully aggressively garlicky labneh is always a very good idea." - rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, jake missing

"Follow the smell of slowly cooking, deeply flavoured lamb shawarma in N4 and you’ll find Palmyra’s Kitchen, sandwiched in between the glassy development behind Finsbury Park. A Middle Eastern restaurant that serves dishes from Syria and Lebanon, this homely spot suits a Friday night meal or a low-key date night as much as it does inhaling a superb shawarma on a Tuesday lunchtime. Everything made here is flavour-first—the labneh has an officious fizz of garlic, the tabbouleh is fittingly 90% parsley, and the soujuk oozes cumin and pepper. As is often the case with an irresistible Middle Eastern spread, you’ll be tempted to order and order and order—but it’s worth knowing that Palmyra’s Kitchen’s charcoal grill will have you eating like a king or a queen for £20. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch" - Jake Missing

"If looking for Lebanese food in Northeast London, this is the spot, and the shawarma is good, evidenced by the well-layered spits of chicken and lamb, topped with a surface of fat, and crowned with lemons. Diners can order a mixed plate with some very tasty vermicelli rice for £14, but the wrap — at £6.75 for mixed, £6.49 for lamb, or £6.20 for chicken — is better value-for-money, and offers a fuller shawarma experience. Both the lamb and chicken are crisp on the outside and moist enough on the inside, speckled with some of their spices: ginger and cumin for the chicken; cinnamon and cumin for the lamb. The toum is rich and appropriately garlicky, and the chilli sauce mild but flavoursome. The winning accompaniment here is the dill-pickled cucumber, which has a curious, intricate flavour. If opting to dine in for a full meal, add on the pomegranate-laced chicken livers, which are not to be missed." - Joel Hart