ARABICA KINGS CROSS — Restaurant in London

My friend and I enjoyed a mouth- watering meal here just last night. It was so good we both woke up this morning and wanted to write a review immediately. From the moment we walked into the restaurant we were greeted at the door by a delightful chap who brought us to our table, the ambience in the restaurance was great and the food looked and smelt divine. We struggled to choose as everything being brought out to the other diners looked and smelt so so good! Eventually we decided on a six Meze between the two of us which was more than enough as portions were huge and we even ended up taking home the left overs which will be thoroughly enjoyed for lunch today. The houmous with lamb and flat bread were divine, the halllumi served with an orange and cranberry sauce went beautifully together, the falafal was served within a flavorous salad, the spiced potatos were fingerlickingly good, we could go on and on about how good everything was. Service was quick and attentive. We had a lovely bottle of house white and a couple of cocktails.

To top off our meal, the manager noticed that I had a walnut allergy flagged on my mains order and made sure to help me choose a dessert that didn't have any trace of walnuts in it - we were very grateful and impressed with the service!

We have no photos as we tucked straight in!!

Thank you to all the staff for a thouroughly divine meal.

We will be back!

UPDATE: I came back last night and had such a gorgeous meal! It has been two years since I was last in London enjoying a meal in Arabica and honestly it was so worth the wait! Beautiful meal, friendly staff, and we cannot wait to come back again!

The lovely staff even gave us a lovely treat as a little welcome back when they heard that we had been so looking forward to...

Very disappointing. The food was ok and that is why the second star, but it is hard to mess up with hummus and pitta. I found quite offensive that you pay a set price per person however the portions are not the same as if you were eating by yourself. The meat platter did not have enough of each meat for everyone in out table to taste it and the dessert was brought on a single portion size to be shared between 2. There were 3 vegans on our table that had the plant based menu and they also had a very upsetting experience as their plant based dessert contains honey. You would think restaurants nowadays would know not to serve something labelled as vegan when it is not!!! Not only the plant based dessert wasn't plant based, it was also not a dessert! The one of them that overlooked the honey and ate it anyway, had a glass of coconut yogurt with granola. On my books that's breakfast not a dessert. I'm disgusted the laziness and low effort of this menu. Honestly, if I'm spending £50 to £60 per head before drinks, I'm expecting a little more effort than just combining 2 shop-bought ingredients.

To top it all off the waiter rolled his eyes at me when I told him we were splitting the bill in different amounts. Again, I kind of expect a reasonable amount of good costumer service when I'm at a restaurant provided I have not been rude to the staff at any point.

Not only will not be coming back but also don't...

It's easy to see why Arabica has been a Borough Market institution for a while. It was so good that its open a new branch in Covent Garden (Sept 2019).

As expected from a Middle-Eastern restaurant, sharing is caring and so you can expect small plates of delicious food. It's recommended 2-3 small plates per person, and every plate was delightful. The super green hummus with spinach, watercress, sprouting pulses, basil zhug was excellent as was the grilled halloumi with honey and fig. It gets better - there are dishes that cater for vegans, pescatarians and vegetarians.

Arabica really impressed me from the moment I walked in. From the hugely welcoming front desk who led me to my table, the waiter who explained with great detail and knowledge how the menu works along with recommendations, and the many staff who checked in on us to make sure that everything was going well. I was very well looked after here.

The decor and atmosphere is buzzing, taking you back to the street markets of the Middle-East. The main dining area is taken by a long communal table, but there are individual tables for more intimate experiences as well as a dining counter in front of the open kitchen.

This was actually my first visit to Arabica, and I'm certain it won't be my last. Amazing option for groups of friends, or even if if you're going solo thanks to the dining counter in front of the...