Palomar

Verdict

Palomar is not the trendsetting newcomer it once was, that is precisely why it is worth booking now. The room has been refurbished, the formula has been refined, the Michelin Bib Gourmand it holds for 2024 and 2025 confirms what repeat visitors already know: this is one of Soho's most consistent Israeli kitchens at a price point that is hard to argue. At ££, it sits well below the city's formal dining tier and delivers more personality than most restaurants at twice the cost. Book it for a date, a pre-theatre dinner, or any occasion where you want food that holds attention without demanding a financial commitment you will regret.

What Palomar Actually Is

The most common misconception about Palomar is that it is a casual mezze stop you can wander into on a whim. It is not. The zinc counter, the open kitchen, the wood-panelled dining room filling with noise by 6 pm: this is a destination restaurant operating at Bib Gourmand level, it requires the same advance planning as any serious Soho booking. The recent refurbishment has made the room more functional without stripping the energy that made it popular in the first place. Velvet-lined booths now accommodate couples who want a degree of privacy. The counter has been extended to seat groups of four. Larger tables can handle parties up to ten. Each configuration gives you a different read on the same room, the right choice depends entirely on why you are going.

Spatially, the counter is the place to sit if you want to understand what Palomar is actually doing. The kitchen assembles dishes at speed, watching what comes out of it is the most efficient way to decide what to order. It also puts you in direct contact with the kitchen team, which shifts the meal from a transaction into something more engaging. The booths work well for a date where conversation matters more than theatre. The larger tables are a reasonable option for group celebrations, though the noise level at peak hours means you will be leaning in to hear each other.

The Food: Sourcing as the Argument

The menu is rooted in modern Israeli cooking with strong threads of North African and southern Spanish influence. What makes it hold up against the volume of Middle Eastern restaurants that have opened in London since Palomar launched is the sourcing discipline behind it. The kubaneh bread arrives as a puffy, golden-brown dome built for tearing and sharing, it is not incidental: it is the conduit through which you understand the quality of the sauces and dips that accompany almost everything else. Tomato and tahini sauces, confit garlic yoghurt, sunset-orange chimichurri: these are not garnishes but primary flavours, they require base ingredients that hold up under that scrutiny.

Fire cooking is central to the kitchen's approach. Meat and fish come off the grill with enough char to give them a structural point of view, but the kitchen uses that heat to open up the produce rather than to mask it. Vegetables get equivalent treatment: aubergine appears as baba ganoush and as a carpaccio with white miso, both preparations demanding that the ingredient itself is worth featuring. Freekeh risotto with kale and dukkah reads as a category exercise only until you eat it, at which point it becomes the argument for why the sourcing approach matters. When the base ingredient is good, the relatively simple preparations at Palomar pay off. When it is not, there is nowhere to hide.

The drinks list is worth attention. The Lebanese Massaya Cinsault rosé functions as a house wine that earns its position rather than simply filling it. Cocktails are arguably the stronger call: the Bumblebee, built on gin with honey, ginger, lemon, is calibrated to work with food rather than compete with it. For comparable Israeli and Middle Eastern cooking with a different register, Bavel in Los Angeles and Laser Wolf in New York City offer useful reference points for how the cuisine operates at different price tiers.

Who Should Book

Palomar works well as a date restaurant or a small-group celebration where you want energy and quality in the same room without committing to a formal tasting menu format. It is the right call for pre-theatre if you are eating before 7 pm and have confirmed your table time against the show. Solo diners at the counter get a full-service meal with the kitchen as entertainment. Groups of six or more should think carefully about whether the noise level serves their occasion: the room is lively, that is a feature until it becomes a constraint.

For London dining at a comparable price point with a different cuisine, Honey and Co offers a quieter Israeli kitchen in Fitzrovia worth knowing about. For the city's broader dining picture, our full London restaurants guide covers the range across price tiers. If you are planning a wider trip, the London hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide give you the full picture.

Practical Details

Hours

• Monday: 5–10 pm
• Tuesday–Wednesday: 12–2:30 pm, 5–10 pm
• Thursday: 12–2:30 pm, 5–10:30 pm
• Friday–Saturday: 12–2:30 pm, 5–10:30 pm
• Sunday: 12–2:30 pm, 5–9 pm

How It Compares

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• Our full London restaurants guide
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