I went to Souk last night, a north African restaurant near Covent Garden, and what a strange place it was. Lots of low seating, low tables, and general ‘aren’t we in a tent?’-ness. Except, it isn’t in a tent, and most of it’s in a basement. (A very Victorian feeling basement with brick arches and everything.) The atmosphere is good: very gloomy, hanging fabrics, and cushions everywhere. The low seating is definitely better suited to anyone under about 5’8″ though, as are the ceilings for that matter. The 6’2″ waiter (6’6″ with a fez) could probably sue for repetitive strain injury from having to bend over all the time.
The food was good, though. We had a set menu between about 10 people which means they bring a load of food and then everyone fights over it. It didn’t seem fantastic value, to tell the truth; almost as if they skimped a bit on portions when there were more people there. They didn’t complain when we asked for a bit more of a couple of dishes, however, so that could just be the way it is. A couple of people were latecomers too and had their brought individually and it looked like more than enough. You can read the set menu here, which is three course including some baklava type pastries for dessert.
It was certainly tasty, particularly the lamb tangine and merguez for me, but everyone had their favourites. The beer was Casablanca and, like almost all ‘novelty’ beers I try, it tasted a lot like beer. It did actually have a distinctive taste, almost flowery, which was interesting. I couldn’t drink a lot of it but a few bottles was fine.
Pricewise, it wasn’t fantastic value, but wasn’t bad at around £25 a head, but not bad for something a bit different and very centrally located.
Souk’s website
SOUK MEDINA is at 1a Short’s Gardens WC2H 9AT