3 Best Restaurants in England

At this cult favorite Persian kebab hole-in-the-wall, it's best to sit at the raised counter overlooking the tandoor grill and clay oven and indulge in the expansive meze spreads, hot sesame breads, and richly flavored coal-cooked marinated lamb, chicken, and poussin kebabs. With exposed brick walls and a delightfully edgy atmosphere, you can sip non-alcoholic cocktails and sharbat cordials in cozy side booths or hide out in the green foliage backroom snug.

It's Palestine meets Jerusalem meets Beirut at this funky Arab-Israeli spot off Chinatown. Sit at the zinc open-kitchen counter and down shots of arak while trading quips with the brilliant Middle Eastern chefs, who offer an exuberant medley of Levantine delights, including Yemeni Jewish kubaneh (a light, fluffy pull-apart bread), Palestinian steak tartare, Jerusalem truffled mushroom polenta, and paprika-rich pork belly tajine with Israeli couscous. Look, too, for the lavish Kurdish-style mussels inspired by the head chef's beloved grandmother.

This lively Israeli-Levantine restaurant offers excellent Middle Eastern tapas (plus influences from Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Turkey) at relatively friendly (by Kensington standards) prices and has become a firm neighborhood favorite. Start with fluffy Yemeni challah bread and move onto a grilled eggplant "steak" with black tahini, pine nuts, and pickled tomatoes, a charcoal-grilled mushroom "shawarma" that incorporates a lima bean cream and asparagus (hot dishes are cooked in the open kitchen's wood-fired oven), or a duck breast salad with a pomegranate-and-ginger vinaigrette dressing. A  three-course £30 set lunch offers good value. This is the kind of place where you're expected to share plates and eat with your fingers, and if you have something dribbling down your chin, no one will mind.