8 Crawford Place,
London,
W1H 5NE
0872 148 0701
The ViewLondon Review
The area around Edgware road has by far the greatest concentration of Middle Eastern restaurants in London. Many of them share a similar style, and seem united in their desire to pack as many people into large dining rooms as they can.
Patogh is a small Iranian restaurant on Crawford Place, which runs east off the top end of Edgware Road. With dark brown walls and wooden furniture it has a rather rustic feel, further enhanced by the grill and tiny kitchen in the corner. This is probably as near to Tehran that you’ll get in London!
The menu is simple and straightforward. Iranian cuisine is wide-ranging and distinguished, and this is definitely at the snackier end of the market. The menu revolves around grilled meat kebabs, made with different cuts of either chicken or lamb.
You decide whether you would like the grilled meat to arrive on top of either a disc of bread, a mountain of rice or a large salad. There are a variety of small hot and cold starters as well.
I went for chunky pieces of lamb (I think it was neck fillet) on bread. The bread took the form of a huge disc (easily twice the area of your average naan) and was studded with mustard seeds. On top of this was a scattering of onion, tomato and wonderfully scented sprigs of mint.
The lamb was scattered on top of that, and there was also a lemon wedge to squeeze over the whole lot. I attacked it with gusto – scooping bits of salad, mint and lamb with great chunks of bread. The ingredients were incredibly fresh, and the flavours were striking.
I also had a plate of pickles on the side – these included green chillies, cauliflower and carrots. The chilli was mildly hot, and the others were cool and quite refreshing.
The main dish proved too much for me in the end – I just about finished the lamb and salad, but the bread defeated me. As Patogh is unlicensed I chose to wash it all down with a pot of Iranian tea, which seemed like the proper thing to do. The fact that the other customers preferred Coke didn’t faze me in the slightest.
At £12 all in, it was great value, and certainly a venue I’m going to remember. Next time I’m in the West End with a rumbling stomach I know where I’m going!