The City’s eating and drinking scene has gone into overdrive in recent months and years, with dining options to rival anywhere in London. Our favourite new lunch spot is Koshari Street, which recently opened on Cannon Street. An Egyptian restaurant named after the famous dish of grains, chickpeas and tomato sauce, it’s a great option for a healthy lunch and is also available for private events in the evening. We caught up with founder Seif El Sobky to get the lowdown.
Tell us about the new Koshari Street
This site is a much larger version of our original flagship store in Leicester Square. The store itself hosts the same lunch menu as our Leicester Square site but we have started hosting private events in which guests have the option to be served our secret dinner menu on a large family style table inspired by Egyptian country cooking and placing sizzling clay pots to share on the table for the group. It’s a great experience that can be both educational and collaborative. So far we’ve hosted birthdays, socials, team events and even an album launch.
What attracted you to the Square Mile?
We all have experience working in offices and not having enough delicious and healthy options that excite us for lunch while making sure we don’t snooze on the desk after eating. This is why our lunch menu is designed to provide a nutritious, balanced meal for vegans and protein lovers alike that is packed with flavour and yet still healthy and light. We strike the perfect balance between comfort and healthy food. The Square Mile hosts a wide range of office workers and employees who are health-conscious and at the same time on the hunt for a delicious flavour-packed lunch that is exciting, filling and warm, which is why we’re here and plan to continue growing in the city.
What has the experience been like?
Feedback has been amazing from customers trying out our Koshari bowls and wraps for the first time. We’re also very proud to have hit the ground running with people coming in and having Egyptian koshari for the first time and quickly becoming loyal customers.
Our biggest challenge is reaching beyond our immediate area and letting more people in the City know about us as most customers happen to stumble upon us on their way to/from work and through word of mouth. We hope to bring more Kosharis to more offices and lunch customers from further afield in the City.
Koshari Street on Cannon Street
What dishes do you recommend?
We always recommend our best sellers but each member of the team has their own personal favourite. Mine is the slow cooked beef with our quinoa rice lentil base and spicy tomato sauce, with crispy onions on top. I am biased, though: this dish has a special place in my heart because it’s made exactly to my grandfather’s recipe, which was always a favourite growing up. My other recommendation from the vegan bowls is the plant power koshari, which is the most nutritiously dense and full bowl we have on the menu, with spiced sweet potatoes, turmeric and mint cauliflower.
How is the London street food scene?
London’s street food scene is the most versatile and exciting in the world, simply due to the high level of competition and innovation across cuisines and fusions. As a consumer, I love living and eating in London because of that choice. It is also a great hub to introduce a new cuisine to the mainstream like what we are doing with Koshari Street.
If you could change one thing about eating out in London what would it be?
I would love to bring more education to customers about the different qualities of ingredients and how this has an impact along the entire value chain, from farmers and producers all the way to restaurants.
I would encourage more awareness into why restaurants may decide to price up slightly and not be a ‘cheap eat’ in exchange for higher quality and welfare ingredients. Rice is not all equal, neither is pasta, nor chicken and these differences can sometimes be diluted in the race to price down, despite the cost pressures the industry continually faces.
What are your favourite places to eat?
There are plenty of great options in our area, but to highlight my absolute favourites, there’s our City neighbours Bleecker for burgers (they’re the best in London); Er Mei is my favourite restaurant in China Town; and finally, for a special celebration with my wife, it’s Strakers in Notting Hill, although I don’t get to go there as often as I’d like.
• Koshari Street is offering City AM readers an exclusive 30% off your first order in-store and for click-and-collect orders via their website, kosharistreet.com. Just use code CITYAM30* at checkout or show this article at the till.