Crocker's Folly

A Taste of Lebanon comes to St John’s Wood

A dedicated hummus menu sees bowls of the silky homemade favourite topped with roasted thin slices of marinated chicken or lamb shawarma, or with pan fried king prawns, pine nuts and chilli. Other must-tries include pumpkin kibbeh, deep fried croquettes of pumpkin and bulgar wheat with a delicately spiced filling; maqaneq, mini lamb sausages pan fried with fresh lemon, butter and pomegranate molasses; and bastorma carpaccio, thin sliced smoked fillet marinated in Middle Eastern spices. 

No visit to Crocker’s Folly would be complete without experiencing dishes cooked on the josper grill, including succulent kastaleta lamb and veal cutlets, along with a whole charcoaled baby chicken served with a kick of fresh garlic sauce.

Artisan breads and pastries come from Crocker’s Folly’s in-house bakery – topped, filled and finished with delicious cheeses and meats, studded with spices – from baked arayes with seasoned minced lamb, to fatayer with a filling of spinach, onion, lemon and sumac.

Fresh fruit platters and an abundance of gloriously sticky pastries and puddings complete the meal.  End on a real sweet note with ossmalieh – a golden crispy vermicelli pancake filled with ashta cream, topped with crushed pistachios and drizzled with fragrant rosewater syrup – or opt for a selection of homemade baklawa, best taken with a strong, short coffee or fresh mint tea.

The bar is a far cry from the venue’s traditional British boozer roots having been given a new lease of life whilst retaining much of its Victorian design aesthetic. The cocktail menu serves up all the classics, but focusses on mapping the flavours of the Arabian Peninsula. Signatures include the Cynarb Spritz combining artichoke liqueur, soda and rosé Champagne and the Julep Baklava with White & Mackay whisky, pistachio mix, brown sugar and soda.

Enjoy with full-of-flavour bar bites such as spicy Lebanese sausages, prawn skewers, chicken wings, calamari or baba ghanouj.