Berenjak – Soho

Berenjak is a small room in Soho with a big idea: that a Persian grill house can be as considered as any modern bistro in the neighbourhood. The club’s table sat down on a Thursday evening in September and found a space that is genuinely atmospheric rather than merely decorated — warm light, close tables, and a kitchen working an open grill in full view of the room. It is not a quiet restaurant. It is, however, a fun one, and the energy carried through the whole evening.

The bread is the thing people talk about, and rightly. A basket of hot, blistered flatbread was the high point of the first half of the meal, and the accompanying dips — one nutty and rich with aubergine, another sharper with yoghurt — disappeared almost immediately. From the grill the club ate skewered lamb and chicken, well seasoned, charred at the edges and served with a grilled lemon to squeeze over. This is cooking that understands how much can be done with heat, salt and good ingredients, and how little it needs beyond that.

What holds Berenjak back from a higher score is the wider experience rather than the food. The room fills quickly and gets loud, tables turn fast, and the pace of the evening is set by the restaurant rather than the diner. None of that is a complaint — this is a busy Soho restaurant doing what busy Soho restaurants do — but the club measures the whole evening, not just the plates, and on that basis 40 out of 50 feels about right. A very good grill and a very good bakery under one small roof.