Breaking news
February 2022: this much-loved spot on Warren Street is closing down after 10 years following the landlord’s refusal to extend its lease. No word yet on whether they are moving the operation elsewhere.
Harden's survey result
Summary
“Flavours that transport you to the Middle East” inspire adoration for fans of Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich’s “interesting” café, which moved to Bloomsbury (to the former site of Cigala, RIP) in 2022 having been a major media sensation when it first touched down near Warren Street 10 years earlier. The “brilliant range of eastern Med tapas” is “fresh and delightful” and acclaimed by many for their best meal of the year: an impressive achievement for a relatively humble operation. If there’s a criticism, it’s that some reporters feel the raves are overdone, judging the performance “enjoyable but not exceptional”. Top Menu Tips – “The Falafel starter is magic (and I am comparing it with a number of experiences in the Middle East)”. “Slow- cooked lamb is smooth, tender and tasty, and the stuffed aubergines are a flavour and texture sensation”; “finally onto cheesecake… unlike any previously experienced!”
Summary
“Warren Street’s loss is Bloomsbury’s gain as Honey & Co sets up in Lamb’s Conduit St on the former site of Cigala (RIP)”, bringing with it the “interesting” middle Eastern cuisine (“lots of choice for vegetarians”) that has won TV appearances and recipe-book deals for husband and wife, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. But while this 2022 newcomer is “a good addition to WC1”, it “is now a proper and comparatively large restaurant compared to its former location and has lost its ‘special’ ambience”. And for a few regulars, this disappointment extends to the food too (“not a patch on the original… it was packed solid so others may disagree, but we felt they’re now just cashing in on their previous good name”).
Summary
After 10 years in which they helped establish modern Israeli cuisine as a new London staple, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich (husband and wife) have relocated their much-loved venue from Warren Street to a much better Bloomsbury site that’s double the size of the bijou original (the corner site that was formally Cigala, RIP). In its old home, fans were happy to be shoehorned in tighter than sardines for their “stellar” mezze-style inventions. Not everyone felt its performance always matched the hype, though, so we’ve left it unrated till after it’s settled in here. But The Guardian’s Grace Dent was impressed in a late July 2022 review, saying: “it’s a little different now, perhaps more grown-up and formal, but the old loveliness is there in spades”.
Summary
“Fascinating Levantine cooking, of exceptional tastiness” established Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich’s little café near Warren Street tube as a leader on the capital’s Middle Eastern food scene when it opened 10 years ago. Marks have slipped as the excitement of the new has dissipated, but comments are still overwhelmingly positive, whether for “delightful vegetarian dishes (and I’m a meat-eater)” or “out-of-this-world cheesecake”. Home-delivery food boxes have also been a hit in the last year. The Honey and Spice deli and Honey and Smoke grillhouse (see also) are both a short walk away.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Honey & Co?
54 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3LW
Restaurant details
Honey & Co Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Nice as always "
"The original was exciting, if cramped. The new venue is good, in one of our former favourites place, but... how do you make what is essentially hummus and tabouleh exciting? I do not think they have achieved it here unlike before, though what they do is pleasant enough."
"Great food always with a special idea. Small but fair priced wine menue"
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £31.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £2.70 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
54 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3LW
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 8 am‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 9 am‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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