South London Kebab Shop Bababoom Is Opening on Hard-Hit Upper Street

After setting up a delivery-only Deliveroo Editions kitchen in Whitechapel last year, Battersea Rise’s Middle Eastern-inspired kebab restaurant Bababoom is further expanding its reach with a second bricks-and-mortar site set to open later this summer on Islington’s Upper Street, as reported by Hot Dinners.

“It’s going to be a nice step up,” co-founder Travis Fish, who launched Bababoom in August 2016, told Eater. “The new restaurant is about two-thirds bigger than Battersea, but we’re keeping the open kitchen, the music and the ambience.”

The opening is scheduled for August, and the menu, which will be near identical to the original’s, will include: Sticky sumac wings with date molasses and lime; crispy squid with house dukkah; saffron and orange chicken shish kebab; grilled cauliflower with sweet potato hummus kebab; beef brisket, chilli and smoked cheese kofta kebab; and lamb, black olive and whipped feta flatbread.

However, according to Fish there will also be “a few new twists”, including a Bababoom-branded house draught beer and a range of £5 lunch kebabs. “We just hope north London likes us as much as south London seems to,” he says.

Upper Street is in a state of flux at the moment, with the casual-dining downturn continuing to hit the neighbourhood hard, while long-term local favourites like The Elk in the Woods close. Bababoom will be taking over the 70-cover site recently vacated by retro fish-and-chips shop Vintage Salt.

Bababoom joins a growing number of “modern kebab” (or so-called ‘gastro ‘bab) restaurants in London, including Le Bab in Kingly Court and Black Axe Mangal, in Islington. Fortunately the brand steers clear of the language used by Fanny’s, which drew so much ire from the internet back in January.

• Bababoom’s Middle Eastern kebabs are coming to Islington’s Upper Street [Hot Dinners]