Bala Baya

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Bala Baya is a bakery in the morning, a fast paced pitta kiosk with a sit down mezzanine at lunch and a buzzy street level restaurant at night.

It is chef Eran Tibi’s poem to Tel Aviv.

It’s about an honest love between food and people.

His love of Tel Aviv and its many unique eating habits has inspired him to create a menu that mimics a day in the life of the “White City”.

Inspired by Bauhaus architecture, Bala Baya has created a kaleidoscopic space that allows you to experience the sun-kissed youthfulness of Tel Aviv from the heart of Southwark.

http://balabaya.co.uk

Bala Baya Restaurant, Southwark, London - Emma Eats & Explores

There were a few dishes which had ingredients in them which I couldn’t eat but plenty of others that I could.

Posh hummus, just the way I like it with big, chunky chickpeas running through it, plenty of fresh herbs and it was topped with crispy onions which gave a nice crunch to the whole dish.

So light and fresh and cured in a citrussy green vinaigrette, it had a very delicate flavour which made a nice change from some of the other dishes which were very rich.

Our final dish of the night was the Whole Fish & Fennel with a burnt sage and lemon, butter and onion sauce.

Overall, my favourite dishes of the night were the Snapper Tartare, the Beef & Onions and the Salmon with Tahini which are ones not to be missed!

Bala Baya, London restaurant review

: Tel Aviv style sharing plates by Ottolenghi -trained chef Eran Tibi, served up in a lively new restaurant under the arches of Southwark's Old Union Yard.

We had a variety of different servers bringing different dishes and different times and it more or less worked.

The food: firmly in keeping with the small plates trend Bala Baya is another new opening where you order a list of sharing dishes, which arrive sporadically.

The highlight of our five dishes was richly savour ox-cheek hummus mopped up with puffy homemade Pitta.

Would we go again: while the Middle Eastern food doesn't beat our favourites - Ottolenghi or The Barbary, - Bala Baya has its own charm.

Lively New Tel Aviv Restaurant Opens In London

Photo © Bala Baya We were happy to sit upstairs for our meal in the slightly more subdued restaurant but we did spend time downstairs for drinks after dinner to enjoy the full buzzy experience in the bright, white bar.

Award-winning restaurant design firm Afroditi Krassa (who also designed the hip Indian restaurant Dishoom) has cleverly followed the brief to include the numerous Bauhaus influences from Tel Aviv along with the city's buzzing street life in the look and feel of Bala Baya.

Photo © Bala Baya The downstairs is a nod to Tel Aviv’s cafe culture while the upstairs is reminiscent of the world famous Bauhaus balcony of Tel Aviv’s Cinema Hotel.

Keeping things authentic, Chef Tibi has brought over his family's huge pitta oven from Tel Aviv to provide pitta bread for all meals.

Photo © Andfotography.com Additional design touches we really liked are the lovely clear glass plates which are replicas of the plates used by generations of Chef Tibi's family back in Tel Aviv and the tables, made from the slate of pool tables.

A London Kitchen Turning Out Israeli Street Food - The New York ...

His culinary disciples have carried the flag with smart Middle Eastern restaurants like Honey & Co., Jago and Berber & Q. Bala Baya, a restaurant, bakery and bar, open since January in the buzzing Bankside neighborhood, is the latest and hippest.

His mentor’s influence shines through Bala Baya’s brawny spins on Mediterranean street food.

“This food came from Israel, spread its wings and became part of London,” Mr. Tibi said.

Fittingly, Bala Baya’s logo is a winged camel.

Afternoon is your best bet to experience Bala Baya without endless waits — the restaurant’s £20 lunch menu is also one of London’s best values.

Bala Baya, London: Restaurant Review - olive magazine

Tucked down The Old Union Yard Arches, in a brick-exposed railway arch, Bala Baya is a new Tel Aviv-inspired restaurant in Southwark.

Split into ‘feasts’ (seabass, £24 or braised beef, £18), ‘plates’ (£9-£12) and ‘sides’ (£6-£7), we were advised to order six dishes to share for dinner.

Crispy calamari was the first plate to arrive (they come when they’re ready, so eat fast or expect a pile up) – springy rounds, battered and crisp, served with a zigzag of saffron and butternut jam had a tart, yuzu-like taste, and a soft slick of creamy aioli.

Our waitress (who was a highlight of the meal – super chatty, excited and passionate about the food, and swift in delivery) explained this heady mix was grated parmesan infused with paprika that had been baked until golden and crumbly.

With several standout plates of food, cracking service, and its unique party atmosphere, Bala Baya is sure to do well.

Bala Baya: Ottolenghi protégé's restaurant has Middle Eastern ...

You’ll see the influence of the Israeli super-cook in the dishes at Bala Baya, which aims to bring a slice of hip Tel Aviv to London.

It takes its lead from Eran’s mother’s Middle Eastern home cooking, as well as the city’s dynamic street food scene.

But as the cusine has flourished — thanks in no small part to the influence of Ottolenghi — the game has been upped.

Final flavour: Middle Eastern promise from an Ottolenghi protégé — but there's work to do.

Visit if you like: Ottolenghi, Foley’s, Yalla the latest news and reviews from London’s food scene.