The top line: Imad Alarnab has opened a Syrian café and deli at Somerset House. Aram follows the success of the Damascus-born chef and restaurateur’s Imad’s Syrian Kitchen restaurant in Kingly Court, which launched in 2021 and subsequently relocated to a larger site within the Soho development in 2023. Alarnab previously ran two successful restaurants, a café and a chain of juice bars in Damascus, but his businesses were destroyed during the Syrian Civil War.
On the menu: Guests can enjoy dishes such as roasted aubergine salad with chickpeas, confit red pepper, tahini dressing, pomegranate, parsley and dill; and curry cauliflower with rocket, red chilli, parsley and black onion seeds. Hot dishes include labneh, poached eggs, grilled sourdough, Aleppo chilli oil and crispy onions; and potato rosti with house-cured sumac salmon, poached eggs and coriander oil, while lighter options include French brioche toast with tahini clotted cream and carob molasses syrup, and granola and date banoffee using date syrup instead of caramel.
The vibe: Open from 8.30am to 6pm seven days a week, Aram overlooks the London landmark’s River Terrace and operates across four rooms. Guests enter via a deli and shop area spread across two of the rooms with a counter piled with pastries, dips, salads, wraps and breads, and shelves of Mediterranean produce. Flooded with natural light from two large sash windows, the dining room has a calm, modern feel. A sub-branded space will open in the fourth room later this year. Called Salamlik, it is billed as an elevated dining space designed to celebrate and nurture emerging talent. Unlike the other rooms within Aram, Salamlik will be the only space available for booking and has its own entrance and a private bar.
And another thing: It’s all change at Somerset House. Later this month, Aram will be joined by Amy Poon, who is opening her debut permanent restaurant under her family’s venerable Poon’s brand. Poon’s at Somerset House will seat 60 and offer a menu that will ‘reflect dishes cooked and served in Chinese homes daily, yet are often unfamiliar in the West’.
South wing (ground floor), Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA // www.arambyimad.co.uk