The Pachamama Group has unveiled its biggest London destination yet: Soraya. First launched by the group – which is also behind Nina, Bottarga and Lagana – in Abu Dhabi, Soraya London is in Marylebone’s shiny new Loxton Walk development, and is dedicated to dishing up Persian-inspired fare.
For the team, it’s a homecoming of sorts: the concept was dreamt up in London but opened more than 3000 miles away. According to the group’s creative director Yaroslava Malkova, the cuisine was partly chosen with an Abu Dhabi audience in mind, but also reflects the team’s own longstanding love of Persian food. A London spin-off was always part of the plan, so when the George Street site became available, “We were like, okay, this is perfect for Soraya. It’s time to bring it here,” she tells Broadsheet.
But the UK outpost isn’t a carbon copy of its Abu Dhabi counterpart. Malkova describes the restaurant as “Persian-inspired” rather than strictly traditional, with the team consulting Persian chefs while developing the food but ultimately falling back on the same relaxed, tongue-in-cheek approach it applies at its other restaurants. Malkova says whichever Pachamama restaurant you walk into, you’ll recognise a similar vibe – one she describes as young, unconventional and personal. This youthful approach means the team is able to “take the things we like and present it the way we would want to eat it”.
If you’re already familiar with the group, Soraya is “like a Persian Nina”, Malkova says, referring to the group’s playful Italian restaurant, also in Marylebone. The corner spot can squeeze in around 190 guests, and has an open kitchen, L-shaped bar and two private dining rooms. Interiors are loosely inspired by Persian domestic architecture and the wider Silk Road, translated as artfully aged walls, billowing linen curtains, plush velvet banquettes and dark, brooding wood accents contrasted by high-polish silver candle sticks and wall art.
Malkova describes the look as “mid-century, cool, chic”, with particular inspiration drawn from 1970s Tehran. It also continues one of the group’s recurring obsessions: “old things”. The team sources antiques for its restaurants instead of buying everything new. “We’re very nostalgic young people,” she says. “We view nostalgia through our own eyes and we do things our own way.”
On the menu, there’s an array of breads, dips, rice, stews and meats from the charcoal grill. There are plenty of kebab options: lamb koobideh (kebab of spiced minced lamb shoulder); joujeh (chicken) marinated with saffron and yogurt; beef koobideh with black pepper; beef chenjeh (striploin marinated in red shatta, a hot chilli paste).
Beyond the kebabs, there’s kashk bademjan, a dip combining smoked aubergine with whey and walnut; ghormeh sabzi – stew – of lamb shank, herbs and kidney beans; and short rib khoresh, which pairs beef short rib with chickpeas and sour grapes. A mixed grill platter is one of Malkova’s top picks for first-timers, bringing together lamb koobideh, lamb shashlik, joujeh and chicken wings with rice, red and green shatta, and yoghurt dip. The wings, which Malkova says didn’t quite catch on in Abu Dhabi and are being given another chance in London, arrive with kashk – a fermented dairy condiment – and a Persian-inspired buffalo sauce.
There’s also plenty of small plates designed for scooping up with warm bread, from refreshing mast-o-khiar (cucumber dip) to borani laboo (beetroot and feta dip) with barberries, and spicy whipped feta with roasted peppers.
Dessert, meanwhile, includes cheesecake flavoured with saffron, alongside millefeuille and a changing soft serve.
Once the restaurant has settled in, there’ll be breakfast, too, with the proposed menu set to include a baked herb omelette called kuku sabzi, eggs Benedict with saffron hollandaise and khachapuri (Georgian cheese-filled bread) as well as yoghurts and bread.
Cocktails include takes on familiar classics inspired by the Silk Route. The North, a Negroni, stars harissa, bitters, vermouth, black garlic and gin, while the In-Between riffs on a Paloma with pomegranate, tequila, mezcal, grapefruit and cherry. Wines focus on historic regions connected to ancient Persia, with bottles from Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece and Macedonia alongside more familiar Old and New World regions.
Despite the size of the restaurant and its Marylebone address, the team wants Soraya to be accessible, aiming for the average visitor to spend around £45 per person. “The whole idea behind it is to make it affordable,” says Malkova. “We want to make sure it’s busy. It’s fun.”
Soraya
96 George Street, W1U 8PB
Hours:
Mon to Sat 6pm–late
