Sunday roast – Israeli style
Coal Office in King's Cross launches its take on a British favourite - and it's bursting with flavour
Louisa Walters is Features Editor at the Jewish News and specialises in food and travel writing
In the week when a Tel Aviv restaurant was been named sixth best in the Middle East & Africa, and Israel itself is finally going to be in the Michelin guide, I went to what is, in my opinion, London’s best Israeli offering, Coal Office in Granary Square. When it first opened, Assaf Granit’s collaboration with Tom Dixon rightly won a plethora of accolades for design and food.
Now it has launched a Sunday roast, but this isn’t just any Sunday roast, this is a Jerusalem Sunday Roast, and that means more than just a hint of Middle Eastern style and flavour. Sat up at the kitchen counter (best seats in the house if there are just two of you) we had an open view of the (mostly Israeli) chefs and preppers doing their thing. It struck me how young they were, how calm they were and how happy they seemed, smartly dressed in chef’s whites with navy apron.
We dipped soft kubalah (a cross between challah and brioche) into creamy tahini and rich labneh, both laced with Middle Eastern spices. We also had two delicious salads. Then up came Turkish coffee-braised brisket with harissa carrots and pink fir potatoes with smoked butter and chives. The meat was uber tender with tons of flavour and a thick gravy with great depth of flavour.
Dessert was the very interesting Ma Ha Louz, a hazelnut and chocolate crunch concoction that was the perfect, not-too-sweet way to end this incredible meal. There are special Sunday cocktails too – mine was a citrus mimosa. £30 for two courses, £5 for dessert.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
