Humus Too Good to Be True
With brilliant small plates and thirst-quenching cocktails, South Kensington’s new Levantine hang-out proves that the best things really do come in small packages
Review by Izzy Ashton
I’m not going to lie to you, South Kensington is not my usual hang out. I stop in there on my way to a museum or if I get on a tube going the wrong way and have to change platforms – yes this happens. But rarely do I frequent its restaurant scene. It’s an area that always seems so full of random people coming and going, people who don’t seem to live around there but are just grabbing a bite to eat in between exhibition stalking and lamenting the failings of the District line.
Having learnt the hard way though, I am now willing to admit when I’ve been guilty of pre-judging a place, without full knowledge of the wonders it contains. And CERU, a Levantine restaurant tucked away two minutes from the station, certainly did a magnificent job of changing my mind. In case you were unsure as to where the Levant region is (I was), it’s a term that used to refer to countries around the Eastern Mediterranean, such as Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan, to name a few. And the melange of flavours and foods that have come out of this area of the world have formed the most delectable of cuisines.
We arrive at CERU on a drizzly Thursday evening and are shown into a little booth, before being given a quick run through of how the menu works. The restaurant is quiet, the evening still in its early stages, although the open kitchen full of busy, bustling chefs, adds an edge to the atmosphere that only the intense preparation of food can.
The interior is all pale wood and low, yellow lighting while small jars filled with homemade spices adorn the shelves, nestled up against bottles of CERU’s own brand pale ale. We didn’t go for the ale, preferring to take a gamble on the cocktail menu. I say a gamble because, more often than not, I find cocktails to be disappointing, even if I’m in the swankiest of cocktail bars. But CERU’s were a deliciously surprising exception to the rule. We opted for two gin-based drinks. A Trouble in Paradise was lusciously sweetened by the addition of Campari and elderflower, while the cucumber martini with lemon and mint felt as fresh as a juice.
The menu was a smorgasbord of flavour combinations and dishes. We perused the menu at length while enjoying a bowl of the smoothest homemade humus with freshly baked Greek pita bread. An impossible moment of indecision left us with no choice but to over order, never a terrible matter but always enough to ensure a brief moment of panic.
Choices made, we watched as the restaurant slowly filled up, the noise levels increasing but never offensively so. CERU is relatively small so there is a certain degree of intimacy about the evening. No sooner had we sampled our cocktails and ordered more pita bread (eating humus with one’s fingers seems to only be acceptable in one’s own home), then the first of the evening’s dishes began to appear.
The spiced warm cauliflower and walnut salad was nothing like the pathetic green leaves I pictured upon reading the word salad. The flavours were rich and warm, concentrated in the heads of the cauliflower florets. The crunch of the walnuts provided the most perfect backdrop for the turmeric spice, matching bizarrely well with the other stand-out dish perfection, the fillet of sea bream. Cooked in a zingy lemon, garlic and chilli dressing, the fish was buttery and soft and rendered my guest and I momentarily speechless (no mean feat I assure you) except for the odd incomprehensible mmm.
A roasted aubergine with chermoula - a North African spice - created a flavour combination I’d never tasted before, while the courgette and feta fritters were rich and spicy. A dish that took a slight back seat to the rest was the roasted pumpkin with a spiced sesame seed snap, although the hot, burnt flavour that is so resonant with this type of cuisine was smoky and pleasant in contrast to the sweetness of the pumpkin.
At this point, our glasses having run dry, we chose to go off menu with elderflower gin and tonics. Although they got slightly lost in the organised chaos of a busy Thursday night service, once they arrived, they became the ideal companions to our last dish, the slow-roasted lamb shoulder. Roasted in a secret blend of 12 Shawarma spices and covered in a pomegranate, mint and pistachio sauce that created a sweet, crunchy crust, it was a heavenly combination of both flavours and textures.
Feeling like a pair of small whales by this point, we did of course feel obliged by both the smiley staff and our own greed to sample a deconstructed Baklava pudding. The cardamom ice cream snuggled up to a nut brittle and burnt honey caramel, creating a refreshingly mellow and woody flavour that cleansed the palate and, along with a fresh mint tea, left us both completely satiated.
A quick trip to the loos is of course essential - you can tell a lot by about a restaurant from their loos, didn’t you know?! And CERU’s are a clever design addition resembling a glorious Mediterranean house, all laser-cut wooden doors, brass-lined basins and colourfully tiled walls. But the most original feature is one that you would miss if you weren’t paying attention. Instead of the usual tinkling bathroom tunes, the speakers play noises from the streets of a busy, sunny city: children playing, market salesmen shouting, animals braying and the clattering of vehicles. It’s unnerving at first until you realise just how perfectly unique an addition it is.
Although South Ken may be a world away from the hot cities of the Levantine region, with CERU as part of its repertoire, it may just move up on my list of regular haunts. I put my hands up and say, begrudgingly, that it seems as though there is more to South Ken than just museums. Oh and did I mention that CERU do breakfast, lunch and dinner? And afternoon tea. And a speedy 20-minute lunch menu (or your money back). Just in case you weren’t sold already. 
Enquiries: CERU, 7-9 Bute Street, Kensington, London SW7 3EY / 020 3195 3001 / [email protected] / www.cerurestaurants.com