Exclusive review of Nandine

Founded by Pary Baban in 2016, Nandine has become a mecca for those looking for authentic, Kurdish food in London. Nandine, meaning ‘Kitchen’ in old Kurdish, is situated in the heart of Camberwell where Pary first arrived in the UK from Kurdistan in 1995 after being displaced from her home under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Her journey since then has been nothing short of incredible and her food has won plaudits from even some of the hardest critics to please; Jay Rayner famously said Pary’s food “nourishes the soul”.

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Late breakfast

On a sunny Saturday in Camberwell we arrived late morning to Nandine, hungry and excited to sample dishes that have been lavished with praise from everyone that’s been before us.

On the way over we’d been salivating over the kebabs, especially the lamb kofte. The meats here are smothered in Nandine spice mixes and cooked on the open charcoal grill to give them a distinctive Middle-Eastern flavour.

After we were seated, we immediately announced we knew what we were here for, but to our dismay our waitress told us that the guy who cooked the kebabs hadn’t arrived yet and she wasn’t sure when he’d get in. It could be any minute, it could be later in the day. No worries, we said. At the weekend, Nandine serves up a traditional Kurdish breakfast with an assortment of cheeses, yoghurt, shepherd’s salad and fresh honeycomb. However, we could not resist Nandine’s Kurdish twist on the Full English: poached eggs coated in rich sumac, halloumi cheese that had been grilled, Middle Eastern salads with giant green olives, wonderfully flavoured Kurdish sausage and a tomato dip to be mopped up with chunky bread.

Introducing Pary

Midway through our exquisite breakfast, Pary entered the restaurant. She came over to the UK from Kurdistan in 1995 after being displaced from her home under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Before this, she’d travelled around Kurdistan for seven years where she was seeking refuge from Saddam Hussein’s government in distant relatives’ homes.

Throughout her displacement in her late teens, Pary became deeply interested in food and the different styles of cooking that her different family members had in the different regions of Kurdistan. She started to make note about what ingredients they used and the different recipes they created in a diary that she still has and uses today. These recipes have formed the basis for the menus in Nandine.

When Pary arrived in London, her and her husband worked in a newsagents kiosk, where she started to serve her customers sandwiches with homemade Kurdish fillings. With such a great response from locals, she opened a sandwich bar next door and started selling more on-the-go Kurdish food from an outdoor kiosk. This was when she decided she wanted to open her own restaurant that served authentic Kurdish food and so took a lease to open Nandine on Vestry Road. In 2019 she opened her main site on Camberwell Church Street.

Pary came over to our table to introduce herself and instantly there was a warm glow about her. She was kind and humbled when we complimented her food. Maternally she realised we’d run out of bread and rushed into the kitchen to get us more. With more bread supplied, she then told us the chef who makes the kebabs had arrived – would we like to try any? We were full, but how could we resist?

Lula

The Lula Kebab is made up of ground lamb flank and shoulder, and when it’s cooked over the open charcoal grill it gives the meat such depth in flavour. The meat, too, was so succulent – it oozed on the tongue both in texture and taste. It’s served with labneh, Ambeh pickles and Piyaz salad. Sublime, in a word.

Before leaving, we thanked Pary for her hospitality and couldn’t resist complimenting her again: the kebab is probably the best kofte we’ve ever had. She was humbled once more and shy in receiving such praise. It made us love her and her food even more.

There are so many dishes we could’ve tried. The Kurdish smoked aubergine caught our eye; it’s covered in Nandine’s homemade aubergine rub and slow cooked with chickpeas, garlic and olive oil. Nandine’s much-loved loaded Beharat fries are also a popular side dish with the locals, they’re rolled in Zataar and topped with pomegranate sauce, pink yoghurt, mint, pomegranate, and sesame.

There’s also Nandine’s signature 7-Spice Chicken Shish that we have our eye on too. It’s coated in Nandine’s secret seven spice blend and served with Zataar flatbread and labneh amba dip. Rest assured, we will be back for more and will be bringing along anyone else who wishes to sample authentic, delicious Kurdish food in London.

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