Maroush II

Kensington / Chelsea, London –

The second in a chain of restaurants founded more than twenty years ago when owner Marouf Abouzaki fled war-torn Beirut for London, Maroush features authentic Lebanese cuisine and legendary after-hours revelry in a chic Beauchamp Place location.

While both floors of this two-story eatery offer fine dining options, the more casual first floor attracts lower-key university students, tourists, and younger patrons who prefer to down their baba ghanoush and sandwiches at the bar.

Meanwhile, business diners and couples out for a romantic evening in the West End gravitate toward the somewhat more staid second floor, a lavishly appointed dining room featuring perfectly pressed tablecloths, higher ceilings, and art-lined walls.

But regulars know that the real action begins well after dark when post-club partiers, wealthy international travelers, and celebrities from Tom Cruise to Björk ward off hangovers and celebrate their success with generous portions of mezze and divinely bittersweet Middle Eastern desserts.

A restaurant with equal measures of tongue-tingling entrées and scintillating late-night festivity, Maroush gives visitors a taste of Lebanon in the comfort of one of London’s poshest neighborhoods.