Dine at Chiltern Firehouse, Ottolenghi et al and help the children of Syria

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Heartwarming Syrian-influenced dishes in aid of Unicef

More than 40 UK restaurants have joined forces for the month of November to raise money for Unicef UK’s Children of Syria Fund and NextGen London, the organisation’s young professional movement. All are serving dishes with a Syrian twist, with a £2 donation from the sale of each dish going to the fund.

Stoke Newington’s The Good Egg will host fundraising breakfasts

Stoke Newington’s The Good Egg will host fundraising breakfasts


Highlights include Chiltern Firehouse’s Syrian-inspired beef tartare, while Frenchie in Covent Garden has designed a dish of pomegranate-glazed guineafowl, medjool dates and tamarind. It’s worth joining the queue at Hoppers in Soho for a warming beef brisket curry, Ceylonese stretched roti, walnut chickpea and pistachio sambol – and Ottolenghi is serving a Damascene speciality: harak osbao of lentils and pasta with tamarind, sumac and pomegranate. For the sweet-toothed, Crosstown Doughnuts has designed cinnamon scrolls with the CookForSyria hashtag. Meanwhile in Sussex, Silo Brighton is cooking up sumac-baked squash, tahini, marigold glaze and rosehip harissa.  

Some London restaurants are also hosting entire meals, such as breakfast at Stoke Newington’s The Good Egg (November 26 and 27; £39, of which £15 goes to Unicef), which will feature lamb and pumpkin babka, Syrian flatbreads with smoked aubergine labneh, duck kibbe with pomegranate molasses, grilled fresh grapefruit and orange blossom and pistachio atayef pancakes accompanied by a fig cocktail or date and banana smoothie.

Fifteen restaurant will host a brunch (November 26; £40) of classic Syrian plates served family style, as well as dishes from the existing menu. Over in Borough Market, Arabica Bar & Kitchen is offering a Syrian lunch of meze with a choice of main course and Levantine desserts (November 27; £40, of which £25 goes to Unicef).  

With the ongoing conflict in Syria putting the lives of more than 8m children in danger, eating out with #CookForSyria during November could not be for a better cause.