Koshari Street, Covent Garden - Review

Egyptian street food. What's that all about then? I hear you ask. Koshari Street, that's what. They've brought Egyptian street food to London so we can all have a go.

Koshari is a vegartarian dish of rice, chickpeas, lentils and pasta (carbs on carbs!) topped with tomato sauce and garnished with crispy caramelised onions. I couldn't picture what this was all going to look like when it was served up, but actually it looks how I've just described; onions on top of tomato sauce on top of a rice, pasta, lentils and chickpea base. It's all very fresh and they use tip top ingredients from London favourites such as Brindisa and Neal's Yard. The shop on St Martin's Lane is small and kiosk-like but lends itself perfectly to a takeaway street food concept. They build your Koshari in front of you and you can pick and chose, to a certain extent, how it arrives to your hungry little mitts. There are three tomato sauce options to chose from; mild, hot and mad. Yep, "mad". I'm a girl who appreciates the milder side of flamin' hot so the tamest taste is what I went for and I have to say it was a rich and tasty sauce. It's probably the part of the dish that gives it most flavour. You need them to dish up a good serving of the stuff, otherwise I the whole meal would be a very dry little number and just a bowlful of carby items thrown together. It goes like this- eat in, takeaway or order online for home delivery, with three sizes on offer. I'm not a carb junkie so I was FULL even after the small portion and it seemed a decent helping by anyone's standards. Koshari is the star of the show (we're in theatreland - like what I did there?) but the shop also does salads, soups and freshly squeezed juices too. Egyptian desserts such as Muhallabiyeh and Mishmishiya play a part too (I did it again!), if you fancy having a go with a traditional dessert. Koshari Street is a bit of fun if you want to try something different and not a bad lunch choice as it's a super-quick, hugely filling, one-pot-wonder. Comfort food if ever there was. Food: 3/5 Venue: 3/5 Cuisine: Egyptian Meal for Two: £18 56 St Martin's Ln, London WC2N 4EA 020 7836 1056 Home delivery via their website and Just-Eat and they also have a stall at Borough Market Mon-Wed. http://www.kosharistreet.com/