The Real Wine Drinking Guide: Berber & Q Shawarma Bar
Off the back of success a year earlier in Haggerston with Berber & Q's Grill House, Shawarma Bar opened on Exmouth Market in July 2016. Specialising in rotisserie Middle Eastern meats slow-cooked over charcoal and wood, Shawarma Bar takes influence and inspiration from the street and café culture of Tel Aviv. It comprises two rooms with a bar at the entrance and is equally devoted to dining and drinking.
The menu is inspired by Israeli street food and composed of a mezze section, one of meat and fish from the grill, a selection of hummus and one of sides. The signature dishes are the lamb shawarma, rotisserie chicken and hummus and cauliflower shawarma.
The wine list is called DIRT. and showcases examples from small producers and farmers who work with passion and drive, respecting nature and biodiversity in their vineyards. The result is wines without compromise. A section of the wine list groups bottles by their terroir of origin: magma (volcanic), salt (coastal), peak (mountain).
The aim is at a more imaginative way of picking wine, with selection focused on terroir, sparking conversation about wine and inacting a move away from established, now prosaic criteria. DIRT, however, doesn't take itself too seriously, the wine menu reading 'feel free to tell us to shut up and pour.' This perhaps a candid acknowledgement that not all people want to talk terroir, some just want a glass of wine.
Producers we love: Brand Bros, Claus Preisinger, Anders Frederick Steen, Martin Otto Warner, Davide Spillare, Jauma, Ovum, La Coulee d'Ambrosia
We really like: DIRT. a series of wine nights where sommeliers from across Europe are invited to Berber & Q Shawarma Bar to showcase their favourite wines depending on the theme of each night: Magma (volcanic), Salt (coastal), Peak (mountain).
Key wine person(s): Michael Moran and Mattia Bianchi
46 Exmouth Market | London | EC1R 4QE