Chifafa

The third time when I get my lunch from here after finding this place just wondering around. Love to try everything! My fav so far is the lamb rice box. Delicious! I know I wont be disappointed with the chicken salad I got today! Enjoy!

Quite a modern take on the old kebab shop — a place that proudly says near the door that they don’t sell ‘donner elephant feet’ or any really dodgy mystery meat — and you know what this is cool because I think Chifafa makes it actually acceptable to eat a kebab in the middle of the day!
This place is definitely part of a growing trend of counter service ‘restaurants’ which have come in the wake of Subway all those years back, where you select your meat, bread, salads etc — but as opposed to being burritos or sandwiches, they have made kebabs very cool from nowhere.
I’ve only been once and was tempted by the wide range of exciting meat options like veal, but as part of my eat less meat if there’s a good alternative I went for the halloumi, with a not very spicy ‘spicy’ sauce with it.
It was lunch so I wasn’t boozing but it was also great to see them selling cans of Beavertown beer here — nice work!
I’ll be back soon for a casual bite.

Tried their food at lunch and had to update to 5 stars! I got the haloumi zaatar salad box and was just delighted by the generous servings and exquisite flavours. Each salad was a carefully planned out combination of flavours. Every bite was something different. If you want a kick ask for the tahini dressing! Comes with a hot sauce that will really add another level to the salad box!
Eat and enjoy with no guilt! It’s cheap delicious and healthy!

I got a «large» chicken kebab as I figured I would just copy what looked like a couple of locals who were ahead of me ordered.
What I got was a fairly nice kebab with a good chunk of chicken poking out the top (I think «large» just means extra meat). The bread was a bit too thick and crumbly for me and it would start to ‘snap’ in half if squished. The sauce was quite nice although not «hot» (there are 3 levels of hotness), not sure how mild things can get. I did get a small taste of feta which was really nice and complemented the other flavours although it was localised to just one bite :(
There are tables inside and out and also bar seating, although I just did take away.

London welcomed a wave of new food trends last year that aimed to concoct healthy, guilt-​free versions of all our most favourite and comforting dishes. The healthier hybrids that evolved in 2014 and 2015 saw the creation of foods such as courgetti, quinola, cauliflour pizza, buckwheat pancakes, the list goes on… More and more though, we’re seeing how these healthier adaptations are winning over the hearts and stomachs of foodies to their original versions, (making my frenzied and slightly obsessive health-​related Instagram hashtags all the more worthwhile!) It appears however, that one particular type of food has a reputation that is proving difficult to shake or should I say grill off?
It’s our notorious kebab, but the ones photographed here are not your average, late-​night, drunken scoffs. The kebabs at Clerkenwell’s Chifafa are light-​years above your greasy, donor kebabs despite the shameful demand for them that still endures. Chifafa stands to revolutionise the perception of kebabs as we typically know them here in Britain. I can happily say that you won’t find any grease, half-​cooked chips, dodgy white sauce, what is meant to be meat on a kebab spit or a man chundering outside from 20 pints of lager at this kebab joint.
Chifafa boasts a sleek, modern and clean interior and wields an excellent choice of food and drink at extremely reasonable prices. Owned by Nick Green who started Chifafa after experiencing the greatness of authentic Turkish kebabs in Berlin, he wanted to bring them to London to show how our idea of kebabs need liberating from the sinful, cultural archetypes that only appear past 2am.
The sophisticated and refreshing décor is very much reflected in the ingredients, preparation and presentation of the food. The meat they use for their kebabs is 100% ethically raised, British, fresh meat and it is all cooked in the big ‘Green Egg’ charcoal grill (my research tells me this is a favourite amongst top chefs), giving the meat a smokier taste and drier texture. They use three different types of meat here: chicken, lamb and veal (which is marinated for up to 24 hours) and offer two delicious vegetarian options: halloumi and falalel. As well as kebabs, Chifafa also do rice boxes and salads with any of the four choices of meat or halloumi or falalel to accompany. My guest and I tried the Chicken, Lamb and Veal kebab and then one of the halloumi salad boxes.
The verdict: these kebabs were hella good. I’m going to describe them to you by undressing them out of their glistening foil wrappers. Let’s start with the bread.
Nick has chosen to wrap his kebabs with Greek ‘souvlaki’ bread after what he explained took 10 weeks of careful decision making. I’m glad it took him this long as both he and I agreed how wonderfully soft and tasty it is and how unlike a lot of bread, it doesn’t make you feel bloated and full. Freshly chopped and dressed salad accompanies the meat, but what separates Chifafa out from other Mediterranean and Arabic fusion restaurants is the explosion of flavours that flood your mouth with every bite. The chicken is parceled with crumbled feta, cucumber and sumac salad and a fresh mint tahini yoghurt, the marinated veal with fresh mint & dill yoghurt and the slow-​cooked shoulder of lamb with amba (a tangy, mango pickle), fresh herbs, feta, red cabbage slaw. Every element is so thoughtfully infused within these three meaty mains proving that sometimes, quality overrules quantity.
My personal favourite was the marinated veal, it was so great that I’m still dreaming about it now. I rarely eat veal, not because I don’t like it, but more because it’s rarely offered on the menu. It really synergised with all the other ingredients. Most importantly though, the meat was fresh and the flavour from the 24-​hour marination process had really sunk in to give a dry, meaty effect. Succulent and moist meat is great for savouring braised beef, or lamb in a stew but I personally don’t want a flood of juices falling out or anything moist in my wrap or kebab whilst I eat it.
Chifafa are currently looking to open a second venue and I am certain that depending on location, that it will be just as, if not ten times more popular. I’ll be totally honest and say that I was blown away by this place. As a big fan of Mediterranean and Levantine cuisine (Turkish, Syrian), I felt that Chifafa epitomises the best of them in a very simplistic, trendy and appetising fashion. They’ve had some admirable press coverage too, raising debate amongst national press on whether their kebabs are the ‘poshest’ around. I don’t agree that being good quality, fresh, and healthy means ‘posh’ but I’ll agree that they’re in another league to regular kebabs. ‘Kebabs made good’ is the slogan here and they certainly give kebabs a whole new identity for me. You need to visit Chifafa, not just to forget about regular kebabs but because the food there is so good. Chifafa… I’ll be back.

I think I’ve died and gone to bread heaven. Tried a variety of dishes — regular lamb kebab, hummos, cucumber salad. I agree that the felafel isn’t the best, but everything else is extraordinary. Great pit stop.

All hail the king of office lunches: nothing better than their warm pitta, their awesome hummus and their salads with chargrilled chicken to brighten up a day of hard work. Plus, they offer office discounts and delivery if you tweet to them. Flawless.

Review of the falafel. Unfortunately the falafel kebab wasn’t crispy at all and even the medium sauce was bland. Tried a bite of the rice box as well and also bland. Also more pricy than other less trendy kebab shops in the area.
If you ask me if eat at many other places before I came back here. Crisp your falafel!!!

I like this place – healthy, upmarket kebabs and salad boxes. It feels like the upmarket burrito places. My chicken kebab was tender, juicy, on delicious flatbread and with a good palette of flavor. I also enjoyed a butternut squash salad with chick peas and mint. Interesting combo Really fresh!
The line is long at lunchtime and it is a bit slow. And there is minimal seating. But a nice alternative for lunch from the usual places and nice to have a decent priced place to go in a neighborhood with pricey lunch options.

Just had lunch, ordered a ‘Regular’ chicken kebab, rather than the ‘Short’. It was tasty, the feta was a nice addition, the bread lovely and the whole thing was nice. It was small however for £5.90 — it was expensive for what it was. There must have been ½ a chicken thigh in it, had hoped for chicken breast for that price. The service was good, although not the fastest. I probably wouldn’t come again as if I want a kebab I want a filling and satisfying one, especially for nearly £6.

Quite good, just needs a few tweaks.
I grabbed a quick and casual dinner here with my wife a few days ago, and we both enjoyed the food. The bread for the kebabs must be made fresh, because it’s delicious, and her chicken kebab was excellent all around. My falafel version was a little less stellar, due to some pretty dry and bland falafel, but the tahini was great and helped make up for it, while the fresh vegetables were a nice change from most cheap kebab joints.
The hummus pot with bread was also very good, nice and garlicky, although we could have used an extra bread wedge or two to mop it all up. I tried a small sample bite of their cardamom brownie, too, and it was tasty.
OK, so that’s the good stuff. The items that could use some changes (in my humble opinion):
— The place was empty when we got there, but the very nice but slightly spacey dude at the counter only remembered to bring half our order and had to be reminded about the rest
— The big exhaust fan over the cooking area is very loud — loud enough that we had to practically yell to order and speak loudly to have a conversation around the corner at one of the tables.
— It was cold in there. Not the end of the world, but it’s nicer to hang out in a warm place when it’s chilly and rainy outside.
So, overall a good place, and would probably be stellar for takeaway. And with a few small adjustments, I’m sure they’ll get the in-​store experience right.