Uxbridge Road is a hive of activity for Middle Eastern shops and businesses and thankfully remains largely unspoiled beside the ghastly newcomer, the
Westfield Shopping Centre, with its Gourmet Burger Kitchens and Spaghetti Houses. Most of the eateries along this stretch are Lebanese, but Abu Zaad is at pains to proclaim the food as specifically Syrian. Indeed, the menu describes its wares as
Damascene Cuisine — would a visit there prior to a trip to Queen’s Park Rangers’ Loftus Road lead to a Damascene conversion?
An inexpensive rundown of dish promised much, and so it proved. Tempted as we were by a full range of hot and cold starters (another visit might see me take the meze route), my dining companion and I opted for Farrouj Abu Zaad, a dish of lightly spiced baby chicken and the Kastaleta, dainty lamb cutlets. Accompanied by warm pitta bread, salad and a choice of chips or rice, these beautifully tender dishes filled a hole, washed down with mint-infused Arabian tea. Our only disappointment was the unavailability of a house special dish — the oddly Scottish sounding Macmour, lamb cooked in a “special way” with potatoes. Other menu options include a smattering of Moroccan dishes which would please local hero Adel Taarabt should he venture here after a game.
Rob Langham is co-founder of the defiantly non-partisan football league blog, The Two Unfortunates, a website that occasionally strays into covering issues of wider importance. He's 50 and lives in Oxford while retaining his boyhood support of Reading FC. He tweets as @twounfortunates and has written for a number of websites and publications including The Inside Left, When Saturday Comes, In Bed with Maradona, Futbolgrad and The Blizzard as well as being nominated for the Football Supporters' Federation Blogger of the Year Award in 2013.
2 Comments
Lloyd
February 23, 2010Is it only me who's noticed how there is a no entry sign right outside the door?
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