Few restaurateurs have influenced the nation’s dining habits as Alan Yau. Dismissing preconceptions of Cantonese dining in Britain with Hakkasan and Thai with Busaba Eathai, he has now turned his gaze to the underappreciated cuisine of Turkey with Babaji, his latest venture. Located in London’s West End, the restaurant’s design comes courtesy of Istanbul-based studio Autoban and makes deft use of the space within a 19th century historic brick building. Referencing traditional Turkish design, the interior is dominated by vivid ceramic tiles, arranged in a striking tapestry of ink blue and gold. Traditional Iznik patterns add texture and detail to the soft furnishings, while the main dining area is enveloped by large glass windows that look out onto the frenetic energy of the street outside. Taking centre stage is a large stone oven which, housing a roaring fire, turns out perfect ‘pide’ (Turkish pizzas made with leavened dough), the restaurant’s primary raison d'être.
ADDRESS
53 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
W1D 6LB
-
Inside Helmut Lang’s fashion archive in Vienna, which still defines how we dress todayNew exhibition ‘Séance de Travail 1986-2005’ at MAK in Vienna puts Helmut Lang’s extraordinary fashion archive on view for the first time, capturing the Austrian designer-turned-artist’s enduring legacy
-
Eclectic and colourful, Charlie Ferrer’s home reflects the interior designer’s personal and professional evolutionThe New York interior designer invites us into his new Greenwich Village home: come on in
-
Heading to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games? Don’t miss these stops along the wayAs the anticipated winter games draw near, Wallpaper*’s Milan editor, Laura May Todd, shares where to stay, eat, drink and relax in the Dolomites
-
Sir Devonshire Square is a new kind of hotel for the City of LondonA Dutch hospitality group makes its London debut with a design-forward hotel offering a lighter, more playful take on the City’s usual formality
-
This sculptural London seafood restaurant was shaped by ‘the emotions of the sea’In Hanover Square, Mazarine pairs a bold, pearlescent interior with modern coastal cuisine led by ‘bistronomy’ pioneer chef Thierry Laborde
-
Montcalm Mayfair opens a new chapter for a once-overlooked London hotelA thoughtful reinvention brings craftsmanship, character and an unexpected sense of warmth to a London hotel that was never previously on the radar
-
Follow the white rabbit to London’s first Korean matcha houseTokkia, which translates to ‘Hey bunny’ in Korean, was designed by Stephenson-Edwards studio to feel like a modern burrow. Take a look inside
-
Poon’s returns in majestic form at Somerset HouseHome-style Chinese cooking refined through generations of the Poon family craft
-
One of London’s favourite coffee shops just opened in Harvey NicholsKuro Coffee’s latest outpost brings its Japanese-inspired design to the London department store
-
Enjoy a Kyoto-inspired menu with London attitude at this new restaurantAki London offers a serene counterpoint to Oxford Circus, where stately interiors and elevated Japanese cooking cross paths
-
At this charming bolthole in The Cotswolds, doing nothing is an art formLeave your mobile on ‘do not disturb’, switch off and slow down at this 16th-century manor-turned-hotel
