Anyone who has feasted their way through Bubala’s inventive meat-free Middle Eastern menu will understand why Londoners can’t seem to get enough of founder Marc Summers’s restaurant group, which first opened in 2019 in Spitalfields, with Helen Graham as head chef (who has since left the business). Today, Summers has announced that he will open a fourth site in a Grade II-listed building in Covent Garden, building on the success of the brand’s Spitalfields, Soho and King’s Cross sites.
“We were especially drawn to the site in Covent Garden because parts of it reminded us of Spitalfields when we first opened Bubala,” Summers said in a statement. “There’s a similar energy to the area too – busy, creative and full of character.”
Summers wants the new site (which is the group’s biggest yet) to have the same warm, personal feel as the first site did. “The food, the atmosphere and the way we look after people all matter equally to us, whether that’s guests or our team,” he said.
On the menu? Bubala favourites, including the halloumi with chamomile and fennel honey, and the crispy confit latkes with toum, will feature, plus dishes featured in Summers’s 2025 debut cookbook, Bubala. There’ll also be a selection of seasonal specials including wild garlic and asparagus borek in spring; whole grilled baby corn with pilpelchuma (chilli-garlic paste) butter in late summer; and slow-roasted badger flame beetroot and feta pastilla (parcels) in winter. The new site will have a larger focus on wine and cocktails, with bottles sourced from the Middle East and Europe, and cocktail ingredients built around what’s being used in the kitchen.
The new restaurant will also offer the ever-popular Bubala Knows Best set menu – which is currently reduced by almost 20 per cent to £39 across all sites. It’s designed to be shared, featuring the kitchen’s selection of dips, small plates and larger plates. Summers has said the reduction in price is to keep the full Bubala experience accessible in light of financial pressures facing diners and the hospitality industry.
Bubala Covent Garden will open this September on 14 Garrick Street.
