Tastes of the Nile, Swiss Cottage

Swiss Cottage, where I am currently spending a couple of weeks with the fine folks at the Islington Gazette, isn’t exactly a gastronome's delight. Its main claim to fame is that, ten minutes down the road near the South Hampstead overground station, there is a sushi bar outpost of the venerable Atari Ya group. It is beyond outstanding, so watch this space for a fawning review of them sometime soon. Other than that, it’s what you would expect of an area that is, for all intents and purposes, a large road that takes you to the more interesting parts of North London.

Chain fast food joints abound, there are plenty of chicken shops, and lots of dubious looking cheap cafes and sandwich bars. I’ve heard that the rather grimy looking little Chinese place on Finchley Road, Green Cottage, is something of an institution and it’s definitely on my gluttonous hit list. So too is Eriki, an Indian restaurant which garners generally good reviews – not even Morleys could get less than three stars from Time Out – but puts me off because of its overly spacious, airport lounge interior (they actually have a second branch at Heathrow).

What a pleasant surprise then to discover a little farmers’ market last Wednesday. Of course, farmers’ markets are typically visited mainly for their produce and, in all honestly, I’m not actually a fan of most of them, especially those that fall under the official London Farmers’ Market (LFM) banner. I find them inferior to independent local markets like those found in places like Brockley, Hackney, Deptford and Dalston, which tend to be less expensive, more vibrant, and crucially offer a diverse range of quality street food.

I suppose LFMs serve a purpose in so far as they encourage people who are a bit intimidated by other cultures and the non-familiar to make an effort to support small producers rather than just running to the nearest Whole Foods, but damned if I’ve ever had anything other than burnt burgers and sausages – top quality Organic Freedom Soil Bio-Sustainable burnt bangers, mind – to eat at these bag-for-life bashes. Apologies to Millwhites and Kush Cuisine, who are well worth seeking out at these events and for whom I will happily swallow my pride (though I might choke in the process), but on the whole I just can’t see the reason to shop at these places, let alone go to them with the intention of finding something to eat.

Until a few days ago, that is, when I encountered an interesting little stall called Tastes of the Nile at the farmers’ market in Swiss Cottage. Elaine El-Essawy serves Egyptian-style food here as well as at a little cafe in Camden and it’s a simple enough concept at the market: you choose a freshly prepared meat or vegetarian main option that is then served with various salads and sauces. What makes it special is the staggering range of accompaniments they manage to fit into one tray. Normally, my memory is pretty good when it comes to recalling the components of a meal, despite my best efforts at university to compromise all my cognitive abilities. But this was one of those times when I just had to take notes.

Alongside my beef kofte, which was well seasoned and juicy, came a plethora of salady items - shredded carrots, beetroot and pickled cabbage – on top of a couscous base. Sounds like a pretty good deal right? Then there was the lentil salad, chunky hummus and Greek salad. Pretty outrageous, I know, but I almost forgot about the falafel, stewed potato, and coleslaw, not to mention the lashings of tahini, yoghurt, and chilli sauces. Of course, it’s not much of a looker - and nowhere near as sexy as Samantha Brick, for whom I would fly to Kuala Lumpur and cook lobster thermidor at a bus depot, if only all the other men on the planet hadn't beaten me to it – but then how could you possibly make such a smorgasbord of different tastes and flavours look attractive in the confined space of a take-away tray? Those of us who hit the salad bar with the sole purpose of cramming as much food as possible into the smallest imaginable space know it’s not easy, the difference at Tastes of the Nile being that they do it for you, expertly, and you don’t have security breathing down your neck as a result.

Of course, I could pick holes in it if I really wanted to: coleslaw is hardly Egyptian, the falafel were a bit dry, and the chilli sauce wouldn’t have made me sweat if I were holed up Sergeant Brody style in the desert. But at £4-6, it’s a lot of very decent food for not a lot of money, which is always the most basic goal of eating out at lunch. If you piled it all on to a plate you have something very similar to – and possibly even a bit better than – those ‘mixed mezze for two’ platters you find in most Middle Eastern restaurants that always seem to comfortably exceed £10. Of course, you can get a lot of awesome street food for around a fiver these days and this might not have been quite up to the standard of old and new favourites like Luardos and Alley Katsu, but then London is a very large place and not every area is lucky enough to have an eat.st within walking distance of work or a Hackney Homemade down the road at the weekend.

Until we adopt the decidedly more civilized continental approach to our lunch hours - that is to say, we take as long as we want, with a return to work being generally optional - and are free to traverse the capital to dine at our favourite eatery, having places like this in the neighbourhood is a major victory for those of us who don’t think lunch is microwavable lasagne at our desk. Were my position in Swiss Cottage permanent, I would inevitably become a regular at Tastes of the Nile, so if it's in or near your part of town, I urge you to check them out. It’s probably the best cheap lunch you’re likely to find in the area.