Shuk is a Borough Market stall and (in better times) a pop-up restaurant serving Tel Aviv inspired family dishes in a street food style.
Opened in December 2019, Shuk (meaning street market in Hebrew) comes most alive in the summer time, with diners able to gather around tables to feast on hummus, roasted veg, salads and meat and fish dishes with ingredients sourced from Borough Market suppliers.
They sell several individual meal kits- you can opt for one of five Pita Kit options, a Babka Kit if you just want a killer dessert, or a Weekend DIY Kit if you want a whole weekend’s worth of incredible food for up to four people.
Reader: I got the whole weekend’s worth of incredible food.
Shakshuka Kit
Shakshuka Kit Cooked
What’s in the box?
A lot. So much that the delivery driver lingered a little near the door to make sure I didn’t topple over when I picked it up unassisted. It’s essentially four kits in one to feed you across three big meals (plus dessert). These kits were:
- The Shakshuka Kit, for Saturday brunch. This contains the Shuk; house shakshuka sauce, free range eggs, harissa oil, schug (a spicy, herby green sauce) and a loaf of challah.
- The Pita kit, for dinner Saturday night. This contains spiced lamb meatballs (Sabich if you opt for the fish) with chilli yoghurt, pickled red cabbage and the fluffiest and most delicious pita bread that any of us had ever eaten. True story!
The kit comes with a booklet (with pictures!) that walks you through each meal
- The Erev Kit, for a feast on Sunday. For this you choose either a slow roasted lamb neck or a whole marinated sea bass. You also get hummus with either beef brisket or fish tagine, as well as everything for three delicious side dishes/ starters of grilled broccoli, sweet potato with chilli yoghurt and wood grilled aubergine with tomato.
- The Babka Kit, for dessert across the weekend. This contains the pre-made Babka dough, chocolate & hazelnut paste, dark chocolate chips in an oat crumble, a babka mould and some vanilla syrup. They also included a little tub of flour for rolling out your dough.
Sabich Kit
Sabich Kit Cooked
How hard is the preparation?
Reasonably easy! I’m a passable cook and a terrible baker who managed to make each dish not only taste as good as intended, but also look truly Instagram-worthy.
The kit comes with a booklet (with pictures!) that walks you through each meal, and though some of the dishes took a little time to put together, none were particularly complicated.
Most of the work has been done, and it’s just up to you to move the food from one container to another, heat it up, put it on plate, then consume.
The most involved process was for the babka, but since the dough was pre-made it was really just a matter of rolling it out, covering it in delicious elements and then folding it into the case ready to be baked.
Lamb Neck Erev Kit
Lamb Neck Erev Kit Cooked
What’s the availability?
They deliver within the M25 Wednesday to Saturday and nationwide on Fridays each week. Delivery slots are made available 10 days in advance, so plan ahead to avoid disappointment.
What’s the damage?
£160 including free delivery, but it really did feed us from Saturday morning to Sunday night (and the Babka well into the week). Plus the feast on Sunday gave us a great excuse to dig out the nice cutlery and make a real evening of it.
Anything else to note?
With all of the seasoning and smaller elements packaged up in little pots it may look like a lot of waste, but rest assured that Shuk has used plant starch containers and recyclable materials wherever possible.
Babka Kit
For more info, see Shuk London
