Fancy sampling a bit of what Joseph and Mary once might have eaten this Christmas? Yes – THAT Joseph and Mary! The relaunched Palestinian Tabun Kitchen in Soho will be offering just that on their festive menu along with a new cocktail list. 

“Many of the dishes on the menu are known to be thousands of years old and originated from the Bethlehem area,” they say, “so on the Christmas menu we have included just these dishes to create “The Original Christmas Dinner”, that is, these dishes could have potentially been eaten by Mary and Joseph”.

The Christmas menu boasts a Bethlehem meatball soup, lamb Makloubeh and traditional cheese Knafeh.which may or not have been savoured by holy mouths. 

The new expanded space features a sit-up dining bar, useful for snacks or a signature Ã¢â‚¬ËœRamallah’ cocktail – cognac, crème de cacao, coconut cream and a nutmeg sprinklealong with mini mezzes.

The café’s tangerine and turquoise interior is bright and bustly with a private dining room downstairs

The rest of the Tabun Kitchen menu, designed by founder Hanan Kattan, offers a modern take on traditional Musakhan Chicken and the slow-cooked lamb Makloubeh. Sides can be fresh salads of fair-trade freekeh and tabbouleh.

Puddings have a particular wow factor, being fragrant and scented with orange blossom, honey and rose. Try the amazing semolina Hariseh cake. 

Kattan, whose family background includes a Jerusalem-born mother and a Bethlehem-born father, says: “Tabun Kitchen is a tribute to my Palestinian heritage and evenings spent in our ancestral home in Bethlehem with family and friends sharing food and bread from the Tabun oven. It’s exciting to bring this food to the plates of Soho.”