I have spent enough years chasing good plates around this city to know when a new opening feels like proper momentum rather than just another shiny distraction. Soraya, the Persian all-day restaurant from the Pachamama Group, is slated to open its doors in Marylebone next year and it strikes me as exactly the sort of market-driven move that keeps London's food scene breathing.
The place will sit at 96 George Street, a 6,000-square-foot proposition with room for 190 covers. That is no timid neighbourhood spot. It is a proper commitment, the kind private enterprise makes when it spots demand and decides to meet it without waiting for grants or grand pronouncements. The group already runs Nina just down the road in Marylebone, Zephyr in Notting Hill, Bottarga in Chelsea, Lagana in Shoreditch, and of course the original Soraya that opened in Abu Dhabi in 2024. This London version is the concept coming full circle, conceived there and now planted firmly on home soil.
According to Hot Dinners the restaurant will fire up in August 2026 as part of a fresh Marylebone destination developed in partnership with The Portman Estate and Derwent London. The same agreement covers a separate street-food concept at 8 Loxton Walk, which tells you these operators are thinking in terms of complete pockets of the city rather than isolated tables. Puja Dowlani, retail associate director at The Portman Estate, and Tom Knight, also tied to the estate, have clearly seen the value in backing experienced hands who understand how people actually want to eat.
From first light to last orders
What sets Soraya apart on paper is the rhythm. Breakfast, lunch and dinner under one roof, all filtered through a contemporary take on Persian cooking. Hot Dinners has already teased the sort of dishes that make a greedy man like me sit up: Persian omelettes to start the day, eggs Benedict lifted by saffron hollandaise, and warm khachapuri pide that I can already imagine tearing apart while the morning light hits George Street.
Later the mains arrive with proper substance. Flatbreads, smoked aubergine kashk bedemjan, short rib khoresh sharpened with sour grape, lamb koobideh, chicken joujeh kebabs, and butterflied sea bass finished simply with herbs and lemon. These are not apologetic fusions. They read like respectful evolution of tradition, the kind that respects the source material while giving London diners something they cannot get on every corner. Even the puddings keep it focused: a rotating series of cheesecakes that should provide just enough sweetness to round things off without descending into the theatrical nonsense so many places mistake for dessert.
The Pachamama Group began back in 2014 with a modern Peruvian restaurant and has steadily built a portfolio of design-led venues that seem to understand pleasure without needing to shout about it. This expansion into Persian territory feels like the logical next bite. Entrepreneurs responding to what customers actually crave, investing their own capital, creating jobs, and widening the range of serious cooking available in the capital. No fanfare about quotas or agendas, just good business meeting good appetite.
