»Little Beirut« in London
London, where a third of the population was born abroad, is probably more multicultural than any city in the world apart from New York. The faces, clothing and languages spoken make it obvious that dozens of different ethnic groups live here. Some concentrate in a particular area – east Africans in North Kensington, for example, Turks in Dalston. European and English-speaking immigrants also have their favourite quarters. Five per cent of the residents in Chelsea are US citizens, and a Cypriot community has congregated in Camberwell. Lovers of Portuguese food head for South Lambeth Road, and those who like Arab cooking are spoiled for choice on Edgware Road.
At its southern end near Marble Arch, expensive Lebanese restaurants put on live music and belly-dancing. Further out, north of Edgware Road Tube station, a simpler style takes over. Syrians and Iraqis run grocery stores and eateries with plain furnishings that serve delicious meals for a low price. Newsagents sell Arabic newspapers, fashion outlets cater for ladies who prefer to reveal little, and numerous TV screens show the latest football match from Egypt or the news from Al Jazeera channel. When the weather is fine, cafés in Praed Street put shisha pipes out on the pavement.
Info
Address Edgware Road, W2 2HZ: walk north-west from Marble Arch | Public Transport Edgware Road (Circle, District Line) | Tip The Subway Gallery (in the pedestrian subway at the crossing of Edgware Rd. and Harrow Rd., Mon–Sat 11am–7pm) presents changing exhibitions of Underground Art with a tendency to the provocative.
Arabs trading with the Ottoman Empire settled in this area 100 years ago. In the 1950s, many Egyptians arrived, and since then every crisis in the Middle East has brought more immigrants. Lebanese and Palestinians fled from war, Algerians from violent civil unrest, Syrians and Iraqis from recent horrors in their region. While rich Arabs in search of sound investments and desirable residences have bought property in Knightsbridge – although the Egyptian Mohamed al-Fayed no longer owns Harrods – and Mayfair, to enjoy some Arab atmosphere, avoid these haunts of the super-rich and walk across Hyde Park to Edgware Road.
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