I was lucky with the weather again. Just as the sun shone – albeit on still an icy cold winter’s day – when I headed into central London for The Nutcracker last week, the almost constant grey skies parted yesterday to reveal another gloriously blue sky for my trip to London’s Fitzrovia. My friend Sharon had suggested we meet at Carmel, which describes itself as ‘a dining destination and bar in the heart of London, centred around the flavours of the eastern Mediterranean’. I needed no persuading for this is absolutely one of my favourite kinds of food.

A stone’s throw from Oxford Circus, nestled in the small area of Market Place just off the lower end of Great Portland Street, there was a welcoming lively vibe coming from Carmel as I approached its entrance. There’s an outdoor terrace at the front for warmer evenings, but inside, low lighting, music and a happy buzz of diners, made it immediately an attractive venue. Service throughout was friendly and helpful.

I was shown to my table where Sharon was already waiting and, as happens when you meet a good friend, we talked quite a lot before we turned our attention to the menu. Sharon had been there before and suggested we share small plates and maybe a large one. The server recommended how many we’d need, from a choice of Snacks, Flatbreads, and small and large Plates.

While trying to decide what flatbread and dip to start with, Sharon suggested we have the Carmel Mixed Mezze (£17) which was Za’atar Flatbread, tahini, hummus, labneh, olives, matbucha. We asked what matbucha was and were told it’s a cooked mix of tomatoes, red peppers, garlic and chilli. It was delicious – as was the entire dish.

I’d never seen a flatbread quite like this long one before, but it was wonderful, flavoured with za’atar, tahini and fermented chilli. The small bowls contained tahini; marinated olives flavoured with confit garlic, oregano, citrus and red chilli; Carmel’s hummus, which comes with ezme (a kind of tomato salsa), zhug (a hot green sauce with parsley and spices); and labneh.

Our mains were brought once we’d finished the ‘snacks’ and flatbread – which I appreciated. Sometimes with menus like this, food just keeps coming, but we were able to leisurely enjoy our starters first. We chose three of the ‘small’ plates to follow, though they weren’t actually that small and a good size to share. There were some great sounding meat and fish dishes amongst the larger plates – Confit Duck Shawarma (£27.5), Lamb Mechoui (£34.5), Whole-grilled Sea Bream (£33) – but we fancied the vegetable/salad ones (even though we both eat meat and fish).

The Chicory & Walnut Salad (£12) came with rocket, feta and pomegranate. I like chicory a lot and its crispy slightly bitter taste was beautifully matched with the salty, creamy feta and sweet pomegranate seeds. It was so fresh and very delicious.

We also had Braised Chickpeas (£13), which I joked was our protein dish as we hadn’t chosen a meat one. The chickpeas were braised with wild spinach, xigalo cheese (a soft cheese from Crete), mint, tomato and chilli. Again, this was fabulous.

I love aubergine (one of my favourite vegetables) so couldn’t resist Sabich Salad (£14.5) – roasted aubergine, semi-soft egg, zhug, tahini and brined cucumber. It was an exciting and gorgeous dish.

We had a bottle of water and I had a glass of red wine – Grenache (£7.50). There was a nice dessert menu (choice of three) but we were full and didn’t want more food. The meal had been wonderful; stunningly good. Our server asked which had been our favourite dish and I told her I couldn’t choose – they were all delicious. I finished with an Americano coffee (£3.50) and Sharon had fresh mint tea (£3.70). The bill came to £82.92 including service, which I thought was a very good price for such a great meal.