This September, Omar Shah, founder of the Maginhawa Group behind Mamasons, Guanabana and most recently Belly Bistro, will open Bunso in Kentish Town – a new all-day restaurant rooted in Shah’s Filipino heritage. We loved the Belly Bistro when we tried it, and so are very excited by this new opening. Can he pull off an absolute banger again?
By day, he wants Bunso to operate as a neighbourhood bakery, serving freshly baked laminated pastries, savoury bakes and coffee. As evening approaches, the space will shift into a relaxed pizzeria, centred around freshly made pizzas alongside a concise menu of crudo, kinilaw, salads and pasta, with a soundtrack of vinyl and CDs played through a purpose-built hi-fi system.
Meaning ‘youngest child’ in Filipino, Bunso makes a fitting name for this newest addition and as with Belly before it, Filipino flavours will find their way naturally onto Bunso’s menu; although rather than defining the restaurant as at Belly, they’ll appear through ingredients, techniques and dishes that nod to the Filipino kitchen.
Omar Shah explained: ‘Bunso is probably the most personal restaurant I’ve opened because the combination doesn’t come from us sitting down and deciding to put different cuisines together – it’s the food I grew up around. We’re taking the food seriously, but giving ourselves the freedom to have fun with it. I want Bunso to be somewhere you can come in the morning for a really good pastry and coffee, drop in for lunch, or come back at night for pizza, pasta and a bottle of wine. Ultimately, I want it to feel like it belongs to the neighbourhood.’
Bunso will open in Kentish Town in September 2026 and we’ll let you know more closer to the time!
david@greencastlemediagroup.com