Mama Shelter is the debut London hotel and restaurant from the Mama Shelter group, which originated in Paris. The in-house restaurant is a visually stimulating space, decked out with clashing prints, hanging fringed lampshades and a blackboard ceiling that has been scribbled with chalk drawings.
Seating around 100 diners, the Mama Shelter restaurant serves a casual menu of family-style sharing dishes, which are enjoyed around the restaurant’s communal tables. To kick things off, try pork belly bao buns or crab doughnuts with pickled cucumber, before moving on to the more substantial likes of whole grilled seabass and 35-day aged Hereford ribeye for your mains.
Vegetarian and vegan diners aren’t an afterthought either, with plant-based dishes to choose from including cumin roasted cauliflower and raw Asian rice paper wraps. Mama pays homage to its Parisian roots via the likes of croque monsieur, but there are dishes inspired by its East London surrounds too – think classic pie and mash with liquor, or a seafood platter using produce from the Essex coast and served with a Bloody Mary mayonnaise.
Come the weekend, Mama Shelter hosts a self-service Sunday brunch buffet which features entertainment from live bands and musicians. There’s plenty to entertain you whatever day of the week you choose to visit though, thanks to retro video games, photo booths and Japanese-style basement karaoke rooms which are available to hire.
The Mama Shelter group was founded by the Trigano family, who co-founded the legendary Club Med. The first Mama Shelter opened its doors in Paris in 2008, but has since been joined by locations across the globe, including Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Prague. The hotels are known for offering cut-price accommodation, as well as vibrant social hubs on their ground floors – rooms at the London location begin from a very reasonable £99 per person per night, and include free films to enjoy in your room.