In defence of Edgware Road: London’s ‘Arab street’

Ask anyone who lives outside of London to name some of the city’s famous places, they might say Oxford Street, Chelsea, Mayfair or maybe Camden.

Few will name Edgware Road, the multicultural district known to Londoners as Little Cairo, Little Beirut or Little Arabia because of the large number of Middle Eastern eateries and businesses located there.

The street, which lies between Marble Arch and the Marylebone flyover, was recently the subject of a social media post by far-right activist Katie Hopkins, who posted a video of Edgware Road in an apparent criticism of its cosmopolitan character.

But instead of incensing social media users, the video, which has been viewed more than one million times, has had the opposite effect. It drew attention to an area of London that is often overlooked in favour of the city’s more famous hot spots. Comments on the Twitter post asked where could they find this place with such a large selection of Middle Eastern restaurants?

Of course, the charms of Edgware Road are no secret to those who live and work on the street, including Londoner Alicia, who works at Lebanese café Al Arez.

“I grew up round here and I just love it. The atmosphere has always been multicultural, the food is amazing,” Alicia told The National.

“Unlike some of the areas nearby, everything is open until all hours of the morning. There’s always something to do on Edgware Road.”

Kuwaiti-born Amer, who manages the Palm Palace shisha café, moved to Edgware Road over 20 years ago. He said tourists come from all over the world to experience a taste of the Arab world in London.

“It’s not only Arabs that come here, it’s people from all over London," he said. "We get a lot of tourists from the Middle East but also from Europe