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.

By day, Bunso will 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 the newest addition from the team behind the highly acclaimed Belly. As with Belly before it, Filipino flavours will find their way naturally onto Bunso’s menu; rather than defining the restaurant, they’ll appear through ingredients, techniques and dishes that nod to the Filipino kitchen.

Omar Shah says: ‘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. Full menus, opening date and further details will be announced shortly.