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International guests
Middlesbrough restaurant delights international guests
Teesside Live covers Bazaar hosting international visitors in Middlesbrough for a gaming industry conference.
Teesside Live
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Bazaar · Restaurant in Middlesbrough
FIRE. CRAFT.
THEATRE.
Decades of culinary experience. An Arab-French kitchen. The drama of live fire. A restaurant made to be experienced.
Fire / Craft / Theatre15 Captain Cook Square · MiddlesbroughScroll to explore ↓
COME AND EXPLORE
A RESTAURANT WORTH COMING TO IN MIDDLESBROUGH
LIVE FIRE
Fire is at the heart of the kitchen.
Oak, charcoal and intense heat bring depth, smoke and char to the food, while our open kitchen puts the cooking right in front of you.
DRY-AGED IN-HOUSE
Our steaks are dry-aged in-house, allowing time to do its work before the meat reaches the grill.
The result is deeper flavour, a more developed texture and a steak that deserves the attention it gets.
THE JOSPER
The Josper combines the intense heat of charcoal with the enclosed environment of an oven, creating the char, heat and smoky flavour that make it such an important part of our kitchen.
OUR WOOD-FIRED
PIZZA OVEN
Our wood-fired pizza oven is one of the defining features of Bazaar.
One of the largest wood-fired pizza ovens in Europe.
Watch it in action, feel the heat and see what comes out of it.
✧ The man behind the menu ✧
Meet the chef · Tarek Thoma BEM
From Cairo to Westminster Abbey
More than thirty years in kitchens, and every plate at Bazaar carries that story.
Tarek learned to cook in his mother's kitchen in Cairo and took his first kitchen job at 15. He came to the UK in 1990, studied at Wimbledon School of Art, then trained in two Michelin-starred kitchens: L'Escargot in London and Chapter One in Kent.
Since then he has led the kitchen for President George W. Bush's state visit, cooking for the President and Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2021 and was a guest at the Coronation at Westminster Abbey in 2023.
Today he cooks Arab-French food at Bazaar: the flavours he grew up with, cooked with the discipline of the best kitchens he has worked in.
Read Tarek's story →
Dry-aged in-house
Made for sharing
Worth coming back for
01 / A restaurant unlike the everyday
Some places serve food. Others have a story to tell.
At Bazaar, the story begins long before the first plate arrives. It begins with an Egyptian chef whose career took him through celebrated London kitchens, a belief that familiar flavours can be made extraordinary, and a remarkable restaurant created in the centre of Middlesbrough.
It continues in the kitchen: stocks simmering, breads fermenting, steaks ageing and dishes meeting the heat of oak and charcoal. Then the doors open, the room comes alive and it becomes your story too.
Meet the chef behind Bazaar →
02 / The mind behind Bazaar
36 years of obsession. One extraordinary vision.
From London kitchens to cooking for world leaders, Tarek Thoma's journey is far bigger than any single restaurant.
The chef · The founder · The story
A lifetime in kitchens. A philosophy on every plate.
Tarek's career stretches back to the great London kitchens of the late 1980s and 1990s. He has cooked for former US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his service to his community.
Today he brings that experience together with the food he grew up with: an Arab-French kitchen, where family recipes meet classical French technique, cooked over fire and rooted in generosity.
Explore Tarek's full story →03 / Technique you can taste
It's not fusion. It's a lifetime of craft.
Breads fermented over days. Steaks aged in-house. Almost everything here begins long before service.
04 / The things you won't find everywhere
Inside the extraordinary.
Not props. Not gimmicks. Real equipment, exceptional ingredients and a team obsessed with getting it right.
Live fire
The Josper
Charcoal intensity and oven precision in a kitchen you can watch at work.
Time as an ingredient
The dry-ageing cabinet
Beef prepared and matured in-house before it reaches the fire.
A centrepiece
The wood-fired oven
A striking, specially commissioned oven, made to be seen as well as used.
05 / A dish with a story
Shawarma. Reimagined.
Take something familiar: shawarma. Now start with sirloin, dry-aged in-house. Introduce a rich veal stock and the discipline of classical sauce-making. Finish it over live fire.
It's recognisably Arab in spirit, yet deeply shaped by decades spent mastering French technique. That tension is what Bazaar's Arab-French kitchen tastes like.
“You have to taste it to believe it.”
— Chef Tarek Thoma
Explore the menu →07 / A room with its own character
The theatre isn't only in the kitchen.
Bazaar's architecture is part of the experience. Designers Cocoon & Bauer describe a vision influenced by the energy of Cirque du Soleil, the warmth of flames and the feeling of bustling Middle Eastern markets.
It's a room made for first dates, milestone celebrations, conversations over cocktails and evenings that run longer than expected.
Discover the design story ↗
08 / Your kind of Bazaar
Whatever brings you
to the table.
Not every guest is here for the same reason. There is a Bazaar for the first date, the family celebration, the working lunch and the long-awaited catch-up.
01 / Date nights
A night worth dressing up for
Atmospheric dining, serious cocktails and a reason to linger.
Explore dining →02 / Families & friends
Bring everyone together
Sharing plates, Sunday roasts, desserts and space for good company.
Sunday lunch →03 / Food explorers
Come for the craft
An Arab-French kitchen, classical technique and open-fire cooking.
The philosophy →04 / Halal & dietary
Dine with confidence
Ask the team which dishes meet your dietary requirements before you visit.
Dietary information →05 / Business guests
Business with a difference
Client entertaining, private meetings and workplace catering enquiries.
Corporate dining →06 / Celebrations
Make a memory
Weddings, birthdays, graduations, engagements and private hire.
Plan an event →07 / Lunch seekers
Make lunch an occasion
Lunch from 12pm, Tuesday to Sunday: the full à la carte, wood-fired pizza and Sunday roasts.
View the menus →08 / Dessert lovers
Save room
The honey layer cake and the Matilda Dubai Chocolate Cake have stories of their own.
Desserts →09 / Seasonal guests
Reasons to return
Christmas, seasonal menus and new experiences throughout the year.
Seasonal dining →09 / The journey so far
The journey behind the chef.
1994–96
Michelin-starred kitchens
Chapter One in Kent, then L’Escargot in London — two kitchens each holding a Michelin star, where the foundations of his technique were set.
2003
A state visit
Lead chef for the state visit of President George W. Bush.
2021–23
Honoured
Awarded the British Empire Medal in 2021 for his service to the community, and a guest at the Coronation in 2023.
2024
Bazaar
In Tarek’s own words, his crowning achievement: heritage, fire, technique and hospitality, together in Middlesbrough.
10 / The people who make the place
Known by some. Loved by regulars.
Great hospitality creates a following. Bazaar's story is as much about the people who return as the food on the table.
Our guests · Real relationships
An extraordinary room has an extraordinary guestbook.
Bazaar welcomes visitors from technology, football and entertainment alongside the diners who return again and again. Every visit adds another story to the room.
Explore Bazaar on Instagram ↗In their own words · January 2026
“Bazaar is easily my favourite restaurant in Middlesbrough.”
Faraaz Noor · Food creator and The Traitors contestant · Interview with Hyphen
Read the original interview ↗
11 / Beyond the restaurant
Recognition earned. Not manufactured.
Design
An atmosphere reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil
The interior designers behind Bazaar on arches inspired by Middle Eastern bazaars, terracotta-carved brick, hanging greenery and a dessert canopy shaped like cascading chocolate over a three-tiered cake.
Cocoon & Bauer
See the projectOpening
First look inside stunning new Middlesbrough restaurant Bazaar
Teesside Live went behind the scenes before opening: diners seated in the middle of the action, with views of the chefs, the Italian copper pizza oven, the mixologist, the pastry chef and the fire.
Teesside Live
See the galleryTown centre
Mayor's praise as exciting new restaurant with 'wow factor' creates 50 jobs
Mayor of Middlesbrough Chris Cooke toured Bazaar before opening, praising its ambition and its role at the heart of Captain Cook Square, as the restaurant created 50 new jobs in the town centre.
Tees Business · Middlesbrough Council
Read the article
A new chapter / From the kitchen to the page
A lifetime
of cooking.
A book of stories.
Before London kitchens, live fire and the dishes served at Bazaar, there was family food: his mother's maklouba and the Cairo fish markets he visited with his father.
Tarek's cookbook in development brings those memories together with the technique and curiosity behind Bazaar. Read real extracts, including a maklouba you can cook at home.
Discover the Bazaar cookbook →Cook Tarek's lamb shoulder maklouba →
Dining for every table / Middlesbrough
Different people. One extraordinary table.
From a business lunch to a family gathering, an anniversary, a halal enquiry or a table for food obsessives, Bazaar has a different way to make a visit worth remembering.
A room to remember / Captured at Bazaar
See what makes the room extraordinary.
From the monumental copper oven and dramatic greenery to the warmth of the dining room, discover the details that set the scene.
The heart of the room
The open kitchen
Made for occasions
✧ Kind words ✧
A table worth coming back to.
The best endorsement is a guest choosing to return. Explore Bazaar through the experiences of the people who've dined here.
★★★★★
Food was amazing and the staff very accommodating. Had the pleasure of trying the new Matilda Dubai cake and WOW absolutely beautiful.
L B
Read the review ↗★★★★★
Absolutely unbelievable food, service and atmosphere. All the food was fresh and very high quality and well presented.
Link Linebeck
Read the review ↗★★★★★
Beautiful restaurant, welcoming and stunning atmosphere no matter what time you go. It feels like a beautiful escape - the decor is stunning, the food is even better, genuinely to die for.
Amelia E
Read the review ↗