Amoul

Love the ambiance of this little place and how all the food is sourced and made fresh each day. The staff is also extremely pleasant and helpful. Would recommend the tabbouleh salad – it is light on the bulgar wheat and very lemony, just how I like it. Also recommend the aubergine fattah – it is nothing short of amazing! May want to call ahead to reserve a table, as the place is quite small, enjoy!

I absolutely love this place! It’s on a pretty street, lunch is great — what’s not to love. The owner’s been nothing but friendly every single time. Hearty, healthy, comfort food.

Absolutely horrible experience here! The owner is a nightmare, the food really is sub par on every level. I was abused by the owner for simply politely pointing out that I did not ask the extra hummus that they for some reason decided to give me, when querying my bill and why this had been added twice. Instead of being gracious about it, the owner took the rudest approach possible with me and actually went back and added additional service charge to the bill (even though you go up to the till to order) for even daring to ask such a question and insisted that I never come back again. I couldn’t believe it and was shocked. One of the most bizarre encounters I’ve ever had and what an insane over reaction!
Aside from that, I think the food portions are small and the food very average to say the least. I think it is catered towards people who aren’t that well versed in what proper middle eastern food should taste like and cost and takes advantage of this by vastly over charging them for average, simply prepared unremarkable food and modest portions.
Needless to say, I will never go back there again and urge everyone else to steer well clear of this place!

My friend and I came here for dinner, after I had heard it mentioned by some fellow foodies as a great place to eat in the Maida Vale area. The restaurant is a close walk from Warwick Avenue station, and we booked for 7 PM on a Saturday evening, which is the earliest it opens. I found that a bit odd, and when we arrived exactly at 7 PM, we had to wait a few minutes because they were not ready to open yet.
The music was also fairly loud, and the lighting is extremely dark so it has a romantic feel (which I totally did not expect). We were the only diners in the restaurant for the first 30 minutes, and after that there were only 1 or 2 other tables at any given time. The restaurant only seems to find 25 – 30 people, but it wasn’t like other small restaurants I have been to lately (like La Patagonia), it was just empty…
As for the food, we ordered homous and lamb sambousik for starters. The homous was good but the pita it was served with was quite hard and thin, not really to my liking. The lamb sambousik were like small empanadas… it wasn’t quite what I expected given the menu description was just «pastries» and my first guess was a flaky pastry dough. I thought they were ok but nothing special.
For mains, I got the special recommended by the waitress, which was kinda like gnocchi stuffed with meat inside in a cream sauce, and my friend got the poussin, basically a roast chicken that came with roast potatoes. I didn’t care for my main, but I have to say that I was quite impressed by the poussin dish — especially the spices on both the chicken and the potatoes, and the amazing garlic sauce. I’d highly recommend that dish.
Overall, I think the main thing for me is that dining here was such an odd experience. I don’t think any restaurant should be this empty on a Saturday night. It was just also not a good atmosphere with the music loud and the lights so dim. The food was decent (I don’t have many past experiences with Lebanese cuisine to compare it too), but for Mediterranean I’d take a place like Ottolenghi any day.

Mediocre place. I had a terrible service here and wanted to complain to someone. The staff should be re-​trained and learn to speak better English

Stopped in for lunch on a hot, muggy London afternoon and was quite pleased. The array of homemade lasagnas is amazing. I had a chicken kabob plate with hummus and salad. Portions were perfect, chicken was juicy and tender, and the naan was flaky, fresh and lovely. I washed it down with an iced tea that had a hint of lemonade, which was über-​refreshing!

Having been back a few more times, I wanted to add a quick note to say this place is also a great stop for lunch. I like their combination ‘main + salads’ option where you can choose 1 main from the selection of the day which usually includes a beef/​lamb, chicken or vegetarian dish. And you also get to choose 2 – 3 sides depending how hungry you are. Sides include a range of yummie middle-​eastern dishes — my favorites are hummus, tabouleh, spicy potatoes.
They also usually have a special for the day. For example, they had a lentil soup and Shepard’s Pie which looked amazing.

A wonderful, warm and friendly café with excellent fresh food. Great coffee! Really good.
Hideaway evenings are very intimate and well worth a try.
A quality find in Maida Vale.

We LOVE this place!
Friendly service, great food and good value…
If only they were open more evenings.

Amoul makes world-​class handmade pastries. The staff is friendly and after the second day of my week-​long visit to London, already knew how I liked my coffee as soon as I walked in. All of their pastries are handmade from delicious locally-​grown ingredients. They also have amazing middle eastern food as well.
Service is friendly but sometimes a bit quirky unless you know the unwritten rules, of which, I seemed completely oblivious. When I came in on Saturday afternoon, it seemed I wasn’t allow to order pastries and sit down at a table. Moreover, even when I ordered a big flat bread, somehow that didn’t constitute «lunch» at least not the kind that would qualify me to sit at one of the several empty tables. I finally figured out the right combination and was allowed to sit down.
All in all, I would say this is a world-​class find. I am so glad to have stumbled upon it on my first day in London. It’s in the Little Venice section of London aka, Maida Vale. It’s a bit off the beaten path and worth the visit.