Maison Meejana — Restaurant in Great Britain

On the evening of Saturday 29th June we booked a table at 19:00 in Meejana in Windsor.

On arrival we saw that about six tables outside and the same amount inside. Outside was full and we wanted a table inside with the air conditioning. We were met by a lady we now know to be Rita who is the manager. It was a mature sounding, very nice gentleman who took my booking on the phone. I asked and the gentleman taking my booking confirmed that all of the food and meat was halal.

Whilst we were sitting down it became quickly clear that the staff were struggling immensely. A young man at front of house was clearly struggling with the point of sale (POS) system. A young lady was there but clearly her role was to only clear tables and serve food.

Whilst my family was sitting waiting to order our food, we saw so many people walk away without placing their order. They had been waiting far too long. Front of house staff were not acknowledging customers. Customers were getting their own menus and sitting around waiting. It was quite an embarrassing situation to watch.

Eventually Ahmed (the young man struggling with the till system) came and took our order. Our order was hummous, fattoush, yogurt with cucumber and mint and jawaneh (grilled chicken wings)

After about twenty minutes the main courses arrived at our table but they belong to the table next to us!

It was around 30 minutes before our starters and drinks came. However the the jawaneh didn’t arrive. My wife did question Rita about the jawaneh and Rita said they were still on the grill. I think they were put on the grill later as they were forgotten - hence the delay.

The starters were lovely although the chicken wings were luke warm and didn’t look like they were grilled.

After starters, our main courses arrived and we had ordered lamb kafte (minced lamb skewered) with cous cous for my wife and lamb shawarma for me. The mains were also very nice and it was clear that this restaurant is serving fresh, home style Lebanese food. My shawarma was real meat and was fresh, not like the processed stuff you normally get in some restaurants.

We enjoyed our food. I have to say that the first 30-45 minutes at this restaurant were quite cringe worthy and rather embarrassing to watch in terms of service. However when it became a bit quieter, Rita did come over to us, apologised and explained that they were four staff down. Two in the kitchen and two at front of house hadn’t turned up. It was a very hot day. A family run business is a very difficult thing to run at the best of times. Larger branded chains can cope with agency staff to cover and I really did feel for Rita.

Whilst paying our bill Ahmed came over and my thoughts about him quickly changed when he said it was his third day on the job and he had never been a waiter before. He came from an Amazon warehouse environment directly into the food industry as front of house and that too in a major tourist town such as Windsor. The young girl working with him was Lydia. In hindsight they both did their best. They both need a little training and they will be fine. Their hearts are in the right place and they want to please. Ahmed apologised for any confusion. I truly felt for him.

This restaurant has LOTS of potential to be the best in Windsor. Some small tweaks in service, a little training and it will be fine. The food was lovely as was Rita. Rita clearly knew the industry and just needs to train her staff in a loving and friendly way so that her staff want to work to please her and Meejana’s customers.

Initially we were not going to return but after talking to Rita, Ahmed and Lydia, we will be back - maybe just not on a Saturday...

I decided to take my wife out to Windsor castle because the day was so beautiful and sunny, and we were searching for a place to have lunch right opposite the castle.

We stumbled upon this beautifully designed Lebanese restaurant with one of the most charming middle eastern ambiences that I've encountered in england.

We ordered a selection of mezzes to start off with to share, and their specials of baba ghanoush and pattata harra (I hope I spelled it right) were delicious and bursting with flavour. The samke tagine for my main course was a tender fish in a special lebanese sauce that I can't remember its name, but was presented beautifully.

We ended up sharing our desserts, and the sweet cheese one tasted just like the ones that ive tried in Turkey. Wonderful experience, and the receipt had a nice touch with the traditional hat to end it on a high note.

I'm glad that we chose this spot for our lunch, and I will definitely be coming back here again with my friends to try the shisha.

Thank you Chef Rita for the wonderful...

Brilliant mezze! I don’t normally like the warak enab (vine leaves) but I loved them here! The other mezzes were great too. 5 stars here!

Unfortunately the meats of the shawarma were pretty dry - this shawarma meat was used in the okra stew I ordered, which for me didn’t really go down so well. If fresh meat was used, that would’ve been great! That would’ve made me want to return more than I currently do. If im honest, I would’ve given these mains a 2 star.

Also I think there needs to be a little more description as to what the shawarma is, as I was expecting it to be like the normal street ones in the bread with a side of rice heheh… and I understand that there are variations to the shawarmas, but this was quite tangy/sour compared to the ones I had in the levant. These were better meat, juicy, packed with the flavours of the spices, including a light curry spice - owners will probably know what I mean.

Also again, the dryness of the meats also let it down.

Staff were...