Afghan Palace — Restaurant in London

My family and I have been to Afghan Palace many times before and had a good experience in terms of customer service and the quality of the food served versus the price we paid. Yesterday, I went back with my wife and eldest daughter and several things led to a very unenjoyable experience this time round. Firstly, the time taken to serve the food was far too long on this occasion. I know some of the items are cooked to order but even service was very slow. We had ordered starters but for some reason they didn't arrive at the table and it looked like they were going to be served along with the other food we ordered. This was a minor point but it would have been nice for the waiter to have at least asked. We were all quite thirsty so I asked for some tap water. They told me that tap water was no longer served and we would have to buy bottled water at £2.50 a bottle. Are they even allowed to do this? I thought this felt a bit mean! They also placed the usual salad on the table which comprised of cucumber, red onion and lettuce. This was normally complimentary however they are now charging £1.20 for this! When the mains arrived they got our main dish wrong. Instead of a Chicken karahi namak mandi style they bought us lamb. When my wife questioned this the waiter insisted that we ordered this dish but we were very clear in saying chicken. The waiter had got the order wrong but didn't want to admit it. The lamb karahi was very tasty and because it had taken such a long time to arrive we decided to accept it. As we had ordered other lamb dishes we were keen to have chicken. I had also asked for Afghani channa which the waiter forgot to bring it to our table. He also did not provide enough serving spoons. All those who read this review may find the points a bit petty but combined they did take the shine off the dining experience we had. The waiter we had was very poorly trained indeed. Another other observation on this visit was how dirty the kitchen/serving area was. Whilst their standards have gone down quite a bit since their our last visit their prices have gone up considerably. With plenty of competition on the high street I don't think we will be coming back in a hurry which is a...

Went here this afternoon. Will never be going back. Had a horrible experience. Even before eating I noticed my plate was dirty. So had to get that changed before ordering. I’m allergic to nuts. At every place I’ve ever eaten out at, I always say this when ordering. Today was no different. We ordered the Mix Grill for starters but when it arrived, the rice had nuts in! The staff didn’t even offer any apology or anything at all to rectify this. They brought us some plain rice when the other people I was eating with asked them to. I didn’t want to risk eating the kebabs and naan since it was all mixed together with the rice. So for starters, I ate salad and plain rice while the other people I was eating with ate the food we ordered; which is ridiculous! If it was just myself and my sister eating, I would have complained and left. It was like the staff didn’t understand what we kept telling them. Shouldn’t you know about allergies if you work in the food industry? It’s appalling. If my sister hadn’t noticed the nuts before we started eating, I would be suffering a terrible reaction right now. I am incredibly angry and disappointed with my experience here. Can’t believe this happened. Don’t go here. They have no idea what an allergy is. Wish I could give minus stars. Update: Called and asked for the manager. Still no apology but he said he would talk to the staff and make sure it never...

New Edit: I was there yesterday: 16th of May to revisit my favourite place that historically delivered really good food.

But this time: I'm lost for word: We ordered 1/2 kg Charsi Chicken and 1/2 kg Charsi Lamb including chapli kebab.

The Naan and the chapli kebab tasted good, but sadly for the Charsi chicken and Charsi lamb the experience was very different.

When trying the chicken, it was totally tasteless. No flavours or taste... Maybe I had covid and my tastebud was inactive.

I aimed for the lamb and i almost puked. It had extremely gamey smell and the taste .. Well I had to spit it out !

Im a big fan of lamb, and this was not lamb i was eating. Most likely mutton meat, which probably already expired.

We notified the staff and their comment was: This is how Charsi taste like, its no masala. Did they take us for idiots ??? Told them it was totally tasteless, no flavours and extremely gamey and the response was: Well thats Charsi !!

Never again, ill go back !! We paid £90 and the ill taste in my mount is still lingering !

Old Review

Pros: Good and tasty food. Go for the multiple karai options and chappli kebab with naan . Very freindly staff

Cons: Card machine seems to have issues, be ready with cash. Staff with limited English Toilets...