Al Basha Restaurant — Restaurant in London

Rude worker. Ruined my trip to London. Will not be back to this restaurant.

Edited in response to owner’s misrepresentation of what happened (i.e. the waiter’s disrespectful remarks): Prior to this incident, I ordered multiple items in Arabic and all of my order was correct. When I ordered the final part, the worker rudely said to “speak in English because your Arabic is very bad.” Please advise what part of this statement was respectful. Yet, when he spoke in English, he had understood exactly what I had asked for. If my Arabic was so bad then how was the rest of my order correct and how did he correctly repeat back to me what I’d asked for? If he had simply said he was trying to ensure the order was correct without adding the insult, then that would have been an entirely different experience. What did he not understand “4 or 5 times” when I had only interacted with him on two occasions (including the one in question)? The previous time we interacted, I asked questions about the drink and he brought out exactly what I had ask for. None of the other waiters were rude. He only changed his tone when told that he was absolutely rude and that it was not necessary to make someone feel bad for learning a language. Perhaps he was just being discriminatory as I doubt he would have been so rude to a white American. Furthermore, your use of the word “insist” is utterly incorrect. This word means to demand or not accept refusal, which I did not at any point do. I simply ordered in the language and was insulted by your waiter. When he insulted me and told me to speak English, I did so, despite being hurt by his rude response to me simply trying to engage with his language and culture. What a tough break as an American to be criticized when we only speak English but when we try to speak another language, we are also criticized.

You have quite a few reviews that mention discriminatory treatment and rude service so rather than lies justifying your waiter’s behavior, perhaps you should listen to what the customer is saying and experienced in your restaurant. At any rate, I will not be back to this restaurant and do not...

Avoid!! Worst dinning experience in UK! Was excited to try the restaurant based on the highlighted reviews, but then shocked with the food and service experience there. Ordered the Macaroni dish with meat, because when I asked the waiter he said they do have chicken, and I didn’t check the menu to confirm - BIG MISTAKE..the “meat” he meant was Lamb, which I don’t eat at all. The sec I tasted the dish, I realized what it’s and spat it out -I can’t digest or taste lamb-, I called the waiter saad and told him I don’t want this dish and suddenly the fake nice attitude disappeared, and he told me you order it you should have made sure it’s beef not lamb. He rudely ignored our table for the remainder of dinner even though I tried to wave at him couple of times for the check. When the check arrived, i saw that they charged me for the macaroni dish. I told the waitress I will not pay for the dish I didn’t eat and I want to speak to the manager. She got me what turns out to be another wait, Mohamed and who basically told me I should have confirmed what kind of meat is used in the dish, and it’s not their fault. I told him I asked the waiter and trusted what he said and didn’t look into the menu. He kept insisting that it’s my mistake and he can’t take it off my bill.

In the States, when you’re not happy with a dish the restaurant without you even asking, will take it off your bill, get you a new or different dish and apologize for the experience…guess Albasha doesn’t hold the bare min standards for proper service and customer experience....

Came here for dinner with some friends on a Tuesday night. We had made a reservation prior and it was a good shout as the restaurant got filled up after 7pm.

One of my friends came quite late so the rest of us decided to order the mixed mezze platter to start while waiting for the last one to come. The platter came with hummus, falafels, cheese sambousek, meat kibble, vine leaves and tabbouleh. For the price of £15.95, it was a good portion for the 3 of us to share and the food quality was there. Although it's an Egyptian place, it's definitely more of a fusion menu they have since this platter is Lebanese and they do state that in their menu. Just to say don't expect this place to sell only Egyptian food as they also have Indian dishes on their menu.

For mains, I ordered the kofta skewers for myself. It's a massive portion with 3 skewers of minced lamb which was nicely marinated and chargrilled and came with lots of flavours. The rice itself was also cooked with some spices which went really well with the meat. My friends enjoyed their food as well. But overall, I wouldn't say the food quality was outstanding. It's good for what it's worth but not exceptional that makes me want to come back.

Service was good, friendly and attentive waiters. They played some Egyptian music on a massive TV in the background which was frankly quite loud and so it made it hard for us to chat and talk comfortably. This is where it lost a star for...