Behesht Restaurant (Kensal Green) — Restaurant in London

We visited Behesht to celebrate a special family occasion. Based on our previous positive experience, we had hoped for another enjoyable visit. Unfortunately, this visit fell far below expectations.

Our concerns began at arrival. We had specifically requested seating near the windows to enjoy natural light, as confirmed during the phone reservation. However, the manager Iman insisted we sit in a section without windows or adequate airflow. A family member even noted a suffocating smell of dampness, but Iman dismissed the concern, undermining their experience. After repeated requests, they finally agreed to join two tables and seat us by the windows, as initially promised.

To avoid confusion, we had prepared a written list of our entire order. We handed this to the waiter to simplify the process. However, he claimed they could not accommodate changes to the sini mazza (selection of 5 starters). I politely asked him to confirm, as on our previous visit, staff had graciously made such adjustments. The waiter went back and forth multiple times over a minor request, which appeared unprofessional and avoidable.

Iman later approached us and explained, rather bluntly, that the sini mazza is designed using more lower-cost dishes to maximise profit. I had asked for just one item to be substituted from the five, particularly because no one in our group would eat it. We were ordering two sini mazza platters as starters at £19.99 each—totalling £39.98—so the request didn’t seem unreasonable. After much back and forth, Iman stated that in his 23 years working there, they had never made changes to the sini mazza. Eventually, he agreed that if we chose a cold starter as a replacement, it would be acceptable. We requested Baba Ghanoush, but he then refused, citing the high cost of aubergines and lectured us on the expense. At this point, I reminded him that we are long-standing customers who regularly spend over £140 per visit. His energy turned what should have been a celebratory gathering into a draining and uncomfortable experience. He continued to justify the profit margins on the starters, at that point we told him to serve it as is, simply to end the exhausting conversation.

Regrettably, the situation continued to decline. Again, to simplify things, we had written out all the main dishes. When asked for our order, I requested the manager Iman to take notes to avoid mistakes. He refused, saying it made no difference whether he wrote it down or not. He later asked me to repeat the entire order, indicating he hadn’t been paying attention.

One dish was particularly important, as a family member does not eat red meat for religious reasons. I made this crystal clear and was advised to order it separately to avoid mistakes, at an extra cost, which we accepted. Yet, when the food finally arrived, Iman returned to recall all the dishes back to the kitchen, precisely because he had not written anything down. The dish we had been most specific about was served incorrectly, forcing two members of our party to wait for their food to be corrected, something that could easily have been avoided with basic care and professionalism. Our meals were cold by the time we were able to eat.

To make matters worse, items such as the fries we had ordered never arrived, again, due to the absence of note taking. This level of service reflected a significant lack of attention and hospitality.

While the food at Behesht remains good, the experience was deeply undermined by poor service, uncomfortable seating (unchanged in decades), and most notably, Iman’s behaviour, which was unprofessional and dismissive throughout. In an industry where hospitality and respect for the customer are paramount, his conduct was simply unacceptable.

We have been frequent patrons of Behesht and have often recommended it to others. However, after this disappointing visit, we will seriously reconsider returning, and this experience will certainly shape what we share with others...

Proof that service is just as important as food quality. I'll kick off by saying the food we had here was very delicious and we have to give praise to the chefs, everything was hot and seasoned well and cooked really well! Portions as others have said are a bit too large, where you're having rice enough for 3-4 people on one plate so just something to consider. Where this restaurant completely fails is its service and experience throughout. Went recently with some friends and the main points: Queuing system at front is quite chaotic and the manager/whoever was responsible for organising just seemed a bit uninterested in us getting a table. His attitude was like you can stay if you want but we're not losing a lot if you don't stay which isn't the nicest attitude to have with your potential customers Waiter I think we got unfortunate with as when we asked for something from another waiter he seemed a lot more competent. We didn't get our waiter's name but had black short hair and beard and from start to finish again didn't really seem to care about our experience Waiter didn't advise or help when we ordered, just let us order and when the food came it was so clear we had over ordered, these guys know from daily orders of the quantity required and usually they would recommend if we've over ordered but here no such recommendation was made at all No space at all on the table, we were on quite a cramped table and for mains literally had to eat off the huge plates that the mains came on and we got no small plates, just an uncomfortable eating experience Starters and bread were great but 3/4 of the way through winter came to say mains were coming so they needed to make space, never have been rushed to have my meal and forced to eat at the speed the restaurant preferred haha. In fact they started removing our starter dishes as we were eating them which was so weird. As mentioned table was super crowded, got to a point where we knocked over a drink which the waiter saw. Rather than offering any help or more tissues or literally ANYTHING he just acted like he saw nothing and walked away. So weird and we experienced similar things throughout where he just didn't seem to care about treating us with basic kindness and respect - by the end we were a bit fed up and it took away from our appetite in all honesty.

Overall the experience was lacklustre, a lot of reviews mention he great food which I cannot disagree with but the service and experience was so poor we'd never want to return here...

Where to begin with behesht… This restaurant offers both, amazing quality service and food. The atmosphere of the restaurant is lovely, covered with a myriad of cultural decorations and the staff are all incredibly accommodating and friendly.

We ordered mast-o-khiar, gherkins and tried the koofteh tabrizi as starters. What is so marvellous about behesht is the fact that for the prices which I believe are not merely reasonable, but actually low, you receive the biggest and most generous portions of food. Many restaurants that I have tried charge you so much for a measly amount of food, but it is sufficient to say the fact that the starters made me so full to begin with highlights that they do not compromise with portion sizes. The koofteh tabrizi is definitely not to be undermined as it was the size of a meat loaf, a delicious, giant chunk of a meatball that was stuffed with an apricot.

The first main dish we ordered was their infamous friday-only special, abgoosht. This dish is special in that you are provided with pickled vegetables like cauliflower with olives. The broth is separated from the stew which consists of chickpeas, red kidney beans and lamb and is mashed separately - the staff had kindly assisted me in doing so. The idea is to put your naan in the separated broth and either eat the mashed product with rice or naan, I opted for both having undermined the portion sizes but nonetheless enjoyed the dish!

The second main we ordered was chello gosht for which they did not only give us one, not two, but three giant portions of succulent lamb neck, paired with a wonderful and massive portion of broad bean rice.

A pleasant surprise indeed, we unfortunately could not finish all the food but were determined to take it all away to feast during the night and still have the biggest portions available for dinner the next day too. I am so glad to have visited this restaurant and am determined to come back and feast properly to only begin to show my appreciation for the care and kindness the staff had shown us, especially the impeccable service throughout the dining experience.

From start to finish, the entire experience was more than perfection and no less, I wish behesht restaurant and all its employees all the success as they offer a truly well-cultured...