Dawat Tooting — Restaurant in London

Dawat – A 3-Hour Journey to Culinary Hell

Let me make one thing clear: Dawat is not a restaurant – it’s a crime scene for food. After traveling 3 hours from Birmingham with a group of friends, excited to experience what we thought would be a feast based on its name (dawat in Urdu and Hindi means feast), what we actually got was an unmitigated disaster from start to finish. I can’t decide what was worse – the tasteless food or the nerve of the staff to charge money for it.

It started horribly and went downhill fast. We were seated in their dreary basement Banqueting area, which felt more like a depressing school canteen than a restaurant. It took 30 agonising minutes for the waiters to even set our tables, let alone bring menus. And when they finally took our order, it was nothing short of a circus. Food items we specifically requested either never arrived or were thrown on the table half an hour late. This was not a service; it was an endurance test.

And now, the food – if you can even call it that. The 1kg Chicken and Lamb Karahi? Imagine someone boiled chunks of meat, dumped them in a pool of bland, oily water, and decided, "Yeah, that’s good enough." It was so tasteless I started questioning whether I had lost my sense of taste entirely. The Chapli Kebabs had the consistency of rubber, like biting into a kitchen sponge drenched in grease. As for the Butter Chicken, if I had known it would be this flavorless, I’d have just drunk the dishwater from my kitchen sink – at least that would’ve had some taste.

But wait, it gets worse. The Haleem was an insult to the dish itself. Imagine taking wallpaper paste, blending it with leftover soup, and serving it as if it was a meal. That’s what their haleem tasted like – a lifeless, bland mush. And don’t get me started on the Kabuli Pilau. I’ve had more flavor from a plain packet of rice crackers. This wasn’t pilau; it was soggy rice with a couple of raisins thrown on top as if that would save it. Honestly, it felt like they raided someone’s pantry last minute and just tossed random ingredients together.

To top off this nightmare, as we prepared to leave (hungry and disgusted), the waiters handed us QR codes and practically begged us to leave 5-star reviews on Google, even suggesting we mention certain waiters by name! The audacity. If I had written this review as they wanted, I would’ve needed to call it "Five stars for the worst meal of my life." Fortunately for them, none of their names stuck with me because the entire experience was forgettable, except for the bitterness I still feel.

Dawat is hands down the most overrated and overhyped restaurant I’ve ever had the misfortune of visiting. This wasn’t a meal; it was a train wreck masquerading as food. The only thing that salvaged the evening was the company of my friends, who at least made this nightmare somewhat bearable. But rest assured, we will never return.

So here’s my brutally honest review: Save your time, money, and taste buds. Dawat is a disaster from start to finish, and if you’re expecting a feast, you’d have a better chance of finding one at a...

I will be listing good points and bad point as I am a fair person.

Good-

Staff friendly, accommodating and always on hand to help. They circle around so if you need them you probably don’t have to look far.

No booking system for small groups under 10. So if you go you will probably be seated very quickly which is good for a busy restaurant that is on the small side

Bad-

no sense of organisation, the place is very hectic and I walked in not understanding what’s going on. Wheelchairs, pushchairs, people running around, people chatting at the entrance and people sitting on the entry bench gives the impression of busy but over 50% of seats were vacant inside.

turn over is very quick, be prepared to be pressured to chomp your food down and leave in a hurry as these guys got a quota they need to meet clearly

food came out 2 mins after ordered, it was not fresh definitely reheated and tasteless. The food went cold in 5 mins, which fresh food is not possible. We ordered mix grill which was okay nothing special, sheesh was nice but that’s what it ended once the meat cooled down it was hard and chewy. Chicken tasted metallic. Very stingy with salad. Sealed bottle water on the table which I read on a previous review that they charge regardless so I drank it but they should give you option.

toilet is not gender separated, three cubicles very dirty and unhygienic I was shocked. The doors was open aswell, imagine sitting next to open toilet door eating. It’s not very hygienic

the worse thing of the whole experience was the loudness of the place, I felt as though I was in the market so loud. Not able to have conversations and front door kept open the whole time with wind blowing at us. Half the restaurant looks like a take out and the other half is a restaurant. Please decide which one you would like to be. If your serving restaurant food then make it taste well and quite atmosphere. I’ve come home with a headache and feeling like I have wasted my time.

Overall the restaurant is poor but it is okay option for eating locally and casually. Nothing special. Not something for occasions or going to travel for. I will not...

We booked our table prior to visiting the resturant. We booked the resturant for my sisters birthday. We arrived on time but we still had to wait 15 minutes to be seated. We requested to be seated on the table that had the water flowing but we were given normal tables. After that table got empty we had to move ourselves there. We were a group of 8 that went so you can imagine it will take abit of time to decide what all.of us wanted the waiters kept asking are ready. When we wanted to order the manager came to take our order forget taking our orders he was too busy using his personal phone and also kept on looking around the whole resturant like his bored and he doesn't want to be here. Eventually he took our and took it wrong. We got our food which was ok had better Pakistani food. After we finished eating the waiter came to clean the table but he only cleaned half the table and left the other half. I had to call the waiter over to request for the table to be cleaned fully. After the table got cleared finally I asked for the manager to get the cake we got out. 10 minute of waiting they still havnt bought it out I went to the manager and asked what is happening I've had to ask you to clear the table then now I've had to ask again for the cake what type of customer service is this. He apologised and said his sorting it out. They got the cake out and switched the lights off and played a baby's bday song I was so furious my sisters is 39 not a baby that was so embarrassing. After we finished I asked for the cake box they had the audacity if throw away the cake box without asking his if we wanted it back. We then had to take the remaining cake in foil containers because we refuse to take it in the dirty cake box. I wouldn't recommend this place if you are looking for good customer service. The interior of the place is very nice nice and modern but the...