Etles Uyghur Restaurant — Restaurant in London

Ended up in hospital which I contribute to the cold food. Friendly service but very slow despite almost being empty except for a group of friends and I think the owners kids running around the room who were eating all whilst the owner was sat with them. Letting one server do all the work which was not much as she spent most of the time on her mobile. Service was atrocious in the way that it felt like self catering. You couldn't get the attention of the staff because they were busy doing personal things. I remained polite but will never go back as can't cook food safely nor have much respect for customers. More like own kids running riot as the owner sat and read a newspaper. They gave their own family the attention than anybody else. Also never gave a receipt for my card payment. Told me to check my bank statement. It's one of these places you would go once just to try. Food is authentic but overpriced with small meat portions.

You replied but seriously denying who those children belong to as they were sat at the table with the owner and one of them running around the place and the server a few times ushered him back to the table. Really who's kids were 4 of them. Were they there alone. You have people who are not happy contrary to what you are saying. Your replies to negatives left are just laughable. Somebody commented the food arrived cold and you told them they should eat it as soon as possible. Cold food has been the main complaint and it had caused me to go to emergency. Please understand that food has to be cooked and heated to a certain temperature otherwise you will make more people ill. I am annoyed and angry with the deceitful reply. Completely shameful. Respect...

What a disappointment!

I'm sure to each his/her own, but man did we travel so far for such a highly rated place to be greeted at the door with- do you have a reservation?

No we didn't, coz every single blog that rated this place so highly said - the one good thing about this restaurant was no reservations were needed. And I'm the sort of person who makes sure I make reservations.

The look on the face of the waiter that we didn't have reservations made it very awkward. Please bloggers mention that RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST HERE IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET JUDGED BY THE STAFF.

Anyway they kindly led us to our table. We ordered a lot of the stuff off the menu and got a chance to photograph just a few things.

Loved: Soup with dumplings Samosas

Liked: Salt tea that came in a soup bowl (not kidding)

Disappointed: The dish that we waited for an hour to prep was an absolute shame. Lamb curry over naan. Lamb was so undercooked what a shame. Naan added to the dish was fridge cold. Brought down the temperature of the dish immediately and 0 thought was put into the cutlery. I say don't serve it if you don't want to make and serve it properly.

We were told that they never make it daily and we would have to wait. We said ok. Lesson learnt.

Lamb skewers were OK

Lamb polo was terribly bland.

I'm sorry guys, came here with so much expectations 😔

Edit: Since the owner has kindly requested we visit the other branch. We are always up for an offer for food 😀 we will see you soon someday and I promise if we like the food and service I will...

Many many years ago, I encountered Uyghur cuisine in Sydney Australia. There the Uyghur community is large enough to sustain several restaurants and I thought it so tasty that I couldn't get enough. However I had to wait a long time for a similar establishment to open nearer home.

To my joy, after regular Google searches, I recently came across Etles and took my 87 year old mother, a self acknowledged foodie. She too enjoyed it very much that we made a repeat visit a couple of weeks later with more planned in the not too distant future to work our way through the menu.

Situated an easy walk from the railway station in the centre of Walthamstow, it's an unpretentious establishment more bistro-like than restaurant. If you drive, the closest parking I managed to find is in the Mall after unsuccessfully and frustratingly driving around the surrounding streets all of which required resident parking permits.

The menu reflects the ethnic diversity of the region which straddles the Silk Road historically linking Asia with Europe via the Middle East from which the Uyghurs originate. The cuisine mirrors this with variants of Central Asian, Chinese and Middle Eastern dishes often known by slightly different names. There is no alcohol on the drinks menu.

The food at Etles clearly uses the freshest of ingredients and was very good. The service was attentive and my mother and I were made to feel very welcome. I will strongly recommend them as much for foodies looking for something different as well as for aficianados of...