Hujra Afghan Restaurant — Restaurant in London

Saw this on spur of moment when looking for now defunct Farm shop a few doors down (taken over by Green Room).

Took a table outside to be near locked up bike, and was immediately struck by friendly, welcoming waiter Abdullah (?) who is a British-born Afghani if I understood correctly and had sparkling eyes (perhaps buoyed by aĺl the 5 star reviews).

Ordered an Ayran yoghurt drink and Kabuli Pilau (one of their national dishes). The latter came very quickly, accompanied by an interesting salad, two contrasting sauces and complementary dahl. The food was probably enough for a medium-sized meal for two, and all delicious. The lamb was very tender, buried beneath a mountain of rice which was dotted with raisins and grated carrot and spiced.

The owner chatted to me at length, about the restaurant, Afghanistan and elements of his life. This was all informative and useful to hear an experienced and informed person's perspective of the country and what has happened. Afghan refugees have been high in UK news cycle at time of writing, and so perhaps Afghan cuisine will gain greater prominence here as at least some of new wave of refugees set up restaurants.

There is an open kitchen behind a long counter, and a very long, narrow carpet running the whole gauntlet of the restaurant which is yet to be snipped (it currently ends with a roll). There are also cushioned bays of communal seating at the rear of the restaurant to compliment the more conventional tables and chairs.

The outdoor seating is not the most scenic, facing busy Holloway road, but there is a small herb garden by one side providing aromas if you lean in.

It is a no-alcohol restaurant, in keeping with Muslim custom and this is no problem for me. Besides the Ayran and a bottle of water, had a very big pot of green tea accompanied with Afghani sugar snacks, the name of which I didn't catch.

All in all, a large satisfying meal for £22, which felt good value, not just for London but UK in general, bearing in mind how much food was served up.

Definitely worth a visit to try, and I felt welcomed to return again and sample other dishes. The customer service and beyond that friendliness/openness of staff was exceptional, and it is an important component of the overall experience.

Put 4 star for atmosphere since it was slightly subdued at time I went - 5.30-7pm on a Tuesday, but am sure it can pick up at busier times. This was no...

My husband and I visited this restaurant recently and were extremely disappointed with the service we received. On arrival, we were seated at a table for two. I noticed other customers arriving after us were also seated promptly. However, 10 minutes after we were seated, we were still waiting for anyone to approach us, while those same customers were already being served drinks.

My husband had to call over the man who seated us to ask when we would be served. He then called a waitress, who took our full order for drinks, starters, and main courses. The waitress soon returned with our drinks and starters. However, at no point during our visit did any staff member come to check if we were okay or needed anything else, which is basic customer service.

After finishing our starters, we were left waiting for our main meals. Forty-five minutes passed with no update. During this time, I observed several concerning things: customers who arrived after us were served their main meals, staff were assisting others in taking photos, and some tables were seated, served, and had left while we were still waiting.

I eventually went over to the manager to explain our situation and that we are leaving now, before we go we will pay for what we ordered. He apologised and told us we would not need to pay for the starters and drinks. While we appreciated the gesture, by that point we had decided to leave.

We left feeling unwelcome, ignored, insignificant, and discriminated against. My husband and I are Black and were the only Black couple in the restaurant. While I cannot say with certainty whether this was the reason for the poor service, the stark difference in how we were treated compared to other customers was deeply concerning and unacceptable. No business serving the public should ever make customers...

A new restaurant offering a 25% discount in the first two weeks of opening. Attended as a party of five. The menu is not overly large yet offers plenty. We ordered the Mantu and Hurja special meat platter for 1-2 and Pilau. The rice was fantastic. The lamb was extremely tender and delicious. The meat platter was fantastic too. The lamb was great. Chicken was a tad bit dry. Mantu is a large portion (at least 12) and, unfortunately, wasn't to our taste (we prefer Uzbek style Manti).

Some bug bears; -They do not offer tap water only bottled water. -Soft drinks come in small cans (200ml size) and are distinctively labelled as "multipacks not to be sold separately. -It was challenging to get a waiter to take our order - we waited over 20 minutes to order and we had to approach a member of staff who then had to ask someone else. -We ordered the samosas and asked that they would be served at the same time as the mains. We were told they would come first - which was fine. However, we received them only at the end of our meal (an hour later - we had actually forgotten about them). They were also very small. The music was quite loud at times and would start/stop inconsistently. We ordered a side salad which was an extremely small portion. We had a party member join our table an hour or so in. His order went MIA and we were required to reorder.

Overall, the food, particularly the meat is delicious and definitely worth returning to but it would be helpful if the service could be...