ITJL Colindale Station — Restaurant in London

I've been a regular since this cafe opened, & I was very supportive of this cafe during COVID & LOCKDOWN since it was the only eatery operating in the area, but my tonights experience was extremely awful. I'm not sure if it's under new management or they've employed rude & unprofessional staff.

I walked in this evening, to order a meal but as my phone battery was dying I asked the lady behind the counter, if I can charge my phone as I wanted to transfer fund's, she gladly obliged, she then asked me if I would like to order, I did say I would if she could give me 5mins while I waited till my phone charged as I wanted to make sure I wanted to make sure I had the funds to pay. Now, every time I've walked in to this cafe I've always paid after I've had a meal or a drink (coffee or shakes), while I was waiting I noticed a few tables came in ordered, had their meal & paid after they ate.

When I got my phone back & placed my order, the lady behind the counter, said "NO YOU HAVE TO PAY FIRST", I questioned why as I said a few ppl paid after they ate & there was a table with a guy eating, she then went on to say "oh they're our regulars we know them we don't know you" I was very bemused with here attitude & service & asked again, why would you want me to pay first & can't be treated fairly like the rest, she then went on to say "my boss said so" , I asked her what was the bosses problem with me & if I could speak to them, she then went on to call him & when I spoke to him, (he wasn't even in the cafe) he went on to say " yeh I've been watching you on CCTV you're pacing up & down (which I wasn't) & that I was being rude to the staff!!" I was absolutely gob smacked, & then asked the staff if I was rude to them & the lady said no I wasn't, I mean the audacity of this guy to call them from where ever he was hiding & refused me service was absolutely DIABOLICAL & VERY UNPROFESSIONAL!!! I've been given a name of the manager/owner of Guldeep Singh, if you're reading this, I'd like to have a chat with you & question you what exactly was the problem, as even YOUR OWN STAFF were confused that you had to call them & try to bully me & shout on the phone that I to PAY FIRST, I mean why I was treated differently from the rest of the customers, who ate first & paid later but you decided to TREAT ME DIFFERENTLY? I've never caused any problems in your cafe & been nothing but supportive but treatment tonight as uncalled for & I'm pretty sure , this cafe is under new management as I've been treated like this ever! MR GULDEEP SINGH, rather than hiding id like to chat to you face to face & question your issue with me. I'll await your response & if you're in this week let me know so I can see you...

Meaning to write this one for a while.

ITJL’s been my daily food driver for the past 3 months. Moving to Colindale helped me come across the place and I haven’t stopped going since.

The variety of food on the menu keeps me trying new things almost every other day, not to mention how efficiently the menu adapts to what people like and dislike. You liked something they removed? Ask nicely and it’ll probably show up fresh at your table. Same goes for the specials, with my favorite (chicken curry) being available almost always even though it’s not even on the menu.

That’s the thing, the staff are just that friendly. You’d assume that being a café you’d need approachable staff, but these guys are the real deal. Irina, Monica and the rest make it a lively place to keep coming back to since they don’t seem stiff with the whole ‘customer’s the boss’ attitude that plagues most places.

Even if it wasn’t just a few feet from where I’m staying, I’m certain I’d find myself gravitating to it just as often. These places are rare in 2018. Staff that genuinely seem to care instead of ones that adopt fake, happy-go-lucky personas? A cozy atmosphere that appeals to the introvert and extrovert in me? Tailor-made, healthy-ish food ready in minutes? Sign me up. Sign...

We walked up to look at the menu on the window and were greeted immediately. My husband wanted pancakes, though didn’t see it on the menu, so the server helpfully explained that the breakfast menu wasn’t displayed but that they were indeed serving breakfast all day, which included pancakes of a variety of flavours.

The prices were decent, so we decided to go in. It’s a little cramped inside and most tables were occupied, but not as bad as I was expecting it to be for a Sunday afternoon. There is outdoor seating, too, but it was a rather windy day, so most tables were empty.

There’s a lot of choice on the menu and lots of things sounded good, but I went with the Italian flatbread. The flatbread items look like a pizza, which I wasn’t expecting. Nonetheless, it was delicious. Chicken toppings can sometimes be bland, but the bright orange chicken had plenty of taste. I’m not sure why it was so orange, and it made me think it was tandoori chicken, but all the flavours worked well. Maybe a bit on the salty side, but salt is one of my vices. Just drink lots of water...

I enjoyed my meal and the service was good—I recommend coming here. I would like to come back again to try some other things...