Julia Domna Cafe — Restaurant in London

We've just had what is by far the worst Lebanese meal we've ever had anywhere. For the starters, we got served tasteless Moutabbel, cold and soggy 'hot potatoes', and Labneh which tasted like it was bought round the corner from Lidl. All this with stale flat bread that is easily 3 days old. For mains, the Kufftah was inedible (it had some white stuff inside it - nothing that I've ever seen before) and came with congealed mystery sauce and cold potatoes. The Shish Tawook dish consisted of cold pieces of chewy chicken that must have been microwaved from frozen. It came with a garlic sauce that was nothing like the creamy, smooth sauce one gets served with grilled chicken. It's not like the cook was rushed - were the only diners throughout the evening: the place was desolate. We have often looked through the windows of this restaurant as we walked past it and wondered how it remained in business since we rarely see anyone eating there. We now know why that is - it is absolutely terrible! All in all, 0/10 and...

Completely baffled how this restaurant gets all these five star reviews.

I’m not sure I’ve been to a restaurant before where the atmosphere is so lacking - most of the evening we were left with no staff to be seen - one point during the evening a fellow diner (there were four of us in total the evening we went) was frantically searching for the loo - there were no signs and no-one to ask.

The food is ok but nothing special - the most unusual baklava I’ve ever had.

I love supporting independent local restaurants but sadly I cannot find anything really positive to say about our experience - if you’re a fan of Adele then you’ll love it here as they ask Alexa to play her playlist on loop but if...

This was my first taste of Lebanese food and I was completely spoilt. The lentil soup was delicious and the chicken shish tawook was wonderfully seasoned and served with homemade flatbread. Everything was clean and spotless; even the utensils were individually wrapped in serviettes. Throughout it all, Samir was such a kind and welcoming presence. It was like being served by one’s own grandfather.

Still, I was shocked that I was the only customer there on a Friday afternoon. How can that be? I’ve already spread the word to some friends and we’re planning to head there asap. At the same time I’m selfishly hoping this hidden gem stays that way so that the charm...