Lahore Kebab House — Restaurant in London

My uncle and aunt were visiting from Germany and they can’t get Pakistani food in Munich so whenever they come to London, my brother brings them here. I remember coning here as a kid and you get a lot of corporate city people here during the week as it’s so close to Liverpool Street. On occasion, we do go to the one in Hendon, North London but I must say, the original one near the city has the edge. My daughter cannot get good Pakistani/Asian food near or at her Uni in Kent so she loves all of this Pakistani street food as well.

We got there at Sunday lunchtime but it was empty which made it lovely as I could pick our table. Normally this place is heaving and you have to wait for a table.

My brother ordered lamb seekh kebabs (which this place is known for) and tandoori lamb chops for our starters. Both were very fresh and tasted fabulous. The chops were very tender and not dried out.

He then ordered a meat pilau which is a part of the Sunday specials, one dry lamb which is the lamb bhuna and their signature mutton karahi as well as a vegetarian dish of bhindi (okra). I didn’t want any chicken as that my daily staple whilst dieting, I only wanted red meat and boy did they provide it here. The dry lamb contrasted nicely in flavour with the mutton karahi. The meat was very soft on both dishes.

I’m not a fan of bhindi (okra) but my brother, uncle and aunt love it so it was ordered for them. My mother used to make this very well but even as a kid, I never liked it. However I tried it here and was pleasantly surprised as it wasn’t mega spicy, it had a nice flavour to it.

The meat pilau was delicious and I enjoyed my naan and the tandoori roti was good as well.

I can cook all of these desserts pretty well at home and on occasions I do, but there is something nice about having an Asian dessert after a spicy meal. My brother ordered the gajjar ka halwa (carrot halwa) and I ordered the rasmalai as I wanted a cooling dessert. I remember making these dessert as a kid with my mother so I will make them for the man I am dating. ☺️

Overall, we were absolutely stuffed to the brim, I will spend a lot of time running and sprinting on the treadmill to burn this off but it was so worth it. My uncle and aunt loved the food and my daughter was well fed for her journey back to Uni. The city branch of Lahore Kebab House never fails us, it reminds me of being a kid and going with my late parents. 🙂

It’s a great place to eat, you can eat very well for a reasonable price which in London is hard to find. For me it’s a contrast to all the fine dining places I go to but I love it...

We really enjoyed our time here. I would say it's some of the best non-veg Indian food that I've had in a while.

Nicknamed "Lahore's", this old-school joint serves Punjabi cuisine at its best; any Pakistani or North Indian would feel right at home here. Rangeing from tikka sides and curry mains to authentic Indian sweet desserts, everything served really hits the spot in the heart that says: "back in our homeland".

Something that I love about this place are that it is "bring-your-own-drinks"; they don't serve alcoholic drinks, however you can bring any you want - beers, spirits, e.t.c. - at no extra charge. Another thing is that the whole vibe is just great; if you like a busy, buzzing and exciting atmosphere then you won't get better than here, even on weekdays.

There is an unfortunately low standard of customer service here, which is why I docked a star off from the rating. I will explain why:

The supervisor seemed very angry and he and other staff don't seem to aknowledge people entering who want to be seated... Moreover, they are very stingy with requests such as asking for more tissues. Through the meal, some staff seemed to be messing around, spraying water onto each other, avoiding eye contact with us. Seating is very badly managed; for some reason they allow some single customers to take up tables that have space for four people, then they end up making a lot of people wait at the front, only to then offer us and them seats behind the kitchen area near the cold windy open door...

However!.. The waitress serving our table was absolutely fantastic. She was not our original waitress, but took over once she had worked out that nobody was helping us. She was amazing and deserves a raise, she brought great standard and dignity to the restaurant experience. Unfortunately, we did not catch her name for this review.

I used to love visiting "Lahore's" while I was in university, just as my dad enjoyed the same restaurant during his own student years. Customer service may be down right now, but the food is absolutely delicious; flavoursome, spicy, wholesome, heartwarming and fulfilling. I loved it. I hope the customer service does improve on...

I have been visiting this East London Institution for over 20 years, since the time when this restaurant occupied a much smaller place and you would have had to sit on shared oval tables. The food used to be absolutely delicious. And the trend continued for years, consistently delivering best Pakistani food in London, I always preferred Lahore over Tayyabs. I remember in 2018 I took my parents there when they came over to visit me in London, they were so impressed I had to take them again there for their famous dal-gosht!

But that was then …. It’s a completely different story now.

I recently paid a visit here with two of my good friends, both of whom are veterans of this restaurant. For one reason or another all of were back to Lahore after a long while - perhaps over a year.

We ordered some of the legendary Lamb Chops, a Nihari, and Karahi Lamb. Some Nan and tandoori rotis.

The Lamb chops were dry, over-grilled and very mediocre. The Nihari was flavourless gloopy mess of harsh spices. The Karahi Lamb tasted like super market readymade curry. The nan had very strong baking soda smell. We had to ask to change the roti as it was dry as a cardboard.

Overall the immediate experience was very disappointing.

I had a bad stomach from which I am just recovering, I had bloated gassy stomach for days after that meal, I felt it completely imbalanced my stomach chemistry, felt nausea for a whole week.

My other two friends had more or less similar experiences, speaking to one of them I found out he also had similar bloaty gassy feeling for days, and had to run home after dinner due to uncomfortable upset stomach right away. I don’t want to get into dealing but let’s just say we both rush home to some unnatural call to the nature.

Something has definitely changed. I asked the staff if they had a change of chef, but they denied.

I have been to this restaurant many times, sometimes once a month over the years. I know the food. This not the food they used to serve.

Its sad to witness the demise of such a glorious...