Paris's Lounge — Restaurant in London

Paris’s Café & Restaurant is a classic reminder to dig into those glowing reviews and check who a place is actually aimed at. We didn’t do our due diligence and ended up dining at what was, frankly, a sub-standard restaurant.

Let’s start with the most important thing: the staff. I’ve been bowled over by the quality of service across the Capital lately, and the team here was no exception – kind, charming, and genuinely helpful, all with a smile. They honestly made our visit far more pleasant than it might have been otherwise.

Unfortunately, the food didn’t follow suit. The wagyu beef burger was tasty enough, but the patty had a strange consistency – more supermarket mid-range than premium, juicy wagyu. The potato wedges were soggy (just no), and my friend’s roast beef, ordered medium, arrived well done and was a bit tough – though she did say the flavour was decent.

The menu is confusing at best – “Italian-style meatballs with Spanish sauce”? Turkey bacon in various dishes? And they don’t have an alcohol licence, which isn’t clearly stated anywhere upfront.

As for the décor, what some reviewers have described as charming struck me more as a mishmash of leftover furniture, half-resigned houseplants, and fairy lights strung about at random. And the less said about the music, the better – 1970s–80s Italian pop of the absolute worst variety. Please, just stop. My ears are still bleeding a day later.

The downstairs toilet, although immaculately clean I must say, looked like something out of Saddam Hussein’s palace – huge glossy white tiles straight from Top Tiles, a damaged toilet door, loo roll for drying your hands, and a strange sense of scale that didn’t match the rest of the place.

And then the chairs. Some of the noisiest I’ve ever encountered. People dragging them across the floor constantly as they tried to sit at tightly packed tables – the noise was unbearable.

No – this was not an experience I’d...

This place was worth the journey for myself and my friend. We came across this cafe on instagram and decided to come pay a visit, as i am a big shakshouka and roast dinner fan, I had to come and see what the hype was about! To my delight, the cafe was quaint and welcoming, we came on a Tuesday afternoon and it was fairly busy with a few customers, but the staff were lovely and accommodating. The waitress who seated us and took our order was so nice and helpful :) The food was delicious, the shakshouka was perfectly seasoned and the eggs were just right. The chef even offered more bread on the side in order to finish the shakshouka, a credit to their generous portion sizes. The roast dinner was fantastic, it's hard to find halal roast dinner in London but this one was quality, the beef was cooked medium just as we had asked, and the flavours accompanied by the gravy were delicious. The roast vegetables were great, although the potatoes could have been a bit softer. The portion sizes were very generous, and as much as we wanted to finish out plates entirely, we couldn't! But we ate as much as we could and are still glad we ordered what we did. The drinks were beautifully presented, I ordered a lemonade and my friend a banana and strawberry smoothie. I thoroughly enjoyed my lemonade as it was a perfect balance of tart and sweet, my friend found her smoothie enjoyable but slightly watered down. The wait times for food was not long at all (bearing in mind we did come during a quiet time). The outdoor seating looked beautiful, if the weather was not so windy I would have loved to sit outside!

Overall, 10/10, brilliant quality, brilliant atmosphere, brilliant service and people.

Will definitely be back for the...

To the person claiming they “overheard” us, let’s clear a few things up. We were the group of four who ordered the roast dinners, and let me tell you, the food we received was absolutely awful. Rock hard, stale, and completely inedible. We didn’t come here to slate a small business, we came to support one. But how can anyone justify paying almost £100 for food that looked and tasted worse than dog food? You also said you had the same dish as us… impossible. We were the only table that ordered the roast dinner that day; we even looked around to see what other people were eating. Nobody else had it. So either you’re mistaken, or you’re a staff member writing a fake review to save face. And no, we did NOT finish the food. Nearly everything was left behind because it was so bad. As for the “discount” you mentioned, let’s get this right. We didn’t ask for one. The staff offered it after we gave feedback about how bad the food was. And what did we get? A measly £3 off a £100 bill. We still paid the service charge, which we now regret, because clearly, the focus here isn’t on improving food or service but on trying to silence genuine feedback. Paris Café, here’s some advice: Accept criticism instead of arguing back. Improve your food quality. Train your staff to be more welcoming (a simple hello goes a long way). Stop with the fake glowing reviews and actually listen to your...