Safen Restaurant — Restaurant in London

EDIT Sadly having to come back and edit this review. Had a bad experience here today. After having a lovely lamb shank meal last week, I persuaded my husband to order a mix chicken platter for pick up, instead of going to our usual Gokyuzu or Kervan, despite the pricing for the platters being similar.

We came 40 minutes before iftaar to place our order in the shop as we were going to take it home for iftaar for our family. It was completely empty in there so the below wasn’t due to them being rushed off their feet.

We ordered a mix chicken platter to take away. For £41.50, we got 6 small chicken wings, one chicken mince kebab, a very small amount of cold chicken shawarma and one tikka kebab. So 3 skewers and less than half a portion of chicken shawarma. On their menu their 1 person mix grill, which is 3 skewers of your choice, is £18. We were charged £41.50 for the same thing plus a half portion of shawarma? Considering we ordered an all chicken platter and the cuts of meat were all cheap (wings, chicken mince etc) I definitely feel like the portion size was unnecessarily meagre.

Secondly, after unpacking our order at home, we noticed that none of the sides (rice, bulgur) that were advertised as part of the platter were given. There were no sauces given or yogurt, things that usually come as part of a platter. As I was generally unhappy with what we received, I decided to walk back to the shop for the sides and also to let them know I wasn’t all that happy with the quantity, especially of the chicken shawarma that they gave.

Considering the fact that I had to walk back to the shop to get the rest of my order, interrupting a family iftaar, I thought they would welcome a chance to rectify a situation where a previously happy customer had a complaint. They did give me the sides after saying they forgot to pack them (to be honest, it seemed more that they weren’t even aware they was supposed to be included), but when I showed them a picture of what I received and told them I was unhappy with the quantity of shawarma they gave, they kind of just awkwardly looked at me and said “we gave you some” and after I pressed him “I give that amount to everybody”. I was not going to argue with him any further about it so I said okay and left.

I wasn’t expecting them to grill me any more chicken, but it wouldn’t have take much for them to give an extra portion of shawarma in a box to attempt to rectify this issue and for also the inconvenience of me having to walk back out during iftaar time to collect the rest of my order.

Unfortunately, I won’t go back again as their customer service really wasn’t up to par and the food platter disappointed everyone in my family, which is annoying especially after I persuaded everyone to order from here over our usual Kervan/ Gokyuzu.

The picture below cost over £40 - in my opinion not at...

Lovely restaurant opened in Wood Green. Went Friday evening, wasn’t as busy as expected. Greeted by front of house and seated, we were given complimentary lentil soup(delicious) and salad and dips and a sort of crispy flat bread/poppadum. Once we were ready to place an order the waitress says there isn’t any shawarma left, my friend and I wanted to try the shawarma as that’s what the restaurant is known for. Had they told us it was not available we could of have had the autonomy to either stay or go to another restaurant. However, because we were seated it was kinda of awkward to leave. The food took really long to come and considering the restaurant was not packed, I was quite shocked, nevertheless the food did not disappoint. We were the last people left at the restaurant and considering it was only past 9:30 we felt like we were getting pushed out which was weird as the restaurant closes at 11. I feel like this restaurant food has the potential and can have more customers but the staff need to be better trained and have more people skills and because of that I am giving...

What a fantastic place! Right across the way from where we were staying on our short trip to Wood Green and we popped in for a quick bite.

Gorgeous little place, with a lovely welcome smile. Felt at home instantly.

Served a salad, yoghurt and garlic dip with fresh naan and lentil soup ALL COMPLIMENTARY! If there’s one thing that sets a place apart from others it’s this. It’s like being welcomed into someone’s home. Love it.

We were stuffed before we even ordered. It we still ordered 😂. Mixed (2 piece) kebab one chicken kofta skewer and one chicken tikka skewer, some chilli sauce on the side for extra kick too. Perfect.

Kofta was deliciously soft and melt in your mouth and the chicken tikka was cooked to absolute perfection. Seasoned perfectly. Went perfectly with the naan that we had leftover from when we came in.

All of this plus two drink for the tiny sum of £18. I cannot believe it… and in London!

Gotta say if I was local I’d be here all the time. If you’re visiting this end of London or if you live locally, you must give this place a try. Just...