Social Dhaba — Restaurant in London

Tasty food especially the vegetable tawa & chutneys served in a clean attractive environment with vibrant atmosphere. Managed by Shekhar with his able & friendly staff , Priya, Riddima, Sakshi & others. Parking can be a problem. 2.8.24 Tasty food & excellent service by staff members. However the restaurant should always provide the plastic containers if diners are going to be able to take away large quantities of food to avoid spillage. 5.8.24 Excellent service by friendly & accomodating staff Preeya & manager Shekhar. Tasty Lamb chops (Juicy & soft) , Salt & Pepper 🌶 Lamb & Baigan Barta , served with enthusiasm! However , staff should ensure that the toilet 🚻 flush is functioning properly! & that the lamb pieces in the dishes are tender & properly unfrozen before being served to customers as their choice of food so as not to be hard pieces of meat to bite & chew on ! 17.8.24 Vibrant atmosphere with music in the background to sip cocktails 🍸 of the Indian Summer Cooler with Curacao & Mango 🥭 Divine & then tuck into the tasty mixed vegetable tawa , vegetable manchurian with a medley of spicy items , egg 🥚 curry & salmon ( juicy!) with "musturd" flavour, thick dal makhni with oozing flavour, peshwari & garlic naan followed by desserts of Rasmalai & indeed the delightful sweet Paan Kulfi ! & it's all served under the supervision of the very able manager Shekhar & his assistant Preeya with other friendly staff. A thoroughly enjoyable experience to excite the senses & palate! 3.9.24 Tasty food served by remarkable staff of Preeya & her colleagues in a vibrant atmosphere & clean environment. 12.9.24. Tasty food served in a clean & busy environment by Tarana & other members of staff including Manager Shekhar. 30.11.24 Delicious food (Pulao Rice , Paneer & Mixed Vegetables) & desserts (Gajar Halwa, Rasmalai), not to forget the thick & creamy Mango Lassi served in a clean, warm vibrant environment & atmosphere by excellent Manager Shekhar with his staff Riddhima & friendly colleagues. 26.12.24 Very Tasty & Tangy Kamal Kakdi ki Chaat , with Handi Lamb which melted in the mouth & soft Peshwari Naan served in a clean environment, accompanied with music & a vibrant 🎼 atmosphere by Preeya, Manager Shekhar & their other friendly colleagues & rounded up with the delightful dessert 🍨 of Paan Kulfi to sweeten the palate. & the clean toilet 🚻 smelt fresh as well. 31.12.24 Tasty Lamb Roganjosh, Mixed Vegetables Tawa, Peshwari Naan followed by desserts of Rasmalai and Paan Kulfi served by charming Preeya & able manager Shekhar with their lovely colleagues in clean & ambient surroundings with a lively atmosphere to accompany! 10.4.25 Tasty food of special fish & 🐟 aubergine 🍆 curries washed down with a delightful cocktail of malibu, pineapple 🍍 juice, syrup & cream with friendly , accomodating & able managers Shubnam & Shekhar with their able staff Chinmoy , Riddhima & Joy at the Bar to assist. 21.4.25 Tasty Mixed vegetable tawa, lamb korma , peshwari naan & spicy Roti with chutneys & aachar served by friendly staff Chinmoy, Riddhima, Sakshi with Manager Shekhar & assistant Shubham. 29.6.25 Aroma of the tasty food wafting in the air that does justice to the taste buds & palate, served by friendly Manager Sekhar & able staff Priya together with colleagues Shubham , Sakshi , Ridhima, Kirit, Anita, Chinmoy Blifton & Avito in a vibrant atmosphere & clean...

This is the second time I've been for dinner in this pleasant restaurant. The vibe and seating comfort is fabulous; very spacious. We were welcomed at the entrance by a very friendly staff member. But the service, once inside the restaurant (Monday evening 31st July), was dreadful; friendly, yes very, but terribly slow. This was because we weren't seated in the main part of the restaurant, but at the side window behind the big pillar...and we, and everyone else in our section, got forgotten about and waited ages for our food. We took it in turns to go up to the bar and disturb the chatting waitresses by asking where our food was.

"Oh sorry the kitchen is very busy tonight" is NOT an acceptable excuse. These lovely young waiters/waitresses, were all so nice, but have not been professionally trained to keep their heads up and look around the restaurant, especially the hidden parts. This is the fault of the management for lack of training; but it is quite likely that the managers themselves have not been professionally trained either, so they have never learnt about basic restaurant service. These things rarely happen in the centre of London, near where I live, but the prices at Social Dhaba are quite literally twice as expensive as the excellent Indian restaurants near me in Kensal Rise (Ruhits and Curry Nights). I wouldn't mind the extra cost at Social Dhaba normally because the food (apart from the very dry and too spicy onion bhaajis) is exceptionally delicious and plentiful:

Dhaba fish (Tilapia) Masala; wonderful! Safed Gosht (lamb); gorgeous! Peshwari Naan; best I've ever had

So, guys come on, get it together with better service; it's not difficult; you just have to remind the staff every night of the following:

1:keep your heads up and remember there are customers behind pillars and in the corners.

2: stop chatting at the bar and make sure customers are not waiting. This doesn't mean, by the way, driving us mad by asking us if everything is OK all the time; no-one likes that, so please don't do the reverse of what we experienced last night.

Would I come back on another evening all the way from...

A great modern Indian restaurant with tasty food. We had good seating for the group which included 5 adults and 2 young children in high chairs. The starters were full of flavour. We ordered all vegetarian food. The avocado and potato chaat was innovative and worked well. The chilli paneer was really tasty and good ratio of paneer to vegetables. Good texture to the paneer with that crispy crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. The crispy corn was nice as described with salt and pepper although I do prefer it when it has additional spices. The Kurkure Bhindi had lovely flavours to it and I highly recommend.

The reason I am giving this a 4* is when we ordered the mains we ordered 2 Shahi paneers, one without onion and garlic. But when they came they were both without onion and garlic. The waitress was very clear when repeating the order back so no fault to her. I feel it was the kitchen being lazy and not making the same dish twice in slightly different ways. The description clearly says it's in an onion gravy. But the initial explanation back to us was they no longer cook it with onion and garlic at all to all customers as they keep getting requests like this. We were surprised but moved on and ate the food. The owner or manager then came and we gave the feedback and he was shocked to hear and said we do cook it as described with onion and garlic and sorry for the confusion. We would have sent it back if they were honest with us so sad they were trying to cover up their mistakes like this. I'm hoping this is a one off mistake and I would go back because it was a nice vibe in the restaurant with tasty food up until our main.

I really enjoyed the drink - passion fruit masala. It won't be for everyone as it has spices in a sweet drink. The desserts were all delicious. I had the paan kulfi which was unique and refreshing. My wife had the chocolate fondant and would recommend it if your a fan of that warm chocolate cake with cold melting ice...