Sofreh Persian Restaurant & Halal Food — Restaurant in London

As a local resident you will see from my other reviews it is not within my nature to leave a low star review however on this occasion it is warranted.

We had planned to visit this restaurant for a sit down meal but time ran away with us and we decided to opt for a takeaway instead - we ordered through Deliveroo as I had a voucher.

It is made clear on Deliveroo that the restaurant themselves deliver the food so tracking etc is unavailable.

I submitted our order of 2 main meals and a starter, sat back and relaxed waiting for our dinner to arrive.

55 minutes later (yes a long wait but it did give an estimate of 40-55 minutes so it was within the delivery window) and the food had arrived.

Upon unpacking the meal it quickly became clear that they had missed one of the meals. I understand mistakes happen so phoned the restaurant to inform them. What I did not expect was the reception I got when I phoned them.

I was told they would look into it and phone me back, they hadn't phoned back within 10 minutes so I phoned them back to ask what was happening.

To my disappointed I was told 'sir what do you want me to do, I have to check the CCTV to check if we put it in the bag and then call you back' so not only were they taking their time they were also questioning my integrity.

They never phoned back so I had to phone them back at which point I told them to cancel the one meal that had not arrived and refund me of which I ended up having to get Deliveroo to do.

No apology at all from the restaurant and they practically accused me of stealing by pretending the meal didn't turn up.

Now the one meal that did arrive (and we had/attempted to share) was awful - the lamb kebab was tasteless and over cooked. The bread it came on was soggy and swimming in a large amount of grease at the bottom of the tray. The salad was in a small separate pot and this was swimming in water with browning lettuce.

Would not recommend and will not be trying again even if...

As someone who is half Persian, Persian food for me is a big deal. At every opportunity, when I travel around the world I go in search of great Persian food as it makes me so happy. Little did I know that on my doorstep there was such a gem of a restaurant. The location isn't the prettiest and parking can be a challenge if in the day time, but boy is it worth it!

Everything from the starters to the kabob is perfect. Juicy, hot and the bread is particularly good. The staff are all amazing and so friendly; we always feel really very welcome. Nice interior and atmosphere too. Not too rustic, but not too stuffy.

Great portion sizes too, which I've found is becoming a rarity in this day and age at Persian restaurants. Some other ones seem to have shrinking portions and rising prices, trying to be too fancy.

I have been here with various members of my family around 5 times now and it has hit the spot every time. We unanimously agree that this is the best we've found so far.

The toilets are spotless too!

Persian restaurants can be notorious for lumpy service and inconsistent cooking, but Sofreh just has just got all the elements right.

Please keep up the good work team Sofreh and please don't ever change! Keep the value for money coming and I can't wait for the next visit!

For someone who has eaten in dozens of Persian restaurants around many continents, Sofreh is...

I will try and not show any favoritism as an Iranian! Having said that and with due respect to other diners, only an Iranian would really know how good the food is served in an Iranian restaurant. Having tried all of them in the area from Croydon to Kingston, Sofreh is by far not only the biggest restaurant, it is beautifully decorated, it's airy and it has a soul. Now to the rest, the server Ahsan was very friendly and very sweet, not to mention very accommodating. The food selection is excellent and the food itself is delicious as you can see from the photos. Would I recommend this venue, absolutely. The restaurant is far from where we live, however, we will be returning. A big thanks to the chef!

The only let down was 2 things, an Iranian restaurant needs to play Iranian music and not supermarket music and the tea was not the typical freshly brewed Iranian tea which is expected at that price range to wash down all the lovely food.

Overall a great restaurant but room for improvement.

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