Zaffrani — Restaurant in London

I read great reviews about this place so my expectations were high. Unfortunately, my experience didn't match the expectations, which is a shame because I could have gone elsewhere to have a great meal.

I don't go out to eat very often and really love Indian food so I picked green curry which was quite expensive but I thought 'I'll treat myself once in a while'. And the waiter said it was their signature dish so I expected a delicious meal and a decent portion as well as it was one of the most expensive dishes on the menu. To my surprise, the curry sauce was barely covering the chicken...I had to ask for more as I wouldn't have been able to eat the rice. Also, the chicken was cooked separately and the sauce was poured over the chicken which is really strange. I've never seen that before: you would always get chicken which was cooked together with curry and would soak up all the spices..but maybe that's how they make it. Another thing was the curry sauce was nothing special. Honestly, I could do it myself at home: the only thing there was yoghurt, mint and some coriander and lots of salt. I ate it but was really disappointed. This was a special day and it kind of got ruined. Maybe other dishes are better but mine was definitely not a good choice. And for the price I paid, definitely not worth it... I also ordered flatbread (I think roti) which came rolled and wrapped in a cling film (weird) and was cold and very chewy... I asked if they could take it off my bill because I just tried and left the rest, which they kindly did. The service was quite good hence 5 stars for it but the rest disappointment. I have to say that this was my worst Indian meal served in a restaurant and I actually wouldn't pay even £5 for that curry...not sure why they're charging so much for it. Wanted to like it but won't be...

I couldn't believe the sheer level of rudeness thrown at us from the moment we walked in. It's hard to describe how bad the level of service was. Looking at the restaurants history it seems hard to work out how our experience even occurred although there does seem to be a few reviews like mine that state rudeness as being a thing some diners experienced. It didn't begin until we sat down and ordered our drinks, at which point as I was with a group of old friends we were locked in and didn't want to cause a fuss for us all by leaving. We were literally told moments after we ordered drinks before our drinks even arrived 'hurry up with our food order' the exact words of our waiter just moments after we sat down. His rude demeanor only decended from there. Did he not want us there to dine? Why on earth were we even sat down? I wish the rude service made up for something special in the kitchen department. Sadly not...a very average curry experience. When the maitre d arrived with the bill before some members of our party had even finished or it was asked for it said it all. A really sad occasion and what a way to be treated as paying customers. If I wasn't meeting old friends I would have walked out. I'm pleased to be able to share my experience here thanks to Google guides. Hopefully it serves to steer you away to one of the many other fine establishments if you are looking for a curry in Angel. I hate to leave bad reviews and if you look at my review history as a long standing Google guide you will see that it is very very rare that I do. But on this occasion, a solid 1...

Food is good, but what a disaster booking a table.

There is essentially no booking ahead, if you call they ignore you and then (if they do call back from the message you leave) it's only ever to say they are “fully booked”. We've tried this over 4 times across different days of the week, always the same abrupt man saying "fully booked". We tried it another 2 times without even mentioning the time we wanted to book for (knowing that it would be the same answer)... “fully booked”. It was becoming a fun game by that point.

How do you know you’re fully booked if you don’t know what time we’re booking for? No booking facility on their website, basically they don't want you to plan your night, it's 'chance it' walking past or nothing.

Zaffail... at the first hurdle.

A random attempt walking past weeks later and we finally managed to get a table and the food is good, the service is not. Abrupt, aggressive & condescending.

Hey Zaffail, here’s a hot tip, if you don’t like having people asking you for things, then maybe being a waiter is not for you.

Maybe they get annoyed with the customer because you have to walk through their kitchen to get to the loos? How did they get a 4 Star Hygiene rating when there isn’t even two doors between the loo and the kitchen? (a legal requirement).

Conclusion: There are easier ways to get a good curry...