Noujaim's Bistro

We were very excited to try this place as we are both very fond of Middle Eastern cuisine. Full disclosure at this point, we were giving them the benefit of the doubt as they had a big party in, but I have a feeling that it didn't make a difference to the food. Also, we did not complain to the waitresses, they were rushed off their feet and we didn't think that complaining would make much of a difference tbh. We were seated at a table for two that we could barely squeeze onto (my husband is 6ft 5.) and which had only one glass and place serving. We then had to wait 20 mins for someone to even come and offer us a drink/water with no apology just a demand to know if we had a reservation, I mean why else would we be sitting there? We were finally given our drinks and some hummus and pita. I was surprised that the pita was cold and flabby and not toasted - an omen of things to come? Yes. Our main courses arrived super quickly, which aroused a bit of suspicion, my husband had the chimichurri steak and I had the chicken shawarma. Both dishes were entirely cold and tasteless (I asked for more garlic sauce so that my meal actually tasted of something etc.) My chicken was extremely dry and the portions were off, I had twice the rice and green beans that my husband did. My husband asked for his steak rare and it came blue. It felt as if the food had been sitting around all day and had been microwaved to order, my rice was freezing but with a super hot core that made me nervous. There were no specials, the fish hadn't been delivered that day and they were out of various things on the menu. I appreciate that this is no one's fault per se, but it's disappointing and none of these things seem appropriate for a restaurant that has a 4.7 rating. We both had desert, my husband had a 'brick' of flabby Baklava and I had a desert that was supposed to be filled with a rose syrup cream, it was either curdled or it was more like a lumpy ricotta, it had a really unpleasant texture and tasted of nothing, it was just sweet. This is only decent Middle Eastern cookery to anyone who has never tasted truly decent Middle Eastern cookery and that's a shame. It was utterly uninspired, where were the extra touches, pomegranate, garnishes, seasonings, anything?! As I say, so disappointing and we won't be back.