Al-Rayyan Restaurant

Thank SULEIMAN DENI
Apr 25th, 2023

Apr 2nd, 2023

Great food and nice service
Mar 26th, 2023

Best somali food in town
Oct 27th, 2022

Had dinner here a couple of days ago with three other friends following a recommendation, they seem to serve a mix or fusion of staple dishes from the middle east, Persia and India. First of the location is pretty good for London, on one of the side streets next to Baker Street; actual restaurant itself is clean and they also have a dedicated single large room downstairs, with traditional floor seating, ornate cushions and crouched seating benches this dedicated majlis room is for group bookings and is similar to that found in Eastern, Arabic or north African culture; is a nice touch especially for this area and I think they mostly book this space for groups only of around 10-20. Because there was only three of us, we happily eat upstairs next to the window. We had some rice mains including a biriyani dish, another rice dish and a lamb chop main and also some other mains as shared starters and tea. The food and tea itself was underwhelming and below average it has to be said. Prices are certainly not cheap, but not that expensive, especially for the central London location, and the portion sizes were massive, perhaps too big (quantity over quality). But, even so, frankly, the food was poor and did not taste good and this was not helped at all when you take into account it actually took beyond a reasonable amount of time to actually be served at our table - even though the restaurant was barely busy. This was annoying even more so when once it actually arrived it was not even that good; the biriyani did not taste fresh to be honest and lacked any real depth of flavor, although the amount of lamb included was also itself not small in portion size, seemed to be of decent quality lamb and was quite tender; it was the taste and overall freshness of it which was forgettable and not very good. In their defense, they are new and most reviews so far for them seem positive, so not sure they will take this on board, but my experience was not good and I will not be in any rush to return. Especially also because for the cuisine they serve there are any number of other tried and tested long standing restaurants in the local area that serve that type of food better. They seem friendly enough and the location, facilities and that downstairs room give it potential and the fact that they give you decent portion sizes could be construed as them trying, I guess, because otherwise, on the food and taste alone they would get one star from me I am afraid!
Aug 17th, 2022