Bab al-Yemen | London

Featured reviews

• G

  Google user

  ·1 month ago

  “We started with a complimentary bone broth soup which was so rich and full of flavour 🥣 What we ordered: 🧀 Mixed Cheese Motabaq £9.50 🥘 Fahsa £15 🫓 Melawah Bread £5 🍗 Chicken Madfoon £17 🍖 Lamb Mandi £18 🥗 Bab El Yemen Salad £9 🍌 Bab El Yemen Special Masoob £12 🍮 Kanafa (soon on the menu) 🫖 Adeni Tea £3.50 The Fahsa came bubbling hot with tender lamb, fenugreek & herbs, perfect for scooping up with the Melawah bread 🤌🏻 It was a top favourite! ⭐️ Both rice dishes were fighting for top place 🍚 the Chicken Madfoon was beautifully tender and the Lamb Mandi was full of those warm aromatic spices you expect from Yemeni food. And of course, plenty of traditional daqoos on the side 🌶️🍅 it brings the whole meal together! As if we weren’t already full… We had to try the Special Masoob it was pure indulgence in a bowl 🍌🍯 think banana bread pudding topped with honey, cornflakes and caramelised cashews this went down a treat! We also got to try their kunafa before it officially joins the menu 👀✨ warm, cheesy and crispy… definitely keep an eye out for that one! Finished with a proper Adeni tea 🫖🤎 warm, spiced and with that strong clove flavour. You can tell it’s been given time to brew and let all those spices come through. Traditional Yemeni food, generous portions and the kind of meal that leaves you FULL❤️🇾🇪”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·2 months ago

  “It's a lovely place with generous portions of delicious food at reasonable prices. We tried Saltah, which they say is the national dish of Yemen. The dish's signature is a fenugreek paste on top, which is slightly bitter, as expected from fenugreek. We were okay with it, as fenugreek is common in some of the main dishes in our home country. But the dish itself was delicious. We also tried chicken Mandi. The chicken was tender and colorful (probably colored with beet, which is a clever idea), and the rice was pleasantly smoky. But the problem was that the rice was undercooked, maybe because we went there in the early hours. By the way, what stood out to me was that everything was well-seasoned and in moderation. For drinks, we tried the lemon juice and the Adani tea, both of which were really tasty. And finally, the centerpiece for us was their freshly baked (Lavash-style) layered bread, which was amazing.”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·3 months ago

  “I'm surprised they're only rated at 4.9. The highlight of our dining out experience in London. The service and food are exceptional. The complimentary Yemeni broth soup, (Maraq) served at the start is made from lamb. I didn't have it but my wife said it was excellent. There are limited vegetarian options but they are marvellous. I had the vegetable stew. The servers were very friendly and guided us through an unfamiliar cuisine. A high point was the dessert of Masoub with butter, heavy cream (qishta), condensed milk, and honey. To round off the visit we got complimentary tea (I think Shai Adeni I had to Google it). It's an acquired taste but a welcome treat. One word of warning the portions are huge. Don't over order. This was the cheapest dining out experience we had in London at a little over 50 GBP. Brilliant.”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·4 months ago

  “Just look at the photos. What a sense of occasion, feeling really royalty feasting on excess. We left aenior waitress Khalida to curate our first Yemeni culinary adventure and that made her smile infectious and our dinner experience unforgettable. Will be back with more hungry people looking for a new experience. Sit on the floor for the ultimate.”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·4 months ago

  “Amazing food! Incredible service, complementary appetiser. Incredibly authentic and tasty. Huge portions! But they give you bags for leftovers. Really good meat quality”

• G

  Google user

  ·4 months ago

  “The food was very nice. As I come from a Pakistani background, I usually prefer spicy food, so I’m not really a fan of less spicy dishes. But still, I enjoyed it a lot and ate with a full belly. الأكل كان كثير طيب”

• G

  Google user

  ·5 months ago

  “I went to this restaurant with my family and overall had a really nice experience. The food was amazing everything tasted so good, and the rice in particular was very light and delicious. You can really tell they put effort into the quality of their dishes. The service was a bit slow, but it seemed like it was a busy day, so that’s understandable. Despite that, we still enjoyed our time there and left happy. I’d definitely recommend it for the food alone!”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·5 months ago

  “We visited the place a couple of weeks ago. The staff were very welcoming and the place is spotless, and clean with a very nice atmosphere. It is not too crowded so we were seated immediately. There's a traditional floor seating area as well as a table seating area. The Arabic music was played out of a TV but in good volume that is high enough to be heared but not too high to make conversations difficult. We were welcomed with a hot and very tasty complimentary soup. We ordered motabaq mixed cheese, Mandi chicken, Haneeth lamb, and Lamb liver with a side of bread. Everything was well presented, well seasoned, and delicious. They have a breakfast partition of the menu but we were told we can order from it at any time of the day; hence, the lamb liver dish. Postions were enormous and we had to take the leftovers with us (they provided a really nice takeaway packaging). We ended our meal with the Adani tea pot which was huge. I highly recommend this place and I would go again. It easily defeats every other Yemeni restaurant I tried before in Edgware Rd. NB. The prices on their website are outdated and are a bit lower than what is on the menu at the restaurant, but still within a reasonable range, and for the amount of food you get, it is not considered expensive at all. I uploaded photos of the updated menu for reference.”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·5 months ago

  “⭐️ Summary of Experience at Bab al-Yamen, London: • Poor Meat Quality: Half of the "half lamb" portion was inedible fat, making a large part of the main dish impossible to eat. • Pushy Service: The waiter with Long Beard was extremely aggressive in trying to sell extra food. He used misleading language that made it sound like items were free, causing a stressful and uncomfortable atmosphere. • Incomplete Order: The staff forgot to serve the traditional Yemeni soup that was expected with the meal. • Low Value for Money: Despite spending £240 and traveling 90 minutes to get there, the quality of the food and service did not justify the high cost. • Disappointing Experience: As professionals in the business and hospitality industry, the group found the service and food standards unacceptable and will not be returning.”

  Read more
• G

  Google user

  ·6 months ago

  “We had an AMAZING time here, coming to eat at Iftar time in the month of Ramadan. There is a smaller set menu for this time, but the prices are still incredibly reasonable for what you get and best of all, we were presented with our food within MINUTES of sitting down! The food was all absolutely delicious and flavourful, which coupled with the atmosphere of the Muslim community enjoying Iftar together made this a wonderful experience. Our waitress was attentive and friendly, and the free drinks refill was an additional cherry on top. We booked in advance and the restaurant were attentive in calling ahead to ensure we were still planning on coming. I would recommend booking at peak times such as this as the restaurant was FULL, however following the iftar rush more tourists arrived and were seated as the restaurant quietened down. For the price we paid it was an amazing deal, and we left feeling so full! We'll definitely be back again when we are in the area! 🙌”

  Read more