Al Arez in City of London, Westminster

A wonderful Lebanese Cafe Restaurant in this part of Central London teeming with Middle Eastern restaurants. Clean premises serving unpretentious fresh and very tasty food. We ordered a selection of hot and cold starters and Kafta wraps with chips and everything was so good! The chips were hot and fresh and crispy. Portions are large and next time we will order fewer starters. We've visited a few of the middle eastern restaurants around here and without doubt this is the very best. We can't wait to go again!

I’ve been coming to this restaurant on Edgware Road for years, and I’m sad to say it has hit an all-time low. This Ramadan, it took me 30 minutes just to get the waiter's attention, and then another 40 minutes to receive my food! If I weren't fasting, I might have been more forgiving, but that’s just unacceptable. The food was average, and the hygiene and cleanliness were appalling. I even had to change tables. To top it off, the management and servers were incredibly rude. It’s clear from the other low reviews that this place is struggling. Management always responds with excuses like “the restaurant is busy" but that doesn’t excuse the decline in quality and customer service. There's a big difference between being busy and providing a decent dining experience.

Large shawarma wrap went down a treat. Very good fresh salad. Sat at the table they brought us 3 sexy dips. Chilli, garlic and special sauce. meat wasn't too greasy and tummy felt good afterwards. Would recommend 💯🔥❤️‍🔥

Super good!! Real Lebanese sandwiches, and the waiters are very friendly Special mention to server Bilal

Delicious - order Muhamara if you go. It’s out of this world

I had the worst experience I could ever imagine with food at this restaurant. I was feeling so unwell afterward that I could hardly bring myself to write this review, but I feel it’s important to warn others. Yesterday, we ordered the chicken shawarma deal, which came with chips and a soft drink. When the food arrived, I immediately noticed that the shawarma wrap was heavily fried in oil, with oil literally dripping from it. The sauce seemed off, as it was breaking apart, and to make matters worse, the chicken was pink and clearly undercooked. I couldn’t even finish it. After paying for the meal, I began to feel a heaviness and pain in my stomach. Within 20 minutes, I felt like I was about to lose consciousness. Thankfully, someone at Primark helped us by giving me some space to calm down. But it didn’t end there—within minutes, I was vomiting heavily and felt absolutely awful. Somehow, my husband and I managed to get on the tube to head home, but even after getting off, I felt dizzy again and on the verge of fainting. A nearby shop was kind enough to help. Unfortunately, I vomited again when I got home. It was an absolute nightmare. I would strongly advise anyone to avoid eating here—I will never return again.

I swear to God, it is the worst restaurant I have ever tasted in London And the food was cold

Nice meal this time I had seabass and my friend had mix grilled was so nice and meat tender

Bad, very bad, and the meat shawarma, unfortunately, is not fresh, neither in taste nor smell, and the falafel is less than normal, so if it is free, I will not eat it again 🤙🏼

Nice service, but the meat was really dry and not tasty

We went for shisha the shisha was alright the service was slow because they were too busy talking to each other or they always have someone know but overall if was ok

Good food, decent pricing, average shisha. staff are hospitable and friendly.

We had a vegetarian lunch with a lot of starters and it was so good! So fresh, beautifully served and friendly staff. Best fries I had a had in a long time, smoothest hummus and crunchiest Falafel. Yummy Smoothies. Can Recommend the Al Arez Smoothie.

Best Lunch in London, cute for Groups

He decidido darle una oportunidad a Al Arez hoy ( 04 / 02 / 2025 ) sin comprobar ninguna crítica ni hacer reserva por adelantado. He tenido algunos invitados de Europa visitándome en Londres y decidimos probar el primo libanés. El lugar estaba limpio y tenía buen ambiente por lo que decidimos darle una oportunidad. Fue un regalo masivo. Gran hummus, baba ganoush épica, calamares frescos, sabrosa sopa de lentejas - algunos otros trozos. La red también se cocinó muy bien - muy buen cordero. También a un precio razonable. No tengo absolutamente ninguna duda de recomendar el lugar.

Very good food and great welcome. We came 2 evenings out of the 3 spent in London. The first evening, we had a mixed grill and a vegetarian dish based on eggplant and chickpeas. We asked to take the rest away for lunch the next day. The 2nd evening, we had several starters (4) as mezzés. Both evenings, dessert was offered to us.

Just love it, service was smooth and not long wait. Food is just amazing I will be coming back

should be minus stars! had to say excuse me before i even got any service the bald guy is useless served another group of girls who came in after us! we waited half & hour didn’t even get our food! don’t come here even if you’re starving

Update: 1/31/25 WOW!!!! Ordered a few tasty things to take back to my hotel room! What an amazing picnic! I think truly that this is my favorite restaurant EVER! SO healthy And amazingly Delicious!!!!! Every time I am in London this will be my Go to place! Thank you For the amazing service and incredibly Great food!!!!! Old review: Delicious, fresh, fragrant dishes! Ordered a few starters and entrees and tried it all! Highly recommend! Thank you!

By far the beat place in Edgware road if not london Superb service and great shisha and the hospitality been over and beyond Highly recommend

We were served good food late in the evening. Friendly staff and the price was reasonable for London standards.

Stepping into this restaurant was a treat for the senses, and it did not disappoint! From the moment I arrived, the ambience was inviting, and the food was even better. The star of the show was undoubtedly the meat. The quality was exceptional—perfectly cooked, juicy, and bursting with flavour. Every bite was a testament to the care and expertise the kitchen puts into their dishes. The sides complemented the meal beautifully, rounding out an experience that was both satisfying and memorable. I’ll definitely be back for more!

This place never failed us ! Amazing authentic Lebanese food . Service there is just amazing too. Love the food it makes me feel I am back home . Definitely recommend this restaurant if u want try real Lebanese food this should be your choice!

I get confused on this street I think I ate here, many Arab people to be seen, food nice and service OK thank you my dears

The staff is extremely impolite

The food was nice but the meat was a little dry

The food at this restaurant was good, but the service was terrible. An older man who served us was extremely rude and made us feel very unwelcome. To make things worse, the toilet was filthy and had a terrible smell. This ruined the overall experience. If they improve their service and cleanliness it could be a great

Food is always great but service is slow

One of the best shawarmas i’ve had outside of lebanon! Try their fatteh also

Saddened to see, they refill Hienz tomato ketchup bottle with cheap, unhealthily, pathetic quality red colored sauce. The boneless baby chicken and Hummus were tasty. However, it mskes me think what quality ingredients they used in rest of food products. It is so sad why they giving rubbish sauce.

Service was 5/5!!!! Food was good, everything was fast and everyone was super kind and helpfull. This was perfect for our weekend trip

Very friendly and food is lovely

Super tasty and reasonable prices for London

The food was mid The service was bad because they brang half out food and took 30 minutes to get the other half The atmosphere was good Mid restaurant

Went for Shisha, one of the server was very friendly, couldn’t get his name. He was very cooperative and changed the Shisha when we complained about the taste hardness. Location is quite buzzing for having a street side smoking and tea.

An excellent restaurant with large seating. It serves a lot of meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I tried breakfast and there is no mistake 👍🏻

One of the best lebanese food in London. If you are looking for quality and a family site this is the place

Food is nice but service and customer service needs improvement. Waiters take longer to respond and sometimes totally ignore you. But food is nice and the owner is friendly.

Food was delicious! Actually everything is highly recommended, especially the lamb wow!! Until the next one!

I went to the restaurant with my family today. The food was okay nothing special, but the service and atmosphere were horrible. The staff were quite rude and not welcoming. The service in general was 1/10

Amazing shawarma and excellent service. Waiters and other workers are very polite. Would come here again.

Very average food with poor service. Had to ask them several times for water and drinks even though the restaurant wasn't even busy.

It was very stupid from them that they brought the order of my wife and 15 min later my order. So the ate and I looked at her and than I ate and she looked at me. No good Service. They brought the bread for the meal 15 minutes before so that the bread got cold. Also on the plate was one hair. So no recommendations for this restaurant.

Bilal and his team were exceptional on our first visit here! We were looking for a family friendly place to have dinner and this place looked busy and inviting. It has a lovely welcoming atmosphere the staff are attentive and service was with a smile nothing was too much for them. The food is incredible! Big portions made fresh and tasted delicious! We will definitely be back with friends and family. Thank you for a fantastic dining experience.

Starters, hummus and mutabel very nice. Mains: Dry chicken does not appeal to me, shawarma OK, fattoush OK. Service, basic, nothing recognisable. If you know what to order, maybe it's OK.

Ristorante scoperto per caso, durante una passeggiata serale. Locale semplice, piatti abbondanti e molto gustosi. Prezzo interessante! Assolutamente consigliato!

Food was okay but service was wasn’t good enough.

It would be 3 stars, but I'm giving 4 because the size at this price in this part of London was good. But it wasn't the best mixed shawarma wrap I've had; it's definitely not the place for a date. I think some of the service guys should smile more and be more communicative. The toilets are rundown, smelly, and need refurbishment, even though I was there early lunchtime. So, okay for size, taste not too bad, but not somewhere I'd take someone on a date.

A delicious restaurant, with a very respectful and helpful Lebanese person We are two people and the food is sufficient for four or five people at one time and it is plentiful. We ordered a delicious shakshuka once, and another delicious grilled halloumi, falafel and fava beans, and mint tea. I will post the photo, but the photo was taken after we ate.

Sorry, I don't know. I gave five stars for the food and service for everything. I prefer the restaurant. Your food is very nice, the service is amazing, and the workers are polite and generous.

There are many Arabic restaurants on Edgware Road but I’ve been coming here since moving to the area three years ago. The food is fresh, the server are friendly, and the prices are very affordable for the generous portion🍴 I usually order the two-person platter and share it between four people, along with the hummus topped with lamb—it’s always delicious. The juices are really tasty too😋 I’ve never been disappointed with my experience here - highly recommend! Special thanks to Bilal and Aba for their exceptional service😌

I have been here many, many times. The welcome is always warm, even when busy, the food tasty, and great value for money.

The old Lebanese man is disrespectful and has no taste. He treats customers very badly, especially those from the Gulf. There are better options in London and nearby, such as Al Balad Restaurant.

Lebanese cedar is a large branch suitable for occasions and a large number of guests or family We had breakfast at the Qur’an workshop, which was special and at a reasonable price Hummus in restaurants around it ranges from 7.5 pounds on up, while it costs 7 pounds The rest of the items are excellent, beans, shakshuka (eggs and tomatoes), egg whites and delicious beans 😋 It is a little salty and I liked the bill in the pictures. You have the rating. I have attached pictures of the menu. Decide before entering and do not forget to pray for my father’s recovery and pray for my children’s success

The shawarma was a bit oily but nice one, the lemon juice was my favourite in this restaurant, a really refreshing one,

Ew. So I was out for a walk craving for a nice falafel wrap. I entered this place on a Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM on a cloudy day when it was almost completely dead in the restaurant. I ordered a falafel wrap for £6.5 and when I wanted to add halloumi they asked for extra £2!! Literally 30% of the total price 😕 I agreed and expecting to get my wrap rather quickly since it was dead with 3 customers and 10 staff members (not even joking)- it took me 15 minutes to get a simple falafel wrap with halloumi. I exited the restaurant wanting to go for a walk on Oxford st when I started eating it and oh boy… the halloumi making up more than 30% of the price of the sandwich wasn’t even grilled and it took them 15 minutes to prepare the order? In addition the wrap was very very poorly prepared and wrapped so everything immediately spilled all over my trousers and hoodie so I now need to go home and change and do the washing and can’t even enjoy my walk… last but not least the food handoff was very rude, no ‘Thank you hope to see you again’ - the staff clearly doesn’t care and is in it just for the money which is a shame… I will never return again, advise everyone to advoid this place and save your money for a restaurant that appreciates customers and actually cares about making your experience and food amazing 1/10

Honestly the best Lebanese 🇱🇧 food around! Great service and beautiful food!

we came at 11 and stayed for quite a while and and they gave us a dessert for free ! the staff were so nice and welcoming :D

The shawarma and shish taouk are delicious, and the service is great

1st time coming here and I was amazed by how amazing and tasty the food was it was the best I've had ... the service was great and the meat was so fresh and tender and so much flavour I will definitely recommend this place If your on edgeware road 👌 😊

Food is great, I'll say that. Everything else, absolutely awful. Given a table and 15 mins pass and no menus, had to go get them ourselves. No one came to take our order, had to go get someone. Food took 40 mins to arrive, no cutlery or plates given, had to go get them ourselves. Spoke to staff and said this is ridiculous and they said it's too busy, the place was practically empty. Is a shame as the food as I said is great, service possibly the worst I've experienced. Only time they were attentive was when it was time to pay.

Food was nice but not as great as usual

Love the fried lamb chops...so heavenly 😋

The worst Arabic food ever you will have had.

Randomly popped into this place for late lunch. It’s a pretty big restaurant, was nice and cosy and family orientated. Staff were friendly and accommodating, we asked for orange (not on the menu) instead of carrot smoothie and they were happy to swap. The stuffed lamb with rice was nice, but l think the lamb shank pieces was a tad bland. The lamb stew was also tasty. The condiments given were fab, we loved the fresh chilli sauce. The flat bread was made tasty dipping it into the chilli and cucumber yoghurt. A place l would revisit.

Everything tasted very good, high-quality service, and the dish was served relatively quickly. I highly recommend it, Agnieszka

Dryest Shawarma I've ever had. Cost me £12, gave it to a homeless man for his dog.. atleast some good came out of this disaster. Can't get the rancid old bone dry taste out my mouth. Puke worthy ghandis flip flop on steroids 🤮

Popped in for mezze and mix shawarma and shisha. Fantastic

Toke my friends to this place last night waiting too long to get served and in the end received our wraps soaked in sauce to the point where my plate was underneath was full of liquid and wrap falling apart when I called who ever in charge to change the wrap and I said this is not a good wrap he replied you didn’t open it correctly! What a silly reply he could be the floor supervisor over all never again . Poor food and poor service!!

I’ve been coming here for years, and the quality of the shawarma has remained consistently good. Recently tried the Dolma for the first time, and it didn’t disappoint. Their fresh juices are always a great, refreshing addition. Highly recommended!

Food is amazing but even better are the prices! We eat here without fail every time we’re in London and, unlike many other places, never had any GI issues.

This was such a heavenly meal. These two spreads were beyond amazing and I couldn’t stop eating it. Pro tip, skip the bread and use the dips for your French fries.

Very authentic and delicious food

The mix grill was so bad that we simply left it . Horrible taste and they are damaging the Lebanese reputation.

Got to love a bit of Good shisha and nice mint tea at this place !

Amazing good, great service, Abba (Ahmad) was so welcoming! Definitely recommend, will be here often! Good food for very good prices and huge portions.

I had dinner in this restaurant. The food was delicious and the service was wonderful from brother Bilal, who was cheerful and helpful. His presence is an asset to the restaurant.

Excellent food and really big portions! Two people could have easily eaten the shawarma portion. The garlic sauce is really garlicky, so good!

Muy mal servicio, camareros y camareras parece desinteresado y siempre parece hacer mal su pedido. Falta de cubiertos, platos, etc. y cuando los pidió, tardan años en proporcionarse y para cuando su comida está fría. Tienes que seguir pidiendo pan, salsas, etc. El restaurante estaba muy sucio, pisos sucios, el inodoro era asqueroso y esto ha sido un problema allí. O te traen lo que no pediste o no recibes lo que pediste. Una comida infantil de nugget de pollo cuesta más de £ 15? Pagó más de £ 120 por comida de sabor promedio muy sosa. Pedido té de menta, sin cuchara, sin azúcar. La actitud del personal es terrible. El restaurante siempre está frío. Se necesita una inspección de salud y seguridad e higiene alimentaria en este lugar.

Overall it was an average shisha experience for London. El Fakher tobacco in a stereotypical Egyptian pipe with tin foil for the coals. The service is ok, better if you speak Arabic. The saving grace was the price at the time was decent. Edgeware Road is very busy and the staff don’t attempt to keep buskers away so one of them touched my friends face which was really not ok and the staff just looked on.

Dry chicken shawarma. Coffee watery

Excelente variedad, calidad y servicio siempre es amable. Auténtica cocina libanesa y posiblemente el mejor shawarma y hummus en el Reino Unido. Sin duda recomendaría probarlo, si resulta que estás en Edgware Road

Very bad experience the food was absolutely disgusting I think they serving the same grill of chicken for months it wasn’t taste like chicken or lamb the meet taste is totally gone they just fill all the plate with salad as you can see on the picture waiters very rude and the funny part they serving the kebab with pitta bread the one you can buy from Tesco.

We had food poisoning. We were 4 people, 2 of us got sick after having dinner there. Customer service is really bad, they don't listen to you and ignore your requests, we were also charged for every time we asked to refill the tea pot with hot water.

I bring all of my visitors here for a meal. Delicious food and most generous staff makes every visit a wonderful experience.

Very good Lebanese cuisine, delicious hummus, the best I've ever eaten, wonderfully fresh tabouleh. Nice and unpretentious service.

A good spot on Edgware Road for Lebanese cuisine, with nice Hummus and Chicken Shawarma. Food is fine although some stuff there are rude and what I felt is that they treat “Men” in a rude way unlike “ladies” they even serve them free tea which is completely unfair and honestly benevolent sexism which is bizarre.

Absolutely stunning food ! Great staff and really good service Highly recommend

waited an hour for food and they didnt even care about us serving us wouldn't recommend this place.

Food was 10/10 but took about 40 minutes and there was no indoor seating

Good food and pleasant atmosphere

Very bad food quality. Not fresh products. Salats made in the morning and used whole day. Dirty toilets. 0 star

Bad service and the workers are worse. Everything is bad. Frankly speaking, I don't recommend it at all. Ask the twitter page, what does the butterfly say if someone comes bad?

Very nice grilled meat, especially shish taouk and lamb kofte. Sauces are out of the world, chilli and garlic are amazing. I could eat just the sauces with bread!!! Grilled halloumi and fresh juices are also amazing. Service can be a bit poor when busy.

Came here yesterday after a while and had the worst dining experience of my life! Went with family including children and these two men were extremely rude, unprofessional and very intimidating. From the get go these two men were acting funny towards us an rude yet we chose to ignore and carried on ordering food as we’ve been here in the past. So we got our food and we didn’t get our drinks, we asked politely for our drinks 15 minutes into the meal, we got ignored. Asked again after another 5 mins got ignored. Then asked again and they started getting rude and talking about us in Arabic and laughing in our faces refusing to get our drinks. The guy in the blue was telling the waiter to not bring the drinks. Then when confronted about this they said they don’t care about people like us etc and don’t care to serve etc. very disgusting disrespectful rude behavior! Ruined our whole evening never coming back again

The staff at this restaurant was so rude and unprofessional they were rude soon as we walked in being aggressive when we was ordering. The waiter in black shirt got our food and chucked it infront of us aggressively and was banging the cutlery like he was so angry and we had our young children with us who got scared by this behaviour! We asked for our drinks about 15 times the guy in blue shirt was telling his staff not to give us our drinks and this was 15 20 minutes in to eating our meal with no drinks as we continued asking for our drinks the one in black shirt started laughing at us and said you ordered drinks and started sarcastically laughing and said that’s not my problem and started arguing with us and the blue shirt man was saying to the other guy yes leave it and told him to go and carry on doing other tasks they were being rude and arrogant and saying to each other oh leave them don’t give them drinks!! They were shouting aggressively in their language about us to each other made us feel really uncomfortable and intimidated the whole time we was there we was with young children they were very scared as well my daughter was so afraid she was hiding under the table due to their aggressiveness!! The service is appalling and their manners and behaviour is absolutely disgusting!! I used to always come here for years but due to these staff I will never return again!! No customer service skills no basic human manners! Avoid at all costs!! The pictures I am attaching are the 2 individuals who were very rude and aggressive!!

It was a very lovely place, best Tabbouleh I've ever had and I also just had a falafel starter with bread. Very very nice

Very poor service, so much attitude in the waiter. No manners or any customer service. The food wasn't great either. Wouldn't recommend to anyone.

Bilal is amazing.. Been there several times and his service is outstanding everytime. Food is also always on point. My favourite place..

Tuvimos una excelente y sabrosa comida aquí anoche. Las porciones eran enormes y los precios muy razonables. Mis chuletas de cordero eran excelentes.