Ariana Restaurant - Mile End in Tower Hamlets

I was expecting less because of the reviews.. but actually had good food there. Service and atmosphere were great as well. Only thing we didn’t like was the rice, bad for some reason. But giving 5 stars because 4 is too low 😅

The restaurant is ideal for all occasions. Service and food was excellent. I totally recommend this restaurant.

It was Awesome Experience With Best food And Great Stuff service Thank you Ariana Management

Paid so much money and it was absolutely disgusting and inedible and disappointing. Ordered the Mantu and saffron rice and few others. Wallahi it was rubbish it tasted so bad that I wanted to cry. The mantu was soggy and flavourless and the rice had too much butter and literally no flavour at all. Pls management fix your food. I was excited to try but was very disappointed. I will NEVER eat this food again. Pls pls pls improve your food quality and taste.

Great food great shisha and fab atmosphere. The service is top notch, such humble and nice people. Will definitely come again

One of the best meals I’ve had in London. Very flavourful and tender meat, great vegetarian/vegan dishes, generous servings, incredible service, and great courtyard seating backing onto the park.

lovely staff and atmosphere, very accommodating to my friends birthday!!

This restaurant was amazing, there is so much to say. First of all the food, absolutely exceptional, me and my wife live local and have seen this beautiful restaurant in the park sitting so cozy, we were greeted by and amazing and well spoken young man (Tinosh) we sat outside in there garden area and the flowers were beautiful. Me and my wife many of the starters and just could not get enough of the fresh bread that is evidently made with love. We were then given our mix grill which was delicious and more than enough. I want to thank the team and Tinosh for giving us such an amazing experience dining and enjoying Persian cuisine. Recommend highly and want to say a very big thank you. (The portion sizes were perfect) an established restaurant.

Great service by Tinosh and Simran.

I requested gravy because the dish to too dry. A similar dish comes with a separate tub of gravy. They completely ignored me. Instead gave me 2 hot sauces. Dish costing over £20 you'd think they would include a tub of gravy. Fed up of businesses you give loyalty to and they treat you this way. Will be the last time I buy from this place. Feel like I'm having to beg for service that should be automatic. Just lost me and my friends I normally go with as customers. That's a lot of money in 1 year.

Highly recommend! Big portions, so delicious! Really enjoyed!

Very bad food not Afghani , and also too expensive, Recommend if your loved Afghani food Don’t go.

Best restaurant in E3, by a mile!

Decent place. Good customer service. Requested that the grill platter be cooked medium, was not disappointed. Good takeout food. Will return again.

We used to go there regularly, food and service used to be so good, between 2013-2018. After 6 years I went today with my daughter to celebrate my daughter’s end of year achievements. Sadly we did not enjoy the food, lamb chops was so dry and so were the lamb skewers. Sadly the food quality was nothing like what it used to be. And the service was terrible, I felt like I was making conversation to kill the silence when we were being served.

Love this place! The food is amazing and I always go here for a treat! Love love love their Kubili Pulaow 🥰🥰

Absolutely love this place, great place for Hookah, Kebabs and fresh food! Recommend also their green tea with honey <3

This is our regular spot for meet since long time . Authentic food with extraordinary service. Five start for food Tea and shisha!

I recently had a highly disappointing experience with [Company Name] that left me frustrated and disheartened. From start to finish, the level of customer care and service was appalling. To begin with, the staff were incredibly rude and unprofessional. My inquiries were met with dismissive attitudes, and it seemed as though my concerns were not valued at all. The representative I dealt with was not only unhelpful but also downright disrespectful, making the entire interaction uncomfortable and unpleasant. Furthermore, the service provided was far below acceptable standards. My issue was not resolved in a timely manner, and I was repeatedly given incorrect information, which led to further confusion and delays. It was evident that there was a lack of training and competence among the staff, which is unacceptable for a company of this size. Overall, my experience with [Company Name] was nothing short of a nightmare. The combination of misbehaving staff and poor customer care left me feeling undervalued and frustrated. I would strongly advise others to avoid this company unless they significantly improve their customer service.

Lovely food, efficient service and very friendly, welcoming and helpful staff

Excellent Persian food! I haven’t been for a few years and wasn’t disappointed. Mirza ghasemi and chelo kebab do not disappoint, washed down with fresh mint tea. Decent portions and reasonably priced.

Every time I go to London I stop by. Awesome taste, awesome prices and awesome hospitality!

Delicious tasty different style Afghan food. Really enjoyed my first time and would be back. The service was fantastic, the decors is beautiful too.

We just keep on going back, again and again. It all started with a takeaway and has snowballed since. A truly tasty place to dine with friends.

Amazing food 😍 Kabali Palao is bomb. So is their Mantoo and borani Badjan. So many yummy options. They make fresh naan in the tandoor. BYOB, so you can bring your own wine, small corkage fee. Service was excellent.

Great food, very friendly staff. Good place to go on a sunny day

If you’re Persian (as I am), you’ll be disappointed. I’ve lived in the area 20 years and go here maybe once every 2 years if I am feeling desperate for Persian food, only to be reminded each time of why I should trek to west London for my Persian food fix. It is almost always a disappointment. (In the interests of fairness I had a nice joojeh kebab here once). Today I popped in for a cup of tea with a friend and she wanted a small nibble on something so I suggested my favourite Persian starter (kashk-e-bademjan). The food arrived; and honestly it was awful. I tried a mouthful and thought it was bad. But I was hungry so tried a second mouthful and decided I couldn’t eat any more. My friend ate as a) she didn’t know what it was supposed to taste of and b) was also hungry despite the odd aftertaste. Even so we left half the dish. I spoke to the waiter afterwards and said it was not good. (Because the “kashk” part of the dish in fact was not what it is meant to be - it was diluted with yoghurt) and the main part simply tasted bad. In Farsi we would say it tasted of “zogh” which is a bit like rotten eggs or the smell dishes sometimes get when they come out of the dishwasher and there isn’t enough rinse aid). Anyway the waiter just came back with the bill. Which we paid. I then went to speak to the owner as the waiter had nothing further to say about the food; not even an apology. I told him we had paid for the food but I was unhappy and wanted to give feedback. First of all he told me that I would have been paying for the food anyway whether I liked it or not; so that was a moot point that I was making. (Wow! Nice way to get the customer on side). He then challenged me on why I thought it tasted bad, telling me he’s been the chef and owner for 20 years and this is how he’s always made it. I told him I’ve never had HIS “kashk-e-bademjan” before but it didn’t taste like any version of it I’ve ever had before. Regarding the bad egg taste/ dishwasher taste he told me that the dishes are all washed so I have no concerns there. My point wasn’t that the plate smelt but rather that the food tasted bad, but he didn’t seem to care. In the end his dismissiveness and rudeness meant I just walked away, it wasn’t worth my time to try and discuss anything with him when he clearly had already decided not to take on board my feedback. In conclusion; the food is not reflective of good Persian food (based on all the times I’ve eaten here) and based on today’s experience the service was awful too.

The best restaurant I have visited in london. Service✅ Food✅ Shisha✅ Seating✅ Authentic✅

wonderful food, fast free delivery, highly recommend Mirza Ghasemi and Qabuli Palouw

Lovely evening - delicious food, fast service and comfortable - loved the decor and lamps etc. Highlight was probably the cinnamon tea

Best! Have been a few times and this time had the ice cream, which is the best I've ever eaten! The starter with fresh herbs is the same as ever, just crunchy and flavourful and delicious!

Been here over and over. Love the food, good value, nice environment. My go to is the Salad-E-Olivieh and the Mixed Grill to share between 2 people. The meat juices flowing into the pitta/bread 🤤

Just stumbled upon this restaurant in my neighborhood. Surprisingly, it's been around for the last 12 years, yet I never noticed it before. Can't quite recall the name of the meals we ordered, but the dish in the photo, labeled as number 44, is definitely a must-try. Oh, and their traditional ice cream? Absolutely delicious. Honestly, everything we had was top-notch, a solid 10 out of 10. Safe to say, I'm now a huge fan of Afghan cuisine.

Lovely aubergine, honestly really delicious. But a strange place. Took me a while to work out what was odd - then realised most other customers were men. A couple of women, but only in groups with men. Mostly the customers were men dining alone or groups of men. I was a woman dining alone, and they behaved really weirdly. I ordered two starters (aubergine & bread), they only brought one & then tried to charge me for both. I asked for a glass of water and they did not bring it. I’d love to go back and try the other dishes, but probably only if in a group with men

A true local gem which deserves far higher than its current star rating! We have been coming here more than a decade and have been served dozens of times and the food has always been consistently fantastic, and portion size good. In fact today (takeaway order) was the first time they made a small error (we ordered 40b shirin pilau and got 40c - but still delicious though 40b is still our favourite). It’s still one of our favourite restaurants in London. There's no way some of the negative reviews on here are genuine! Likely jealous competition trying to jeopardise! Recommended: Qabuli Palouw (lamb shank with rice cooked with fried carrots, raisins, almonds and pistachios) and Shirin Palouw (Rice with orange peel, almonds, pistachio, and grated carrots. Served with grilled boneless chicken) (The chicken is more deeply marinated than anything I have ever tasted elsewhere and always cooked well). If you’re dining here - I highly recommend the mint tea while you’re waiting…. And for desert the Afghan rice pudding is divine.

Food quality very very bad and poteto was so wasted bad smell.Highly recommended no entry any person

Food so very bad lamb chops and poteto was old and bad smell

Food quality very very bad and poteto was so wasted bad smell no recommend highly any person.

The service was good but the food was really bad and the price of the food is very high

I recently discovered Ariana restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, the very generous portions and most of all the kindness or the staff, especially Yosi (not sure it is spelled this way 😊) Will definitely be back!

Great family-run neighbourhood restaurant. The home-made fresh flat bread is delicious. Love the mixed grill for two as well

Everything was fantastic till the bill arrived and I went to pay with a card which I had sufficient funds in and got rejected twice in front on my friend which I found very embarrassing but luckily I had cash on standby. I felt very embarrassed in front of my business partner after really bragging about how nice the food at this place is! Wasn’t happy at the end I have to say!

The food is bad, their service is worse and they are not friendly

This place is just heaven, the food is great, large portions! They have all the super unique Persian dishes such as ; Albaloo Polo - a cherry rice with chicken! This is a Tehrani dish’ a must try. As a Persian myself I give this place 10 out of 10. Also the staff is so adorable, love the staff. I love speaking Farsi with them, so we all have blast chatting away. They always make me feel like it’s home. Love love love.

I love afghan food and was excited to eat here as I was craving some land and rice. We went in and the person I was with ordered a starter , something like a soup and it had a hair in it. The waiter took it back and brought a fresh one but by this time my company was unsure about eating here and asked if they sure no hair in the new one , the cook came out and was quite rude and didn't even offer an apology for a hair being in the food. I got my rice but the mood was already spoilt and I didn't enjoy. Ate half because I was hungry and took the rest to go. It was ok but there are better restaurants around

Food it's really bad I found a hair in food The cook was rude and didtreat me with respect. He was more concerned about how he looked rather than the fact there was a hair in my food. When the waiter brought out another one it looked like the same plate . I told the chef he needs to wear a hat when cooking and intold him it's his hair and he said no maybe it's fr OK m the veg abs I said so then you didn't wash the veg properly and he said sometimes this happens. Overall i do not recommend this restaurant and I won't be back.

Delicious food, especially the bread 🤤 really beautiful interior too

Allergies or intolerance? Don't bother. Staff who served me didn't understand much English and were very rude to me. After lots of back and forth they told me I could only eat one thing on the menu, despite last time being told aliums could be removed from everything on the menu (which I'm intolerant to). The whole situation was very stressful and after all the drama my food had onions in. There was no offer to comp the affected meal and initially no apologies whatsover. We refused to pay for it. Ruined my evening entirely.

Great restaurant with sone super tasty dishes. The food was authentic Irani/Afghani whatever you may wanna call it and the portions are huge. I loved their shish kebab and the chicken wings. The prices are also rather cheap considering it’s London and the ambiance was neat and very persian.

I love this restaurant and the atmosphere.. they have an oven in the room where you eat where they cook the bread and it's very good. The portions are good. And there's an outdoor space at the back that faces the park (it's actually in the park) :)

I’ve had one of my best lunch in there I recommend it to people of east London With amazing service and customer service Bless you guys

Amazing place to eat Afghan & Iranian food With great service 🇦🇫🇮🇷

This place is a gem, the atmosphere is always nice and staff are friendly.

This restaurant is so underrated ! I loooooove this restaurant The food is one of the best persian i had so far in london, the portions are very good for 1 person. Their rice however you order it just very well cooked, the Naaaan is freshly made deliciously. Minced meat and the lamb shank were very very tasty very well cooked tinder comes off the bone The staff were smiley and lovely The atmosphere is family friendly, they also have outdoor seating for shisha Very good location not too crowded with the traffic.

Went to this place for my sisters birthday Their customer service is so low very low there are 2 ladys from 🇧🇩 bangladesh dont understand a word you say Made mistakes on orders. However, that was rectified after asking for water like 7 times they kept forgetting. All they know how to say is 1 minutes and we are busy. Unbelievable, we always leave a tip no matter where we go, but not this time. Treating a waiter waitress shows how well manered a person is actually is. FOOD is okay, edible

I came for dinner with my family I was looking for a side table they didn’t allow me to set in any side tables the sat me in middle which I didn’t like and their service was Very poor service and they charge too much and they charge everyone £8 (service charge) for very poor customer services 👎👎👎👎

We came here straight after opening hours for lunch so they were still preparing but we were seated and given a happy reception. We ordered starters and mains and they we could feel freshly cooked. The bread oven wasn’t ready yet so we got extra rice instead which we didn’t mind. The staff were really nice and the place was clean and well presented.

من أسوأ مااكلت الحمد لله على النعمة يسبح الأكل في زيت وطعم سئ جدا جدا، الله يكرم النعمة.

بهترین رستورانی که دیدم هر غذایی که انتخاب کردیم طعم بی نظیر و فوق العاده ای داشت پرسنل عالی شاد و پر انرژی گوشت که مصرف میشود کاملا تازه ست چون اصلا بعد از خوردن غذا احساس سنگینی نمیکنیم عالی عالی

The food took such a long time to arrive. I eventually called up to find out what is happening with the food, was informed they had the food ready but the driver wasn't available to deliver. A big let down and unprofessional. Super dissatisfied.

Food was far from how afghan food should be. The qabli palow was so strange, not the correct seasoning at all. Salad had no flavour, no dressing at all. Everything was quite bland. Very disappointed.

Horrible food. Kebabs that have rotten meat. the food comes in front of us and it reeks. Not a hint of charcoal. They are happy to take your money serve you old meat spice it up so you do not notice and sell you "juice" from a carton masked as actual juice. You want good food go somewhere else.

Great place to stay, great food

The place was really dark and so dirty the service was bad on the starter they was take my knife and fork but they didn’t bring it back for actual food the qabli plow was really bad the meat was so hard they didn’t make it good so they take £65 for just 2 person I’m not recommended this resturant I was getting sick when I eat they’re food

Very nice restaurant, with delicious food and a cute little outdoor space facing the park.

Very tasty food, great atmosphere and friendly staff. I did not realise Afghan food could be so delicious and full of flavor

Just ordered a delivery with Deliveroo, it took over two hours to arrive after having to call about three times it finally arrived and was absolutely cold and luke warm. Food was missing from the order and the meat we ended up giving to the dog as to risky to eat cold. I am disappointed as can’t get a refund through Deliveroo but this was honestly a dogs dinner and I never write bad reviews. Won’t be ordering or eating from here again, if you can’t deliver food on time then please don’t accept the order as honestly I feel sick… fingers crossed I don’t get sick now

There was a lady which served us today and she was very unhappy that day! She counted more(Service fee 5 pund) and also changed my bill with my friend. But the food was Great!! Apart of unprofessional/ unhappy waitress everything was good!

Very disappointed with the food, seems like it’s under new ownership/ Management and the food has more Asian flavours instead of Persian flavours. the kobedeh taste more like a kebab, I have been coming here for years and usually the food is on point BUT now the quality and taste of the food has been a letdown, it has no Persian taste at all.

It used to be my favourite restaurant but the quality this time just wasn't the same as before..something was missing the qabli pilao and the prawns were almost tasteless :( Chicken was still great though.

warm cosy atmosphere, great service and amazing food

We have been going to this place for a while as there aren’t very many options for decent halal food in this area, their food used to be quite good, not amazing but good, recently though their waiters hygiene with dirty nails while serving, awful smelly non ironed clothes and their restaurant is really run down and dirty on the outside specially and food is below average, dishes aren’t very clean either so we won’t be going here again. Will travel to central London for much better places and at better prices too!

There are many issues with this restaurant. Firstly, the food was horrendous. The lamb tasted like eggs, no meat flavour. The chicken, too, had a weird texture and was flavourless. Secondly, there were no complimentary dishes such as bread or any dips as given in any other restaurant of their calibre. Thirdly, the interior design, in my opinion, was dark and did not set a nice mood to enjoy the food. I strongly suggest you do not come here, you will get better quality food for your money at any other chicken shop.

Lovely food, great atmosphere, lovely staff. The young female waitress was absolutely amazing great service . The restaurant has back garden shisha area.

Wonderful Kabuli Palao. Thank you

The customer service from Lamiya was great! She was attentive and friendly. The Mantoo dish and chilli sauce were also delicious and authentic. Food came very quickly. However, everything else we tried was rather mediocre… the Quabuli Palouw was not as flavourful as we’d hoped and the Fesenjon was quite sour/nutty. Would I go again? Probably not soon but it’s worth a visit x

The restaurant is very beautiful, the Mantoo was delicious and a must try. But there was a hair in my bread which was just replaced and no explanation was given, the other dishes like the Qabuli Palouw was really flavourless. Overall it was a little overpriced and I wish I didn’t pay service charge, I don’t see my myself returning again which is a shame.

I had the pleasure of dining here recently and it was an absolute delight! The food was cooked to perfection, with the perfect balance of flavours. The kebabs were cooked over charcoal and tasted delicious. The prices were very reasonable for the quality of food we received. The staff were friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a great meal and a great experience!

Borderline eatable. Literally the worst Ghorme Sabzi in my life. The meat is hard, in a stew (!) - v bad

I don’t want to give this place even one star ⭐️ guys don’t bother

Came a few years ago & was amazing. This time however it was an absolute waste of money. Salad olivieh was dry, when mentioned to the waitress she just shrugged her shoulders & said it is salad olivieh! Food came, practically Luke warm. Meat was well over cooked & half burnt. Ate the food only cos we were hungry and came from afar. New management, but service & the quality was absolutely rubbish. So disappointed. Wasted £130!!! Told management our opinion…..wasn’t too bothered. Guys don’t waste your time & money going!!!

Very nice service, polite staff , friendly invirment.

Good food, served well, friendly staff and a good setting. Always a good local atmosphere in this place. Is a safe bet for most occasions.

Food was over price and the waiting time was too long and £9.50 service charges for what ?

Great atmosphere and incredible food! Food highlights were the Mirza Ghasemi (baked aubergine) and Qabuli Palouw (Lamb Shank) which were both delicious. BYOB with corkage. Can't wait to go back!

Love love love this place. I tried the one in Kilburn and Mile end. Very huge portion for the price in London. I always go for the skewer. The fresh flat bread and hummus are very tasty, highly recommend that. Would go with just bread, hummus and somekind of skewer. The employees are also so kind. One time I went in fasting and the lady gave me a very tasty pudding. So heartwarming, thank you so much.

The food they *actually* make is really good and well priced - recommend the Kubideh and he Qabuli Pillaw. That said, no self-respecting restaurant should be serving starters, such as Hummus, that they do not make themselves and are instead cheap store bought, and if you insist on doing so then you need to make this extremely clear to customers, both in the menu and verbally. We ordered the hummus and I could not swallow it given how terrible it was - this is not expensive or difficult to make yourself (fyi server confirmed it was store bought on questioning). I will return but will not make the mistake of ordering any starters again.

Beware food are served from day before left overs! I ordered soup / kebab, they sent me dal soup that has gone off and smell very bad. I called them back and spoke to a lady who confirmed the soup was made yestarday and apologised and passed the phone to a man, his name is Syed. He started lieing been evasive telling me that the lady did not state what time it was made yesterday. By law, soup has to be made on the day and sold the same day. I informed him this, this is serious matter but he could not care and said do what you like. He refuse to solve the issue. So much for halal food! Disgusting food and people. They are only nice when they take your money.

Today we visited three people but got bill for four people.. You need to remember to ask them remove extra £10 service charge.. Chicken wings was smelly... Adana kebab teaste like omlet due to too much egg on mince meat.. Anything you order you only get chilli sauce or mushroom sauce , they donnt have any other sause.. Do not forget to double check your bill.. Very disppointed.. Thank you

Good food and service. Stand out item is the bread for me made in clay oven. Got very expensive over the years

The worse kabuli pilaw and chicken kebab I've ever had. The food smelt like it was a few days old. I am 100% sure it wasn’t cooked fresh. The flavour was bland, definitely not worth the price. Very disappointed and will never return.

We order Qabuli Palouw it's was very bad and rice uncooked carrot 🥕 not cook aswell.

1 star for the hospitality and another for the dessert. The food unfortunately smelt like it was a few days old, I am 99% sure it wasn’t cooked fresh. The flavour was bland, definitely not worth the price, and the food is at a standard that shouldn’t be served to customers. I’ve had much better Afghan cuisine elsewhere. It is very unfortunate because we were treated very well, but serving paying customers food that is off is not right.

These guys fell off BIG TIME this used to be the best place in Mile End to eat.. they served us bread 10 minutes before our starters even came and within minutes it turned into crunchy crisp. The food was so bland, and we had to ask twice for our drinks and received them 10 minutes after our mains were served. They didn’t have any facilities for changing my child’s nappy I had to do it on an empty table in front of the restaurant that too after insisting I NEED TO CHANGE MY CHILDS NAPPY because the waiter just kept telling me there’s nowhere to change my child’s nappy?? How are you even a family restaurant if you can’t cater to families? I really do hope they step up their game as I said it used to be the best place to eat authentic afghan food.

We placed a large order, but it was a solid two hours late. Tried incessantly to reach the restaurant, without success. This was a random Thursday, but going by the other reviews no odd occassion.

My favourite place to have a cozy time with tasty food. Staff are good and food is perfectly tasty. Slightly pricy but it could be worth it.

The mixed grill here was nice which I enjoyed. However, the Kabuli Pilao was very disappointing and the meat dish we were served was boring and cold. Not a great attempt at Afghani food which I’m quite a big fan of.

We were on our way to another restaurant to celebrate our first night in London when we walked past this restaurant and couldn’t resist the smells wafting out across the back patio. The food is delicious and the staff is super friendly and professional. Highly recommend. The food is phenomenal.

We got grilled meet for two with rice. Very testy.Also black coffee was very good .

Food never arrived!! Have been calling, but they never picked up the phone!!! Don’t order here