Cafe Helen in City of London, Westminster

The worst shawarma place and too pricy. They just wrap chicken or lamb in the 10p tortillas and its taste is as raw. For 13 pound a shawarma wrap I was hoping a very good taste, dissatisfied and disappointed wasted my money.

Best Shawarma ever I tast in my life

I saw this place on YouTube and decided to give it a try. I was very disappointed from the moment we arrived at the restaurant. The guy outside dressed in full black did not get off his phone, seated us. The food wasn’t very good the only thing we enjoyed were the drinks. No one returned to our table to see if we needed anything else after we ordered. The young guy in black got upset after I asked a simple question. He was talking to someone else in his language and was obviously upset. He’s very arrogant and should not have any kind contract with the customers.

Really quick and friendly service. Food is 10/10!

£8.50 for a plate of Fattoush to takeaway Very very overpriced

Great shawarma and open till 6 am!

Excellent authentic food. Top quality service especially Rakad . Polite courteous and cheerful . The shisha is also very good . I think the best place on edge ware road !

Over hyped. Customer service is very bad, the workers are rude and the manager is the perfect example for it. Also even if you spend £100 they would still charge you per pot for chilli sauce. Very stingy and very arrogant. Don't go there.

Very very oily 😖 some dishes overpriced for a very small potato dish £8?l to take away?! No sorry There are other Lebanese places that price wise might be same BUT food quality much better

Very Fine Taste. I would highly recommend everyone to try Lebanese Food here. 💯

Rakan here was an amazing person just like all others here. From the very first interaction, from food, hookah and chai everything here was AWESOME!!!

Waiters were extremely lovely and the shisha was delicious!!

Lovely staff really friendly and accommodating. Shawarma was so delicious! Highly recommend!!

Loved the food and the ambiance. Great service and amazing food options

i got so disappointed that i was not allowed shawarama for dine in. they forced us to have main dishes for adults. dine in shawaramas are only for kids. staff was very rude and not ready to listen anything. we had to order according to theor choice. of they dnt allow to adults then why they have addes shawarama in main course? will never go back. bad experience.

I've a been regular customer but my recent experience was appauling. Part of the order was takeaway and the rest sit but the old guy at the till refused to serve us and forced us to have takeaway only and asked us to go outside , also we wanted to order wraps but he insisted to order platters for some reason as probably they are more expensive Overall the we experienced rude and poor customer service.

Great.. will come cack definitely.

Helen’s shaw were very appetising and enjoyed the lemon mint fresh drink

Food was amazing and the service was also swift and helpful!!!

The Sheesha was great and the Shawarma even better.

Best shawarma in London! Thank you, mashallah

The best Shawrma evere i tried. Shisha is amazing. The waiter Rakan is very friendly

Best Shawerma in London. While the shisha has many varieties with great taste.

Sadly I did not enjoy the food at all . -Food portion was very little compared to price and other restauants in the area. -Shawerma ,especially meat tasted way different from syrian or egyptian and was not cooked well .also it tasted like boiled ,the same for chicken. We tried the mango juice , totally awful ( was salty like , it is far from juicy mango) . -Mix grill portion is very small again compared to other shops offering the same. -there was a strange smell in the place. Overall , expensive , small portion, tastless . Sorry guys

The main (original) cafe helens closed tonight due to refurbishment and to make up for their losses, the size of the shawarmas have suddenly decreased, putting less meat in the wrap! Been coming here for over 10 years and this is the first time I have ever seen so much salad and minimal meat in 3 wraps costing £30! Soon to find another favourite Shawarma spot!

The food is excellent here, but the place is congested.

Great service, very good food, amazing sheesha at a very affordable price in London! Highly recommend this place

Good evening from london Iam from jordan They got a nice service here 5 stars ilove it The crew are amazing Specially the Jordanian guy Rakan And the egyptione inside Lovely place Excellent food. I had the shawarma sandwich with lamb and chicken and asked it to be just moderately spicy. My wife got the chicken shawarma sandwich not spicy. Was great, and I’ve had these all over the world. The salad was very good as well. Eat here.

Lovely chicken schwarma, great service

Good decent Lebanese food. Fast service. Lebanese food isn’t the most flavoursome hence why you need to have lots of their garlic and chilli sauce which is lovely. I’d recommend mixed shawarma wrap and their beiruty hummus

Authentic tasty food, thank you

I ordered kofta. The portion was large and tasty, which corresponded to its cost. I'll come back again to try other dishes from the menu. The service was also good. I recommend it!

Well I have been their customer for almost over decade,obviously like their food and glad to see them growing as a business from one shop to second now close by. So whenever I go to London I try to gobtheir for their lamb shwarma wraps. Bit disappointed lately as every time I go prices are going up and meat quantity in wrap is getting less. So paid £68 for lamb shwarma wraps in each wrap there was just very few quantity of meat. Very disappointed really. I know they will have customers no matter what they do because of place and name but they really need to look into it.

Worst experience I’ve had in London Singelhandedly the absolute worst food and service I’ve had in my entire life. I was so excited to show my friend Arabic food and came to this restaurant for a shawarma. We got served and the chicken was raw. my friend who’s allergic to wasps found a WASP in his food. We told the waiter, he laughed it off and brought us another shawarma that was clearly pre made and soggy. I was in absolute shock. We told them we were done and the waiter asked we need anything else and told us “thanks, goodbye.” We took that as a goodbye, and exited the restaurant as we gathered they were embarrassed about the wasp in our food. We felt so sick walking down the street and 20 minutes later, a man approaches and really rudely says we didn’t pay. We explain that we found a wasp in our food and were told goodbye, he was really rude acting as if we were in the wrong for the wasp in our food and told us we should’ve told him as he was the manager. We told him we’d told the waiter and it wasn’t our job to tell him. It was a miscommunication between the staff. He was really rude the way he was speaking and not only did we find a wasp in our food, we were being disrespected as well. He kept saying to walk back to the restaurant and pay and we said no. He then called over 6 street police which he clearly knew and had a good relationship with. We had no choice but to walk back. One of the street police was quite pleasant but it was clear at that point we had no choice but to waste another 20 minutes of our lives having this terrible experience and walking back to the restaurant still feeling sick. They told us to point at the waiter, which denied that he’d told us goodbye and we should’ve asked for the bill. We then had to pay and while we were doing so, they spoke in Arabic (not knowing I understand Arabic) saying remarks such as “It’s just a fly! It’s just an insect.” I told them that they were being incredibly rude and unbelievable and that if inspection came and found a wasp in their food they’d shut down. They clearly didn’t care and just wanted money. Absolutely horrendous and I am so disappointed my friend had to go through that experience trying his first ever shawarma. Absolutely horrendous!! Never go there it will ruin your day and your appetite and hopefully inspection checks how they make and what they put in their food because it is genuinely worrying. I’m not the type of person to leave a negative review or complain but this goes way beyond any realm of normalness. Show less

£12 for a shawarma with stale bread that was not wrapped correctly. Too much fat and juices inside which dripped all over my clothes and same thing happened to a friend. No hummus or any garlic inside. Meat was not finished off on a hot plate so was not crisp or tasty just wet.

I got poisoned after eating there, the meat was moldy and nasty , go to the hell with your dirty Shawarma ya kalb 🤮🤮🤮

Ordered the medium/small Shawarma and it's a pity that this is only allowed to be taken away. For a £8 shawarma you should atleast put 1-2 tables outside for anyone to sit and eat in peace. I wouldn't mind the take away only if it was cheaper say £5 but for £8 I expect something better. The shawarma was nice and decent sized and fresh. Its very nice but not being able to sit and enjoy it is not worth the effort especially as it takes a few minutes only to eat a shawarma but standing on the footpath to eat a 8 pound sandwich is a big turn off so first and last time at this place unfortunately. I heard a lot of hype about this place but GDK down the road offers a cheaper doner with a chair and a table to sit and eat peacefully.

Great customer service from the staff here at Cafe Helen Restaurant. Came for a chicken shawarma wrap my usual for 22 years, hot drink and blue mist shisha. Thank you to the staff here. The Gentlemen that served Mr is very polite, efficient and professional. Very considerate here always, looking after their customers. Top Service!!!!

Food and service was excellent. Would fully recommend the mixed platter as I couldn't decide whether the lamb or chicken was nicer. Maybe the lamb, it was all amazing.

Really good atmosphere, delicious shawarma , good shisha very good value

Amazing atmosphere and friendly people. Especially the shisha guy was so nice.

It’s really good place to enjoy your time with your friends.

Always amazing 👏 ❤️ ✨️ no one can beat this place for their shwarma. Outstanding staff!

I heard of this place because of all the hype on the Internet, and YouTube and everybody said that this place is the best Shawarma place in London. I went there and tried it, and I beg to differ. Real Lebanese Shawarma is made with saj bread and not a cheap version of a Greek pita bread that they serve. If you don’t eat it right away, it becomes like a hard sole in your mouth. Meat seasoning is also off. Lebanese use a lot of cinnamon,allspice and other very pungent spices to marinate the chicken. The chicken here is super bland. Also, Lebanese use a lot of pickled vegetables in their Shawarma here it’s none they serve it with wilted lettuce and falling apart tomato and there is a pickle in it. Shawarma is also supposed to be crispy when you bite into it. This was none of that it was all like wilted kind of mushy meat.. Overall, I think they live off the YouTube bloggers who never tried a good Shawarma in their entire life and now they’re promoting it saying it’s the best thing in town, but it’s very average Shawarma that’s all.

The food and presentation are bad and the prices are very high. It is not worth it 👎👎

Too much sauce inside, food was very nice, taste is great

Really nice place, service was great

relaxed experience, the shish taouk was a perfect portion, recommend a little chilli sauce with it

Amazing food even better service

Amazing experiance of breaking fast here at Cafe Helen on Edgeware road, the staff is very nice. They gave Baklava on the house. Shisha was exactly the same youd expect from one of the Middle Eastern countries. A Must visit here especially in Ramadan!

Abdul is the best. Great food. This spot is an institution. Been coming here for 12 years now!

The chicken shawarma sandwich is sweet and not the best I didn't like the plate The treatment of money, especially the young man outside, is not good 😀

The food is too expensive I paid £13 for large Kebab roll take away plus £2 for coke, told them about 4 times not spicy but they still gave the spicy one..

Been here because i heard it was good. When i sat down with my wife i noticed a cockroach crawling on the walls and had me questioning the hygiene of this place. I felt uncomfortable. It was over priced for what it tastes like. I wouldn't recommend you come here.

It is one of the best and the most authentic shawarma in London.

Been going here for a while. Went today late night (to the big Cafe Helen 1st time) and got the lamb shawarma. idk what they did differently but it was better than usual (its always good tho) 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Disappointed that I was deliberately over charged by £18. I didn't question at the time but checking when I got home can see they randomly charged extra

The best food i have had in a long time. Special shoutout to Abdul and Ahmed for the amazing customer service and extra care. Will be coming back

They have shawarma sandwiches and appetizers I liked .

Friendly staff food very good but take time to serve even is not full

Very friendly staff especially the shisha guy. Good place to come chill with friends.

four pieces of chicken and a portion of frozen potatoes has become a luxury in London .. I am a taxi driver and have been coming to this place for years … never !!!!!! again i gone comeback… robbery , scam…

Amazing amazing service by Abdul!!!!!

must visit place best shawarma in town

Best shawarma place in London. No doubt. The Staff is very friendly m. Highly recommended.

CAFE HELEN? MORE LIKE CAFE SCAM Me and my friends went to Cafe Helen for a quick dinner. Immediately, the owner shoved us into a corner in the restaurant. There was not enough space for 2 people let alone 7 of us. We asked the manager if we could sit outside however we were quickly dismissed until we ordered shisha. Why launch a restaurant if you do not even have space to accommodate guests. The floor was filthy - so grimy that it could work as a part time ice rink. Anyways, the waiter came and took our orders and was extremely disappointed in us when he heard we only wanted to eat shawarmas. He then threatens us and says if we just wanted to order shawarmas - we should leave the restaurant, go to the takeaway area and the rest is our problem. He then proceeds to aggressively upsell us fries - we are all teenagers by the way and were extremely afraid that if we do not say "yes" he would kick us out the restaurant. The food finally came. For £9 we ordered a "small shawarma". Realistically, it should be £5 for the 10 bite wrap with barely any filling. My friend ordered a "large shawarma" for approx £13 which was 99% bread and 1% meat. Another one of us ordered a falafel wrap for £8.50. Again, extremely small size and cold. We asked for tap water to wash down this mess. And we were told "Sorry no tap water". As we are polite, we did not argue there but I should mention that "All licensed premises in England and Wales are required by law to provide “free potable water” to their customers upon request.". We also asked for napkins and received kitchen roll. Finally, as if we were not exploited enough, the waiter decided to add his "own" service charge and suddenly the bill of £11 per person became £12. It is evident that they saw us as teenagers and took advantage of our innocence and generosity. Do yourself a favour and avoid this extremely overrated restaurant. I do not know who rated their shawarma so highly but it was pretty awful. There are many other places on Edgware road that are 10 times better than this place and service is miles better. I know the restaurant will not bother to sort this out with me after the pretty awful experience.

amazing. every week end the place to be after a good party. staff very Nice and professionnel. The boss always here for the clients.love

Great experience, nice food. The guy outside was amazing.

A very chill place to visit. Authentic arabic food and nice sheeha. The staff is very good at the service.

Proper post drinks midnight place! The chicken shawarma is good! Rest, was average. We tried the fattoush salad. It was extremely sour and didn’t taste fresh. The hummus was extremely sour too.

Shawrma meat is my fav! The service is so good.. through the years they have the same quality

Great Taste, also dine in open until 1 pm which is great.

Excellent food sheesha and service!

I love shawarma, since I tried Shawarma Helen I only buy from them, Best shawarma sandwich In London. I really recommend it.

Consistent good quality food! Service is always impeccable 😊 Best shish taouk in London 😊

Excellent food. I had the shawarma sandwich with lamb and chicken and asked it to be just moderately spicy. My wife got the chicken shawarma sandwich not spicy. Was great, and I’ve had these all over the world. The salad was very good as well. Eat here.

The best shawarma in UK, Real authentic taste and can’t be beaten

Brilliant staff, brilliant food, excellent shisha. Thank you very much

Very every average Shawarma, 3 fake Helen spots in 100m apart. £18.50 for a very small size portion of meat and fries? Even in this inflation time’s, it’s almost double the price according to portions. Rude, I mean very rude staff. Must keep away if you are especially non shisa smokers. Not recommended at all. Try anywhere other than this with half the price and very good shawarma’s. They have zero speciality. 👎🏻

Love visiting this place with my friend. Scrumptious food very time I visit and amazing service by the team. A favourite spot for food and sheesha.

Very good service. Food came quickly, shisha is good

What a shame, this place used to serve a good food, not any more, I paid £8 for the worst and the smallest shawarma sandwich in Edgware road today, definitely my last shawarma at Cafe Helen, thankfully there is plenty restaurants around in the area making a better food, very disappointing.

Cafe Helen offers excellent food and shisha.

The food and service at Cafe Helen is amazing!! 10/10 recommended

Amazing food and shisha. Extremely friendly service every single time. Best place on edgware road.

Great place and great service will be sure to come again and highly recommend! A hidden gem on edgware road. The shisha is good!

Best eating meat shawarma Highly recommended

Really good shawarma was so good ordered to take away would deffo recommend

I advice all the people if they want to eat fresh lamb to come to cafe Helen only , amazing shawarma and very good customers service

Mohammed was amazing. We had the burger and it was so good.

Used to come to Cafe Helen regularly (like twice a week) back in the day (early 2000s) I visited Cafe Helen last night on Edgeware Road, and unfortunately, my experience left much to be desired. The customer service was subpar, lacking the friendly and attentive approach I expected from back in the day. Moreover, the shawarma I ordered had a distinct taste of fat, which significantly affected the overall quality of the dish. I was very sad to see Maroush is no longer on Edgeware rd. I may have to go seek out their new location.

This a gem of Edgware Road and a legendary shawarma place. It’s considered the king of shawarma for those who know. I’ve been eating at Helen’s since I was a little kid. No other shop can compete with their lamb shawarma. It always tastes fresh and has the correct salt to meat content. Given the high turnover of orders, the food is always fresh. However, there’s a few cons that have come in recent times. The price of a large lamb shawarma is expensive at £13 but the portion sizes haven’t increased. The seating area in the restaurant side could be a lot better as it’s really cramped and definitely not kid-friendly. A few improvements needed but overall hands down the best shawarma in London. Comes with the added benefit of being open till really late too!

Great food and amazing staff The music is loud, but otherwise it's very good

Amazing food.. I've gone there a couple of time..when i visit first time that was not such nice and after then it was just amazing.. One more suggestion is that, increase your seating capacity..

Had a lovely welcome by amu and he gave us a great service

very good service and great atmosphere and shisha was amazing

Abdul Rahman is a cheerful, helpful and cooperative employee, and everyone is honest

Great food and vibe. Amazing service

Cafe Helen the best shawarma in london

Good food, a bit expensive but good that theyre open late