Cristina's in Barking and Dagenham

Sara and Edit amazing attentive beautiful service from second I walked in with my family , I would definitely come again highly recommend food on time very hot and delicious… no hesitation coming again with family

An amazing spot for families, the service is excellent. Sara and Edit were so caring and friendly, made our dining experience great!

Sara and all members of staff were amazing. Excellent customer service, very attentive and efficient ! Thanks !

Sara was the hostest with the mosted. Friendly and helpful staff

Great food and love the ambiance

Made a reservation with a name and contact number. When I arrived with a small group, the two persons servicing the front didn't have the booking and appeared to be doing me a favour by giving us seating. They appeared young and inexperienced and lacked warmth. The reception we got was very poor. I don't belive they had any experience in hospitality/catering. The food is very average with price being quite steep for a place like Barking. Very unimpressed! Overall experience is negative.

I have been coming to cristinas for many years. The selection of food is really good. My favourite is probably the Mess burger. They recently have introduced the rib sandwich was also very nice. I have got steaks here on a couple occasions but unfortunately they haven’t been good. Meat was very chewy. Overall a very good restaurant. Be sure to check out their lunch menu for excellent deals.

Great Sunday afternoon for our family birthday food was excellent best steak in a long time !! Great servers x and good 😊 service all the way x easy too book x thank you guys xxx

A fantastic restaurant with Sara as a good waitress.

exelent little family restaurant, not too crowded and great food and service. We will definitely come back . Thank you Sara for your amazing work and service.

The staff are racist. She treated us in a funny way compared to the other white couple who came in after us. They asked me for a booking even though when the shop was EMPTY. She sat the white couple down who had came in after us, who also didn’t have a booking and served them, when I asked to order she said they are fully booked, again the shop empty was only us and the white couple. The rest of the shop was empty. The woman who served us was a white middle aged blonde woman, if you do come here avoid her at all costs if your Asian

Everything was fantastic. Food, environment and especially the service. Special thanks to Edith for taking care of our big group!

Best restaurant in the area. I have been there many times and it never disappoints. Always a reliable choice for a great meal

Best Sunday roast(brisket) ever! Would return to Barking just for this.

First time here and would not come again. Gave us drinks then after 1 hour got our food. The food was not all that and I would recommend someplace else.

The service was exceptional (special thanks to Edit who served us on the night) and the food was even better. The beef is good all round here but if you're looking for a meal you'll remember I would highly recommend the smoked bbq brisket burger, it was by far the most juicy, flavoursome and tender brisket I've ever had and it's definitely the best thing on the menu with the brisket boa buns being the second best.

Cristina’s never disappoints. Their steak is always so juicy and cooked perfectly. We tried their brisket bigger yesterday and even though I didnt think they could top the steak, they did. Amazing service from Edit too. Thank you

Amazing Steaks, Amazing Fries, Amazing Burgers, Amazing Sunday Roast. And you have to try the home-made Lemonade 🙂

This may be the best steak you will ever have, without spending a fortune at those fancy overpriced places. The steak is cooked to perfection (I got rare, and that's exactly what I got!). The chocolate cheesecake is one of the best I've ever had. The staff are so friendly, and make you feel so welcome. I have also had the roast dinner here on Sunday and it just melts in your mouth. Go and book at table!

The steaks here are amazing!! Great service. Really recommend.

The best burger and steak place to date. food and service is quality

Lovely meal at Cristina’s. I’ve been coming here for years and never been let down. 9 of us, all having steaks of different cuts and cooks (rare, medium, etc) and none of us were disappointed. All cooked beautifully. The staff were friendly and lovely with us, making us feel like family.

Service wasn't good. The lady served was a bit rude, but the fries portion was pretty small. Overall score I give Is 2 star

Went there recently, food was great as always, a few too many of us arrived than planned, but they were easily able to accommodate the extra people

It’s ok. We did end up buying extra sauce for the steak as we were told the gravy that comes with the steak won’t be enough but it was a perfect amount.

Went during Ramadan for Iftar dinner. Very good service from the staff here. Steak cooked very well. Decor is nice. Can’t complaint.

Excellent food and service. The steak is always cooked to perfection and the sides are very generous portions.

very rich and tasty food. Also the seat by the window with the sun hitting you while you are enjoying your meal on a usual cold London day was so nice!!! thank you for having me 🙏🏼

The lunch menu here is brilliant value. £11 for steak frites. Bargain! The brisket burger is another winner.

We regularly pop to Christina’s for a tasty fuss free dinner. Always the staff are friendly and in good spirits the food is always tasty and well prepared. The best most consistent place in barking. Good for burgers, steaks and good international flavour. Barking is lucky to have her and the pink cow outside!

Good atmosphere clean and spacious. Some waiters seemed nice one definitely looked a bit grumpy maybe just exhausted. Overall it's a good place for steaks and burgers however a bit pricey and you have to pay 15% service charge approximately. All meals come with chips and starters were okay but super pricey. Was a close 5 star but burger was a bit weird hence the 4 stars. Peanut butter can be hard to swallow and wasn't offered more water. Overall good place but may not visit as fairly expensive and I already experienced cristinas

Best best London beef !!!!I if You like meat this is your restaurant!

So the restaurants are a nice small restaurant, clean, friendly staff . we ordered a mas burger and spaghetti Bolognese. Burger was tasty, but the Bolognese was very bland and disappointing.

Staff really nice, water and cups are given which I think is fab! I’m glad I came today. We ordered Beef Brisket burger, cornflakes burger and steak - we did ask for the steak to be medium to well done but was very well done which made it dry but we had an amazing selection of sauces. Will be returning again as reasonably priced, food is lovely and the ladies are really nice too! Thank you

Great steak !! Would go back anytime

Service great. Food amazing. Flavours absolutely delicious, especially the bone marrow.

I've been looking forward to visiting Cristina's for some time. Finally did, and whilst I must say the dishes were average for me and the rest of the group. One person asked for their steak to be well done, but the waitress convinced him it would be chewy, but he found the medium well too chewy for him. I'm not sure what was responsible for that. He shouldn't have been made to change his mind. I ordered lamb shank and mac and cheese, but the lamb was laid in the center of the mac and cheese, which I didn't like. I wanted it separate. The shank was ok. Fell off the bone, but its sauce was not tasty, and the mac and cheese was not nice at all. I couldn't eat it. I just ate the lamb. Another person ordered t-bone steak, and they said they didn't really like it either and that something was off. We ordered chicken wings as well, and the wings didn't taste fresh. I've had my fair share of chicken wings in this life, and I believe I can tell when it's fresh. The dishes were well presented, but the taste let them down. The waitress was fun and vibrant, though, and cheeky.

Great food and HUGE portions for the Sunday roast. Still full 6 hours later and really satisfied with the quality. The service quality could be better - maybe because the place is so popular, the staff are standoffish and aloof. Speed is okay though, we weren’t left waiting for anything.

Small and friendly place, but best things come in small boxes. Had honestly one of the best steaks ever. Perfectly seasoned and cooked, I just couldn't stop eating. Was a very pleasant experience. Will definitely come back and add this place along my favourites 😍

Highly recommend ! Food are brilliant! The servants are friendly and hot. Having delicious dishes in a relaxing atmosphere. All the guest sang a cheerful happy birthday song together with happiness 😊 also, the price is affordable ~

Food was lovely but there were not enough staff and the service suffered for it. Everything was a struggle, especially the initial order with a very snappy waitress. We were scared to ask for my missing drink or more napkins. The experience was not a great one.

Food was very filling and staff were very accommodating.

Second visit but first as a family. Food quality and presentation was very good again, no complaints about any of the foods. Bao buns, wings, beef brisket roast dinners, smashed burgers and a mac and cheese for the little one. No complaints from my partner or the children, service was good but food was great. If all the staff were as smiley and engaging as the person with the short hair, the place would be buzzing. Thank you.

While the restaurant's food quality has been consistently excellent in the past, my last visit was disappointing. The steak lacked flavor, and the chicken burger seemed quite basic. The recent significant price increase for the same dishes adds to the dissatisfaction. Despite this, the shining aspect is the excellent customer service. Though I stopped going, considering the previous positive experiences, I don’t think I will give it another chance.

Appalling experience becuase of rude staff and defrosted steak Walked in 12pm first customer, 8 customers walked in all been served food. I asked where my food was, I was advised my medium well steak takes time to cook🤣 I thought steak takes 3-4 minutes to fry I had been there an hour. Food finally came out an hour later pan fried defrosted steak🤢🤢🤢🤢 I took this back to them but the uneducated staffs attempt to make me look stupid was horrendous they were more concerned I was not happy not that they just attempted to serve me defrosted steak. The woman at the front lacks service skills, moral and basic communication skills. I will advise my local council office colleagues to avoid these rude people!!! I will forward to food safety to see there cooking and storage practices.

Rude behaviour from staff. Such a shame. Uneducated!

Amazing food with quality service.

This was a very average steak house, prices starting from 25-30, I felt my meat was over done sadly I expect my medium rare to be more on the pink side only some of the slices of meat we cooked through. I was excited about the bone marrow but it didn’t really have much flavor. I would recommend that 60£ mixed platter as that has a bit of everything and also can be eaten by more than two people and worth its value. The brisket was the best part of the meat and was flavorful. It’s not overly priced like some other halal steak houses, decor is more homely down to earth. There are also some good dessert options. Food was served nicely, overall I will give this another try and definitely opt for the platter next time.

Decent food & steaks cooked perfectly. Unfortunately the atmosphere does let it down.

As every italian who eats outside Italy, I was a bit skeptical, but then when the burgers arrived every doubt was dispelled. The meat, the bread and the chips were super. If i’ll come back in London i’ll eat here again for sure! Un saluto dalla Puglia!

The food was okay but the lamb was quite dry and the gravy didn’t have much taste. The vegetables were okay but too salty. The owner was polite but the waiter who was assigned to us was a short European lady who was very rude. She first said she wouldn’t take our order and then came back after 10 mins to take it and was quite abrupt when we asked her questions about the menu. She then forgot about our drinks which was understandable given it was quite busy but she seemed annoyed that we had to remind her about this. All in all the waiter ruined the experience and just didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. It was my first time going but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to come again, quite disappointing.

One of the most amazing delicious burgers I have ever tasted.

Check my youtube channel to watch a detailed video - Eat With Abdullah

Went with a friend, ordered 2 starters , and one brisket burger and American as our main, starters came fairly quickly, mains took over 40mns, finally a member of staff cones and asks confused, missed or misplaced our order in the back, offers us a drink, by that time other customers have come and had there full meal and left, finally get pyr mains, the bill comes with service charge on with a 5% discount, which was half of the service charge?! Load of nonsense, food was great, but waiting for 2 burgers and chips for over 40mns, we get charged service charge, and then we pay half the service charge, taking the mick

Ordered the platter wanted to try a bit of everything. Most of it tasted dry and no flavour at all. Sirloin steak was nice but the rest was basic and bland. Mac n cheese tasted like ready meal you get from a store

Went out with my friends for a catch up and we chose the perfect spot. The food was amazing. Burgers were so juicy. Sweet potatoes fries and burger sauce, the best combination!!! The steak was soft and perfectly cooked. From the burgers i would definitely recommend either the Smash burger or the Smoked Brisket. Both amazing! The steak we got was the Ribeye steak, can’t forget about the mushroom sauce to top it off. Honestly, we all enjoyed the food so much and the staff were so nice and friendly. We will DEFINITELY return!

the food is amazing, the service is just A MASSIVE BONUS. my boyfriend took me there for a date night and was the best most cosy environment ever. highly recommend and will definitely be visiting there again!!!!

Food comes cold. Even the fries are like warm somehow. Everything is extra salty and soo dry. The only think decent was the sirloin steak. Mac and cheese was something you’d get from an Asda meal deal.

Amazing food! Great service, it was quite busy when I dined in. However, staff was attentive and had a great attitude. I had a smash burger with a side of sweet potato fries, would definitely recommend.

visited this restaurant with a couple of my friends, and too put it simply the whole experience was outstanding, the food exceeded all of my expectations, everything from the food served to the atmosphere inside, was so pleasant and we will be sure to come again!

The food is always on point. Been coming here for years. Consistently good.

A lovely independent chain free restaurant. Food, service and atmosphere are always great. I've been a few times and will definitely be back.

I ordered a starter of crunchy potato shavings, which were very nice and crispy, followed by a main course of sirloin steak, which was tender, juicy, and full of flavour. I ordered a peppercorn sauce that complements the steak, and they accept card and cash payments. The food was great, and the service.

Great food! The brisket bao buns were the highlight.

The best steakhouse in east London, the Sunday roast is excellent. Isalina is lovely.

Love our roasts, had lamb shoulder and beef brisket and Dragon Fruit Cucumber Limeade for drinks. Everything was just delicious 👌😋

Muy atentos y se preocuparon por entendernos y ayudarnos. Nos dieron mesa sin reserva

Excellent food, service was... odd, but not unpleasant... Atmosphere was lacking but was just open, well worth it for the steak!

All the staff was great and really helpful. The food was amazing 👏 worth the money

The best steak in barking, hands down, great selection of starters and mains. Came here for my birthday meal with my mum, service was prompt and very friendly, food was exceptional, easily one of the best meals I’ve had. Cannot highly recommend this place enough.

Great steak on the east side of London. Lively atmosphere. Starters are awesome. Kids love the Smash and American burger. The Sirloin steak was very tasty, even though it was precutted, which seemed unusual. Very reasonably priced would definitely recommend and come back .

Tasty food, nice staff and great prices.

Don’t the like atmosphere because of the alcohol being served but apart from that great experience, great members of staff and they were all extremely polite and welcoming. Thank you once again

The whole space is very pleasant. The staff are all very kind. The food is amazing, tastes heavenly, everything comes served to perfection.

Great atmosphere, good food and very family friendly. The service from the staff is top class - it has been a long time since I've visited a restaurant with such great service. We tried the mess burger, smash burger, buffalo wings, mac n cheese and chicken breast meal for kids. All meals were tasty, but would especially recommend the buffalo wings and beef brisket. Hope to return again soon!

Really nice little restaurant, service was awesome and we were continually attended to. The food was just divine, perfectly prepared and presented. Would definitely recommend and return.

Review as of 22/12/2023: I had gone to an impromptu Cristina's with a party of 4 without having booked prior. As we entered the restaurant we were instantly greeted by our host and told we had an hour to eat as they had bookings coming up. Whilst of course being constrained to a time limit is not what you would ideally want with a dining experience, we could not complain as we had simply gone for a walk in meal. The host had seated us and given us menus, from which I had chose the bao buns, the brisket burger (which I had recommended to me prior our visit) and a simple lager. Firstly, the bao buns were nice, I'd give them a 3.5/5. The brisket in them was a little dry, however had good flavour and the chimichurri and buns themselves were nice and saved the dish. The brisket burger was an easy 5/5, the brisket in it was probably not the same that was served in the bao buns and was moist, tasty and melted in my mouth. It was served with a delicious sauce and the buns were soft and fresh. The fries served with the burger were also fresh, crispy but needed a light sprinkle of salt on top of them. The lager I had ordered complimented the meal well and was served in a chilled glass which was a nice touch. Overall, the experience I had in Cristina's was incredible. The food was generally very delicious, the waiters were incredibly helpful, refilling the water jugs without being asked and always spoke to us with a smile and a positive attitude. I could not recommend eating at Cristina's enough, however would recommend booking as it is clearly a very popular place to eat (for a reason)! I would recommend the brisket burger, as well as the buffalo wings which I had tried and were incredible. Small notes: The restaurant is quite small so again (and popular) so I again would recommend calling in and booking a table. The bathrooms were clean and clearly cared for. The menu (as far as I understand) is entirely halal, so everyone is welcome to eat here. Cristina's gets a very well deserved 5/5 and I will definitely be coming back!

The interior was cosy but that’s all positive, the service is below average, not smiling, pulling faces, treating customers like they are inconvenience, absolutely disgusting, food expensive, meat chewy, would not recommend.

Delicious food and great service. I will be returning.

Service was amazing but the food has gone downhill compared to what it used to be.

good prices and cosy atmosphere, steak cooked perfectly and nice mushroom sauce option for additional smoked brisket for £3 is great it does get busy so make sure to book

Food was good! Ordered the steak and enjoyed it. The chips could have been better. Chimichuri and Peppercorn sauces were tasty too.

Great place for comfort food. Staff are friendly and gave great service

20oz tbone steak cooked to perfection. This place is busy, advised to book in advance

Service was great however the steak was chewy. Mac n cheese was lovely as were the bao buns. Halal food for those who need to know.

This steak restaurant exceeded my expectations with its delectable, perfectly seasoned steaks that melted in my mouth. The attentive and friendly service added to the overall exceptional dining experience. Highly recommended for steak enthusiasts!

2nd visit in the last few months. Much more enjoyable this time! 0% vegan sharing board was plenty for 2 (didn’t finish it!). Lovely refreshing mocktails complemented the meal nicely. Will return again in a month or so for their newish lunch menu!

Very nice food. Steaks were cooked to perfection. Burgers were very flavoursome. Portion sizes were very generous.

Amazing food and service. Highly recommended. Little hidden gem.

Brisket and potato skins were delicious! Steaks were amazing and mashed potato was just as good! Mac and cheese was the only thing we didn't like but everything else was really tasty. We even managed to polish off a cheesecake for dessert! It was our first time here and we'll definitely be back the next time we're in the area.

My husband and I ordered off the lunch special menu and I chose the bajan chicken dish and him the beef dish. Very disappointed when it arrived without tater tots as advertised on the menu, but curly fries. As for the meat, it was very bland and not enough spice as I would expect from a bajan style dish. Seemed like the meat wasn't even fresh and didn't come piping hot to the table. Bit of a cop out to serve with curly fries too which didn't seem homemade. The mocktail was OK. Wouldn't come back as the standards have dropped since coming a few years ago.

Spot on the food and service 👌

Came here with my family, and i must say that the restaurant has gone down hill. The entire table felt the same way sadly. The Sunday roast was literally put together in front of us from buffet style containers. This meant that the potatoes were stale and dry, and the yorkshire pudding was somehow chewy and did not taste well at all. The beef was nice nonetheless. But the 1 piece of carrot and an entire bed of swedish cabbage did not compensate for such a bad meal.

PLEASE AVOID! I visited this place with family on Saturday evening to begin with the staff are so unbothered no warm welcome the lady seemed like she was getting panicked everytime a customer walked in and was finding it hard to seat them as the restaurant is very small. We ordered BBQ WINGS which was dry and it seemed old we also got bao bun which was drenched in vinegar smelt horrible and tasted horrible the steak was also not juicy it just didn’t taste fresh we ordered four steaks one meal came 30 minutes later so we all couldn’t enjoy together and on top £15 SEVICE CHARGE ? For what they can’t even be bothered to smile at the customers if you want nice steak please don’t believe the tiktok reviews we spent £145 and it was the worst meal we have ever had

Good variety of food, tasty food, friendly staff. Poor drinks selection though. Edit in response... your drinks menu is extensive... I'm addressing the Beers. Small cans and foreign wheat beers aren't food beers. There all heavy and very expensive... Get something lighter and more obvious in my opinion.

We order regularly as it's one of the best burger places around and this time it was great to sit at the restaurant eating a delicious steak.

Having heard of the menu revamp, I went down to try Cristina’s again. Contrary to my earlier visits (couple months) they had a lot more smoked brisket on the menu. I tried the brisket burnt ends and the dino ribs (not sharing version) from my friends. Tasted amazing. The dino ribs were a bit questionable with the chocolate bbq sauce, but the meat was good enough for me to enjoy on its own. And the burnt ends were a bit dry, if complimented with a sauce, would elevate the dish My choice of meal was the bone marrow, wish tasted fresh, citrusy from the herbs mixed in, and had that lovely fat/creamy flavour of the marrow Got the usual sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce. I must say I do miss the old plating as I feel with the new plating we got less bang for the buck. The trays didn’t look as full, and while that may just be visual inspection, I don’t remember leaving as full as I usually do. The peppercorn sauce was saltier than I remember it, but the beef gravy was an unexpected treat. Service, as always is 11/10 at this place. The staff were VERY busy, so we understood the wait and delays with things. But still, I did not feel disappointed and rather felt they were being very attentive to us, as always. Very hospitable, and a pleasure to be around.

I've been going to Cristinas for years and every time I go they never disappoint. they change their menu year round but there's always a good selection and whatever you have it's cooked so well and is so tasty. simple things like coleslaw there is amazing, you can't go wrong with whatever you pick from their menu; whether it's brisket, chicken thighs, burgers or cheese burger spring rolls they do everything so well. It's because of their high standard on classic british dishes they've remained open for so long. Today, I saw the chef walk out in his 0% vegan t-shirt and it just made me smile, it represents the chefs style and Cristina's so well. They know how to treat their meat and how to serve it well!

Atmosphere was nice and staff were friendly. But the food was disappointing. The brisket was so dry and the bun was hard and crusty, just fell apart. The fries were just basic tasting and such a small portion. If you want something soft, juicy and succulent, this is not it. £11 for that, supposed to be a cheaper lunch menu, oh and they want a service charge for that too! Sorry but I cannot recommend.

The new lunch menu isn't great, I loved the old one where you could get a smashed cheeseburger and fries for £7/8. I ordered recently, had the chicken thigh burger, which there were several issues with unfortunately. The menu states that your meals will come with fries, they don't, everything comes with croquette potatoes/tater tots. Whatever you want to call them, they are not fries, and Christina's fries were one of the best things about the place before! Also, half of mine were cold and slightly stale after obviously being kept in the new warmers they have out front. Your new style of service is very strange, where the person is out front and all the food is pre-cooked and kept in pots. The fact I was there for nearly 40 mins and saw the server never change his gloves and touch multiple meats and containers was strange too, especially when he's also preparing vegetarian options alongside the meat. Unfortunately, my chicken was dry in places and although the flavours were good, it wasn't hot. The burger was also drowned in coleslaw, which although I like it, doesn't have to be heaped on the burger so much. Also, sorry but at £11 (£4 higher than the previous lunch deal) I think I would go elsewhere. I don't mind paying that much if I feel I am getting fresh, hot food and good value, but with food that isn't hot and isn't as described, I wouldn't pay that much. It's a shame, as Christina's has been somewhere I have enjoyed going to in the past. Seen the reply below, sorry I should have been more explicit, the food was mostly terrible and mostly cold. Why would I "give it another go" when you couldn't even get the basics right, like ensuring food is hot? The server didn't change his gloves, but agree that he wasn't preparing the vegetarian dishes out front, so I was wrong about that. However, £11 isn't competitive at all, when I can literally go to Ripple road for a sit in Turkish grill for £7... 🤷‍♂️