Beirut Express

I dined here after midnight. The place was empty but they were very welcoming. The cumin scented lentil soup was excellent, as well as the «spicy» salad, and chicken shawarma. They started the meal with amazing, fresh green olives, compliments of the house. Dinner ended with delicious baklava and sweets, also compliments of the house. Everything tasted so fresh. I highly enjoyed my experience here.

The best chicken and lamb shawarma I have ever had. The platter comes with ample bread, garlic and hot sauce. Also get their mint tea!
Cash only. Under £20 pounds for a platter and a drink.

Edgware Rd seems to be the only spot in london for late night coffee and snacks (after 12am). They seat multiple parties in one table and shisha is the primary focus here. Food was okay, although the fruit juices and shakes were excellent

I apologize.
I was fasting. I was hungry. I was thirsty. It was iftar time. There was no place to sit except the table next to the four swearing Sikh guys. I moved my table over because I had a head ache and did not want to sit by them; nor did I think I could make it if I ordered to-​go and walked back home without breaking my fast first.
I almost cried when the waiter gave a glass of water to someone hovering over my table, but I was able to grab my own glass of water and three dates, self service style, al7mduAllah.
Then my vegetarian fried vegetable shawarma with garlic sauce was delivered and I devoured it in 3 and half minutes; all the while my table was pushed back next to the swearing Sikhs who dropped more F bombs on me about how good my food looked and if they could have a bite.
Best and worst iftar ever.
I apologize.

The food is delicious, no doubt. However, there was a bit of mistrust or perhaps stereotypical attitudes toward my husband and I from the staff. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by a young lady who asked, «you want to eat here?» She then turned us over to a second lady who seated us and gave us menus. Upon ordering, we were served by a third lady rather quickly as if we weren’t welcome. It’s too bad since it is the best shawarma I’ve ever had and we are most definitely not arrogant Americans!

Delicious food and friendly staff. My husband and I had lunch here– it was the closest to my families cooking back home.

De très très très très bons chawarma à Edwage road direction Marble Arch
Une super ambiance orientale

Food was great here and service was also very good. I came here for a quick lunch and was very satisfied with it. We ordered hummus and that was excellent! Very cozy small restaurant with delicious food, couldn’t have asked for more.

I only had the falafel here and it was just ok. For such a small portion, I was expecting something delicious. There were no pickles and the falafel was slightly above room temperature. Maybe the other food is better, but it will be a while before I make an effort to come here again.

Beirut Express is the downscale-​cheapie entry in the substantial Maroush empire of Lebanese food eateries on the South End of Edgeware Road.
The Maroush Lebanese food empire includes the original home restaurant, a second midscale restaurant, a gourmet upscale elegant restaurant, another café and a juice bar — all within about two to three blocks of each other on Edgeware Road.
The success of the chain is well deserved because the food is excellent.
I am particularly big on Beirut Express for breakfast. It opens at 7 when most of Edgeware Road is a ghost town — and Middle Eastern breakfasts are a complete pleasure.
The star of the menu is their eggs with homemade sausage.
The sausage is heavily heavily flavored with sumac giving it a bright red color and a firey aftertaste. There is just enough fat to make the sausage taste substantial without being especially greasy. And the taste is like no other sausage you have ever had.
The dish is served with excellent pepperocini. (None of the acrid acid explosive taste of American supermarket pepperocini.
Don’t kid yourself — these babies are hot — and you may not want to eat all eight of the peppers on your plate. But they start with a very smooth suave peppery taste and then the acid hot of the pepper shows up as an aftertaste. You end up on fire slow and deep rather than fast and superficial — with a mellow green pepper taste.
The dish comes with pita bread to help put out the fire and you will be eating it.
Another winner is a big dish of yogurt with pita chips and chickpeas and the occasional vegetable. This is a mild creamy comfort dish — one you could serve to little kids.
What they call Labneh (thick yogurt almost of the consistency of a peanut butter) is what I call plain old yogurt (creamy and watery).
But it tastes great and this dish wants the more liquidy yogurt — much in the way you pour milk on cereal.
So never mind whether its yogurt or labheh, its good.
They also serve «White Lebanese Coffee».
White Lebanese Coffee is a treat.
It is NOT — repeat NOT — coffee and has no caffeine.
It is a tea made of orange leaves.
It is as clear as water and has a very subtle taste.
I could drink it all day and all night — I love the stuff.
(I suspect you can buy the orange leaves at some of the Lebanese or Syrian groceries right on Edgeware Road).
Lebanese are less likely to eat special «breakfast food» than are Americans or Brits — so many of the menu items are standard items like falafel or hummus.
Not that there is anything wrong with a good falafel or a good hummus.
If this is what the cheap econo version of Maroush food looks like — I am dying to try their midscale and upscale items.
This is a fine place.
(and its open till 2 am too which is just as well because much of the rest of the street closes early.)

Go get their lamb shawarma — period.
In fact, what I recommend is getting the Hommos Shawarma from the starter section, add an order of Shish Taouk (from the mains) and round it up with a Fattoush salad. Two of us were happily delving into this food and licked the plates clean afterwards.
This is a fast place, as name already suggests, so don’t expect anything cozy or comfy.
My dinner companion and I went for dessert to nearby Green Valley (Middle Eastern grocery shop) where we picked a selection of baclava and other goodies.

I don’t understand why this place got such a high rating the chicken shaworma was tasteless the only thing half decent or eatable was the the lamb. Plus they made messed my order up so I told them to adjust it I was communicating with them in English they weren’t aware that I spoke Arabic and threw some rude comments in Arabic some thing I have gotten used when dealing with Lebanese restaurants the elitist attitude.

I’m not a big middle eastern food person but I found something I like and it was pretty easy. I had the lamb kebab wrap which was really nice. extra nice when it was accompanied by hot sauce. There goes my attempt at vegetarianism. I just love lamb!
I had the melon juice which was really nice and light, my friend had the mango juice which was super thick and like the Guinness of juices in that it was like a meal.
Its like a Diner, but a good one. We werne’t bothered to pay the check, plenty of spaces at any given time and it felt more like a neighborhood family eatery than a diner.

I doubt this place needs my kudos since everyone I have ever met who travels to the UK knows and loves this place. When i go to London, i have to make it to edgware road. this is the best middle eastern spot i know of. Its the closest thing I recall from back home. Chicken and lamb shawermas are my standard orders with the mango milk shake.

I remember coming here when my family would visit, met the owner a couple of times and I can definitely say, there has never been a time when the food was nothing short of amazing. and I will repeat that, this place serves amazing food. Right from their shawerma to kebab to their breakfast sausages, its amazing. The décor is really cool and it gives out a nice street view of edgware road. Highly recommended joint.

Got the famous lamb shawarma here. It’s tasty, texture is delicate, sauce is complex, the size is a bit small but actually the right amount of food. They are quick and friendly here. It’s a sit down place with a lot of Arab clientele, so you know they are legit. But you can get food takeaway quite easily.

I’m going to try and write this without turning into Homer Simpson.
If you want a quick lunch or a midnight snack then Beirut Express is the place.
The food is deliciously fresh, cooked in front of your eyes and always served with a smile. The chefs are always nice and jokey.
My addictions to the lamb Shawarma leads me back to Beirut time and time again where I have become a well know regular.
When I get the Beirut pang, I start up my little black mule and drive like a women possessed straight to Beirut. The frantic search for a parking space (hoping the cockroach don’t give a parking ticket) the scurry along George Street, finally I arrive. Me fling open de door and head fe de till, place me order, (not forgetting the garlic chill sauce) then the WAIT…
Once I’ve been blessed by the chef, I bid a big thank you, a hasty goodbye and rush back to my car. I get in and select a slow jam then deliberately and carefully unwrap the package slowly, open wide then bite into the deliciousness of the Shawarma, close my eyes, then (Homer Simpson) enough said.
Go and experience it for yourself. :-)

I used to live not too far away from this place and loved coming here. I came again recently and was delighted. Quality food at very reasonable prices. We always get a schwarma wrap and the schwarma hummus hot mezze.
The schwarma hummus hot mezze can be ordered with chicken or lamb and includes some pitas on the side. They give a very generous amount of both the meat and hummus and the meat is so tasty and tender!

This place was an awesome find. There were so many packed restaurants on Edgware Road and we decided on this one just because there were a few seats open. Once we were seated we looked around to see what other people were ordering. Be prepared to SHARE the combo — don’t do it yourself!

This place is my family’s favorite whenever we come to England. My uncle insists on taking us to London just for Beirut Express, and it has remained true to its core over the years.
The tabouli is made kind of sloppily (the stems left intact, which I was taught not to do), but the portions here are enormous and the food is delicious. Service is good, but not excellent, and the décor is pretty cheap, but for a casual place to sit and eat lots of Arabic food, I can’t complain one bit.
If you’re hungry and in the area, go. That’s all there is to it.

What can I say I had been waiting for ages for the Shawarma that I ate in my childhood… this place just filled that craving and I am still raving and my taste buds are still on high alert.
For only 4pounds you got an amazing sandwich wrapped in amazing pita goodness. The service was amazing and this place should be a top eatery in Marble Arch!

Si vous vous trouvez sur Edware Road et que vous né savez pas où manger un chawarma (vu le nombre de restaurants dans cette rue), je vous conseille ce resto. Lorsque l’on pousse sa porte, la musique orientale vous transporte au Liban! Quand aux saveurs ça reste pas mal pour un fast food! Petit plus: de très bonnes frites!