Yalla Yalla

My crew and I were thrilled to check out this casual and affordable walk in restaurant by Oxford Circus. It was bustling the last time we’d walked past and the concept of street food always appeals to me (they market themselves as Lebanese street food). Long benches offer seating good for groups and keeps with the casual vibe of the place.
Despite the service being amazing (our Parisian waitress was so friendly and accommodating) and the food being worthy of 3 stars, this place is getting 2 stars and won’t be receiving a repeat visit by me.
This spot was infested with fruit flies. Mind you its the middle of the winter. So this is some real cause for concern regarding the cleanliness of this place. Plus it takes away from the dining experience when you’re constantly having to flick flies away from your food while simultaneously trying to eat it. Try as hard as we might, those flies were incessant and kept hovering. My arms definitely got a workout from the constant swatting.
Ok I’ll stop about the disgusting flies now. If you do go, the best thing about the food was the red pepper sauce. It’s amazing. Ask for a whole bunch of it and then pour it on top of everything — so yummy!
I had the chicken shawarma upon strong recommendation from the wonderful waitress. She warned in advance that it would be a large portion, enough for doggy bags. And she was right. Plenty of chicken, rice and salad. Served with heaping sides of garlic mayo and red pepper hot sauce. Average shawarma, nothing to write home about.
Be warned that the food does not reheat well! The chicken was actually borderline rank once microwaved the next day.

So I’d heard a lot of hype about this place and so post the Unilocal newbie night, me and a few friends decided to check it out. Hmmm so I really wanted to love it, but it was just average.
What was good then? Gotta say the food was delicious, the chicken was flavoursome and nice and tender. The chilli sauce made the rice, the right amount of spicy and the portion size was enormous. Definitely worth £11.50!
So far so good. So what was bad? Well the seating wasn’t great, we were given a table by the door and then reluctantly allowed to move to a warmer one. We were told they didn’t want to use another table, as they didn’t want to start using another table, fairly close to closing. Kinda disappointing, but ok I can understand that and after a gentle persuasion we got to move.
There was so many flies in the restaurant, and this is a real bug bearer of mine and have to admit put me off a bit. It definitely made me a bit conscious of the hygiene.
I did also feel towards the end of the meal, that they wanted us to leave, but I guess it was near closing and they wanted to finish up, which I can understand.
On a final note, I have to say though, credit to our server, she was friendly and helpful with recommendations and sorted out doggie bags for my friends, whom wanted to take some home.
Overall, it was just an average place to eat and I’m not really gonna rush to go back.

This is one of the places I always recommend when someone needs a tasty restaurant in London. The food is absolutely delicious for a decent price and once again, the whole sharing small plates and trying everything is brilliant. The only thing I could complain about is that the staff has been, all three times I’ve been there, quite short in tone and not very friendly. Maybe they were just having some bad days, maybe they don’t like the way my face looks. I don’t know. Either way, I would still come back because the food alone is worth it.

A much more spacious location than the one in SoHo especially if you have children. I have yet to have bad Lebanese food in London. We have been here several times and have not been disappointed. Most of the food is very good. I think the Tabouleh and warak enab can use some work though. Otherwise it’s very good bang for your buck compared to other Lebanese places in London. The service is always very friendly and our 3 year old is treated like a king.

Good food but service was not the best. I went here on a Saturday night for dinner. There was a short queue when we arrived. The staff wouldn’t let us get a table because the entire party wasn’t there yet, even though we were just missing one person. After our entire party had arrived, the server accidentally gave away the next available table to another party that came in after us!
After we finally sat down for dinner, I ordered the Mixed Grill plate, which comes with chicken and lamb. Everything was delicious, and the portion is quite large.
It was too bad the service was not the greatest, because I really do enjoy the food there. Perhaps try a different location.

Wednesday dinner for two — Pretty busy evening so was quite hard to hear each other over the noise. We had to share a long table with others but that was fine and a good opportunity for food perving. Food was excellent, best falafels everrrrrrr and you must try the Manaee’sh Lamb, delicious. The red wine was a let down though. Would still come back for food.

I used to really like this place and Yalla Yalla was my go-​to for Middle Eastern food. Especially the Soho location, which is a hole-​in-​the-​wall, tiny kind of place felt like a discovery.
This location however? Not so much. Both the food, but most importantly the service, was very disappointing, so I will for sure not be returning, and wouldn’t recommend it to anybody.
We ordered a pretty big meal with hummous, some kind of chicken pastry and tabbouleh to start. The hummous was the worst I’ve had in years — totally bland with some sort of nasty aftertaste. Ugh. The pita bread tasted really stale. Old. Like it has been in a Tesco Value pack for a few years. The taboulleh was short on the lemon. The chicken pastry was very nice however, but one good dish out of three is a very poor score for any meal.
We went for a Lebanese wine, and a variety of main courses. All of this was disappointing — it felt like another restaurant compared to what I had visited in the past. He chicken shawarma plate was DRY. Like scraps of leather. He driest chicken shawarma that has crossed my palate. It was almost un-​eatable. Shawarma is supposed to be juicy. This was drier that many shoe soles, and totally lacked any flavour. Like chewing on chicken skin but without the flavour of actual chicken. We got two little plates of sauce for the whole table — not enough!
The worst however was the wine — and the service around it. When the waitress poured it, a big, frankly huge piece of cork dropped into the glass. At least I think it was cork, it could have been something less tasteful. I showed it to her and she looked confused. As in «what do you want me to do about it?» confused. I guess that’s ok if you’re flippin burgers at McDonald’s, but not great when you’re the sommelier! The manager came back and at first angrily refused to give us a fresh bottle. He explained they had removed the cork bla bla bla… I asked for a new bottle and he angrily obliged (although initially refusing). Word of advice: if you’re the manager, being angry at your customers when your staff screws up is not a way to run a restaurant! Basically, the whole dinner and ambiance was ruined.
And to top it off, the wine was actually pretty horrible. And I love Lebanese wine normally. This one was just sour and off in some way. Stay away — it was very vinegary.
So to whoever owns this chain: Get some better staff and take it back to the standards it had a few years ago. Right now, people will get a better experience at the McDonald’s around the corner. So me and my friends will not be returning. It was a one-​star restaurant experience through and through.

Fantastic lebanese food. So much flavor in each dish, and the flavors complement each other very well. Yalla Yalla has become one of my regular stops in London.

We arrived at about 5:45pm and it was fairly quiet so we got a nice comfy table with cushions tucked away in the corner in which to peruse the menu. Given that there was so much choice we decided to share a few mezze dishes with the option to order more if we felt we needed it.
We had the hommos; thick, creamy and utterly delicious I can’t stop thinking about it, falafel; which were some of the best I’ve ever had and totally moreish and the halloum meshoue; grilled Halloumi cheese with tomato, black olives, fresh mint and olive oil because who doesn’t love squeaky cheese? There was also a small pot of complimentary olives and pickles on each table which I thought was a nice touch.
By this point the restaurant had completely filled up and there was a nice happy buzz to the place as friends caught up on each others lives and shared the delicious food. Mezze (and indeed tapas) works really well for this as we found out and the portions were pretty decent for the prices. Especially as everything was fresh and delicious to the point where we were almost licking the plates clean!
We’d planned on also sharing the chicken shawarma but found that we were actually quite full. This was good news though as it meant we could have pudding instead and both opted for the yalla jou jou; vanilla mousse speculoos covered in velvety dark chocolate and dark chocolate sauce with a very vanilla ice cream.
It was nice but the mousse was frozen which I wasn’t expecting and wasn’t too keen on. I thought it would be a light and fluffy end to the meal when instead it was quite heavy and in the end I didn’t finish it. Given that the entire bill came to just over £30 between us I thought Yalla Yalla was very good value for money and I’d definitely return. Perhaps with a bigger group of people so that I could try even more of their delicious offerings!

Definitely my go to spot in London! I’ve eaten here on countless occasions but always get the seabass it’s just that good! YUM! To start I have the baba ghannouj and the samboussek jibne. I am not very familiar with Lebanese but the menu is easy enough to figure out with the descriptions.
The Yalla jou jou dessert is excellent as well. Vanilla mousse speculoos with dark chocolate and dark chocolate sauce.
The prices are reasonable for the quality of food. The drinks are delicious and freshly made.
Theres a hooka section but I don’t smoke so i can’t comment on that. It does get busy here and they don’t take reservations so I recommend coming here early. It’s not really a place to bring younger kids.
The service can be so-​so but they do get busy so thats understandable.

Really lovely food, but I genuinely felt like they hated me for eating it!
It was a busy Friday night, so I get that they didn’t necessarily have the time to spend explaining the menu in depth to us. Maybe they picked up on the fact that we only had 30 mins to squeeze some food in, so they thought we’d want them to be dismissive and curt with their service, giving only brief answers about what I was going to spend my money on, so as to save valuable minutes. They were knowledgeable about the food, and we did get some help choosing, but the waitress was so cold and unfriendly, no «ooooh that one’s my favourite» gushings, just all business. It really put me off.
The food came out quickly, as advertised. The mixed grill was full of juicy, well seasoned meat, my favourite being the chicken. The calamari was a huge portion of batter with the occasional whiff of the sea permeating from it. I’m told the aubergine was nice, (although I don’t understand the appeal of aubergine, but that’s neither here nor there).
We managed to scoff half of the meal before asking it to be boxed up to take away; we were going to be late after all.
Overall a disappointment, not sure it’s one I’ll be in a hurry to repeat.

So I will break my review up into two: food and service.
1) Food and drinks — drinks were fine — I had a Sauvignon blanc and my hubby had the mulled wine which was out of this world, warm and inviting to drink. We were provided with complimentary pickles olives and pita. We ordered the batata hara and the baba ghanoush, both which were tasty. The batata were delicious with a hint of spice and the baba ghanoush you could really taste the roasted flavor of the eggplant which I loved. We shared a mixed grill. I liked the chicken and the lamb mince kebab but the lamb kebab I wasn’t a huge fan of. Vermiccili rice was delicious. If it hadn’t been for the service I think I would have rated this place 4 stars
2) Service — started out on a high note since we got seated even though we didn’t book a reservation. Got seated and we ordered a couple drinks along with water. For some reason the server kept forgetting our waters! Even though this is not an expensive restaurant I would hope that they would still look after us and it seemed they were more interested in the party next to us. We had been asked if we wanted hot sauce and they forgot that too until we asked a couple times. Maybe this is because it was a Friday night so I shouldn’t complain too much.
All in all me and my hubby had a good time and spent £50 for the meal… not bad at all. I will go back but maybe when it’s less crazy busy. Still thinking about those batata hara pieces!

Absolutely love this place! One of my favorites during my 3 month stay in London! I’ve been here multiple times in 6wks… Great ambiance, cozy, good background music, friendly staff and best of all tasty food… love the sea bass, shawarma, desserts etc.

Yalla Yallla shows people that middle eastern food isn’t all about meat, carbs and overpowering flavours. Get some small plates to share to experience all the delicate fresh flavours. It’s a nice contemporary non-​existent place to go if you’re thanking for more than just a kebab, or a good introduction to a modern western take on middle eastern flavours.

Don’t order the calimari!!! Tastes like what I picked off my ceiling on pancake day…
Other than that food was ok, chicken wings are delicious. Service = mixed. Quite surprising how popular this is, seems to be a triumph of marketing more than anything else

Found this gem on Unilocal… came here at lunchtime and the line was out the door!!! I decided to order for take away and they have decent priced lunch meal deals. They have an array of wraps on display to choose from. I had the hummus with Shawarma and the Soujac wrap. Soujac is a type of yummy spicy lebanese sausage. I took away a star because my wrap was a a bit soggy in places and crispy on the outside. The sogginess was most likely caused from them preparing the wrap to early in the day and letting the vegetables, pickles etc make the wrap soggy. Then they placed the wrap a few hours later on the griddle and it just didn’t work. none wants gooey areas in their wrap. The hummus was not the best I have ever had but it was decent. Over all I had a good experience and would give this place another go, I left feeling beyond full.

Great food. Reasonable prices. Amazing selection. Light atmosphere.
I came here based on my hotel concierge’s recommendation. I was not disappointed. I was greeted by a smile and promptly seated. Drinks and some nibbles arrived in short order. Great advice on menu teams from the waiter ensures I had an amazing dining experience. The staff left you in peace to enjoy your meal rather than pester you every few minutes to ask if everything is fine.
I would recommend this place to anyone that appreciates Lebanese food or willing to try delicious food with great flavor.

I was really looking forward to finally go to Yalla Yalla — I absolutely love Mediterranean food. Unfortunately Yalla Yalla was a dissappointment. The food wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good, it was average. It lacked flavour, juiciness and depth of that Lebanese cuisine is so known for.
We ordered chicken livers, skewered lamb, deep fried seafood starter, fattoush salad and Ossmalaiah for dessert.
Chicken livers (Sawda Djej) were good — juicy and flavourful, I love liver as it is. Though it wasn’t mind blowing, it was the best food that was served.
Deep friend seafood (Makale Samak) with yoghurt dip — was average: deep fried white bait, calamari and shrimp was ok for nibbling but not very interesting.
Skewered lamb (Lahem Meshue) seemed not to have any marinate at all, was plain and not exciting, it was dry too — I would definitely say overcooked.
Fattoush salad had too much vinegar but was ok.
And finally Osmallaiah (deep fried vermicelli with clotted cream and rose syrup) was ok too, I would definitely add more clotted cream and remove some of the vermicelli.
Service was good. I liked the setting too — wooden tables (though tables we sat at were way too close to one another!), bright space, casual and unassuming. Shame about the food…

We were looking for a reasonably-​priced restaurant and ended up at Yalla-​Yalla in Fitzrovia, just off Oxford Street. After a short wait, we got a place and could place our orders. We selected a number of starters and shared them among the table.
All in all most of us quite enjoyed the food at Yalla-​Yalla. If you look for Lebanese food in central London, this is definitely a place you should check out.

Sehr lecker, man sollte nur gleich ein paar Sachen bestellen, da das Konzept dann doch ist viele verschiedene Sachen zu probieren.

I keep coming back and it is still delicious. The schwarma here is just too delicious to stop eating…
KIBBE LAHME (N)
Deep fried lamb and cracked wheat parcels filled with onions confit, minced meat and roasted pine nuts.
FALAFEL (V)
Chickpea and broad bean patties with salads, tahini and garlic yoghurt sauce.
LAHEM SHAWARMA
Grilled thin slices of marinated lamb, grilled tomato, sumac, parsley and red pepper salad.