Al Bustan

I have eaten here many times.

I am not a big eater so I usually ask the owner to choose a selection of starters and /or small portions of main courses for my meal or if I am hungry I have the mezza. I have seldom been disappointed with the food.

Of course sometimes the owner will choose food that suits the kitchen rather than my taste buds but overall I have seldom been disappointed.

The owner is extremely gregarious which you either like or dislike in a host. She can be a little overpowering at times but I find her very engaging.

I can understand some of the comments regarding mobile phone conversations and the treatment of the waiting staff but for me it is still one of the best Lebanese restaurants in London.
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John Tristan Lloyd
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, September 08, 2008

i just love the food here, but we won’t be returning after last night. The first time we went, we had wonder ful food, well-sized portions and good service. We barely recognized the place after our visit last night (some 3 months later). The service was slow & surly. Even though there were only 2 of us, they brought my main (a salad) about 15 minutes before my husband’s main (mixed grill). The portions were tiny. When we raised these issues with the owner, she didn’t seemed concerned at all. What’s worse (if not bizarre) is that she denied being the owner. This was despite the fact that two pictures of her were on the wall next to our table! This woman knows how to cook but has no business running a restaurant.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Monday, May 12, 2008

The food at Al-Bustan (now calling itself 'Simply Lebanese') is good, and the prices are within the norm for a restaurant of its type in South Kensington. The problem is the proprietor. I went in for an early (6:15) dinner, and the fact that the restaurant was not crowded meant that I spent the entire time listening to her loud and irritable mobile conversation. This wasn't an emergency call that might justify her taking it in the restaurant; it was a series of ordinary personal and business calls, and I don't think anyone on the other end of the line enjoyed speaking with her. When she realized that I had been given a lunch menu by mistake, she swooped over and literally yanked it out of my hands, only afterwards snapping 'This is a lunch menu' by way of explanation.

What really settled it for me, however, was the way she treated the server on duty. This was a polite young lady from eastern Europe who endured the owner's harangues for using her (the proprietor's) pen and not her own to take my order - both pens in question were cheap 50p-for-10 ballpoints, as far as I could see. The owner also berated the waitress for not being quick enough to remove an empty plate from the table when I sat down - there was an extra place setting on my table for all of 15 seconds - with the result that the poor girl was pressured into clearing my dish before I was done eating. The proprietor did all this in my hearing, i.e., loudly and within fifteen feet of me. The server was not a native English speaker but greeted me, etc., in perfectly good English; by the end of the meal, she was so nervous that she stumbled over the word 'bread'.

Wretched. If there were a review database for employers and managers, the proprietor wouldn't be able to get stray dogs to work for her, let alone eat at her restaurant.
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InTheNortheast
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 4
Friday, April 11, 2008

DO NOT GO HERE. I eat out 4/5 times per week and I think this was the worst experience in a restaurant I have ever had. The manager/owner is incredibly rude and patronising. We had been overcharged for three items on the bill. When I pointed this out I was told by the manager that she was already aware that there were mistakes on our bill. She then proceeded to tell me that I obviously knew nothing about running a business as this was how they made money. She then told me it was too much of an inconveniece to refund me what had been over-charged and that she did not know how to refund money to a credit card. She finally reluctantly (after 20 minutes) reimbursed the money. She ruined an evening out and the mediocre food was not worth the money. I cannot encourage you enough to go somewhere else.
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Isabel
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 26, 2007

Do not go to this restaurant!

We went there last night and had an atrocious time.

Dishes were tasty but tiny and when our bill came (£90 - 3 main courses and one wine bottle - ouch) we noticed that mysterious supplements had been added to it. I politely told the waitress but the owner came stomping to our table and said ' I heard there is somebody complaining here!'. She said that the reason the price stated on the menu wasn't the same as the one on the bill was because 'the printers had made a mistake', which just seemed ridiculous. She then screamed that we had insulted her cuisine and service, scaring everybody around, including the waitress who started crying and turning customers away at the door.

We paid up and went out. Do not go there, the ood is not worth the trauma!
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Zara77
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

My favourite Lebanese in London.

Raw lamb simply delicious. Let the owner choose the mezze for you.

Brillant
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Laurent Troy
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, June 05, 2007

I ate here late october with a friend who had eaten here before and loved it so much I wanted to look up details and go again and have found such atrocious reviews with which i couldn't disagree more. I found the owner to be an animated and humourous host, the food was great, we opted for a large selection of starters ok maybe £80+ was a bit pricey with just 2 glasses of wine but it was so worth it. The atmosphere was fun,food excellent,service attentive. I even bought the book and left with a big smile on my face.
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Fiona Cobb
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, January 03, 2007

We went there on Tuesday nght. Food was delicious; meat was of excellent quality. Very good wine list. The owner is very friendly but the service is a bit slow. We will definetely go back, it is definetely one of the best lebanese in the area
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Unbelievable. A disgrace! Do not go here!!

The owner is incredibly rude. The food is OK, but not even remotely worth what they're charging. And they tried their best to rip us off something cronic! We had a pathetically small starter, then mediocre and small main courses, with 1/2 bottle of wine each, and they tried to charge us £50 per head. We just refused, and almost walked out without paying.
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Jimmy - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 15, 2006

Came here when it had just opened. The food is good, but being middle eastern myself, I was unimpressed at the way they tried to make it more modern/western. Excellent choice of wine. Only annoying thing was a huge table of roudy teenagers.
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Emma Faran Molaei
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, July 22, 2006