Alounak (Bayswater)

Ordered a take out - got home to find burnt tasteless food. Called to complain and, the lady on the phone explained "that's how it comes" - Unbelievable. Used to be a good restaurant but now they just rely on their name. Disgraceful.
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Mohitt Joshi
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 08, 2012

One of the best Persian restaurants . I have been going there for years ,the food is amazing and haven't change at all for years the seating is not so comfortable but the staff are very nice and the service is good . The food ? Wow
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celina ,paddington
8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, October 09, 2011

Fantastic food! basic style restaurant but the busy atmosphere makes up for that! The food is just out of this world and I can not wait to go back, the dips and flat bread are the best part and when I go again I will just order those! Good value, good service.
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Sally
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, August 08, 2011

I no longer live in London but when I visit I HAVE to go to Alounak. I try to go at lunch or off peak as it's small, very popular and doesn't take reservations.

But the food is heavenly, their made to order flatbread is wonderful as are all their dips. I usually go for the chicken kebab as it's so tender and beautifully flavoured - I don't know how they do it! I'm not a big lamb fan but numerous friends have told me it's the best in London.

Tea is great too.

They don't sell alcohol but I think you can BYO if you like
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Michael
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, December 22, 2010

We eat here regularly and would recommend it highly. Food is of a high standard, meat in the kebabs of a good quality, the service is good. Also, reasonably priced and a nice environment, can be hard to get a seat , but definitely worth the wait. The teas here are really refreshing.
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soofia khan
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, December 01, 2010

I have been going to this place for many years but here is my last experience

- Service was not good, girl's attitude was rude

-rice was uncooked

- vegetarian dish not recommended

- we went for the "dish of the day" but they had finished it at 6:30 in the afternoon/evening!!!

- were charges far too much for what we had

so i will never go again unless they explain their attitude, and cook their rice, it was embarrassing as I had taken the entire group of friends and told them how wonderful Persian food is..... get it right please.
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maryam
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, September 12, 2010

Fantastic- we always make a point to eat here when visiting london. The food is better than all the restaurants we have visited in Iran itself and other Persian restaurants in the UK. The kashk-e-badmenjan is particularly recommended.
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adam green
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

We live near Alounak and go there quite often.

We've tried several Persian places in London and think that here you can find best food and value for money. Yes, the place is small and you need to queue if you come at around 8 pm, the service may be improved (they will forget some parts of your order, especially when crowded), but the rest is just fine. Try their mint tea, it's just perfect.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, July 04, 2010

I was in London over the weekend and made it a point to go to Alounak again. The food is excellent and the chello kebabs are probably the best I have ever had.

Persian food is probably one of best globally but it's even more important to be able to stick to the authentic styles of cooking. Alounak achieves that and this is saying a lot. For any ardent lover of either Kashmiri or Lebanese food, you must try this place. Even a staunch Kashmiri like me will admit that the food here is probably one of it's kind.
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Amit Sheopuri
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Thursday, May 13, 2010

I visited this restaurant with 3 friends after hearing all the rave reviews from other friends. We arrived at 8.30pm on a Friday night & had to queue for 45 min outside in the freezing cold. The woman in front of me told me that she came the previous Tuesday and had to queue even on a Tuesday night.

I heard great things about the specials so after trying to get the grumpy waitress's attention for 10 minutes only to be told they had sold out. So all we were left with was chicken kebab, lamb kebab or minced kebab. So we all had kebab.

The kebab was nice but it's not somewhere I would want to queue for again. All the waitresses were grumpy and did not deserve the 10% tip they slapped onto the bill. I might try visiting again one day but it will be to try the famous specials only and it definitely won't be on a week end.
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4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, March 03, 2010