Randa

Lebanese cuisine is one of my favourite for being tasty healthy fresh and with such variety, Randa Restaurant has always ticked all the boxes.

Great location, relaxed service and always delicious.

Best Lebanese food in London.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 21, 2012

Since I am a lazy human being, I very rarely write reviews. Not least because I find that even the few minutes which are required to register (to any site) are a waste of my (precious) time. But, boy, this RANDA "restaurant", really left me with the unquenchable urge of communicating my feelings to the readers of london-eating.

In short: RANDA is the worst (Lebanese) restaurant I have been to in London. I have put Lebanese between brackets since, as far as my seven years life in London are concerned, it would still rank as the worst restaurant even outside the Lebanese category.

Some details: we only ordered a selection of starters, or mezze, as they are known. Thank God that we did not venture into the main courses as the mezze were either a nightmare come true or a cruel, cynical joke. Before the mezze were brought to the table, we were offered a basket with raw vegetables inside which all looked very sad (for instance, there was an old looking whole (!) capsicum ... one might wonder what I was supposed to do with it): in fact, the basket was taken from a collection of them which was lying on a dusty shelf in the middle of the dining hall. The feeling was that it probably had waited for us forever). Then the mezze: Presentation was awful (left-overs from previous tables?), taste totally absent. The Moussaka, a cold mezze made of aubergines, was actually freezing cold (literally, just taken out from a freezer; unedbile!). Of the hot mezze I only remember the "falafel" (possibly, because of the trauma I experienced, a self-defence mechanism of my mind has erased recollection of the others): the fried coating was grotesquely thick and I really don't want to know which oil was used and how many times; the core of the falafel was an exotic mix of tasteless vegetables. Exotic in the sense that you could tell that there was not any meat inside but it was impossible to tell anything more specific of the deployed ingredients.

Conclusion: eat there if you are chronically depressed because only if you have severe psychiatric issues you might fail to realize how utterly tragic this place is. It really makes me wonder that restaurant such as RANDA exist and/or manage to survive. My theory is that, generally speaking, customers in London are so poorly educated that that they allow such inefficiencies to persist: horrendously poor service goes unpunished in London.
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Saturn
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, July 02, 2011

Having read the other reviews, we had been a bit reluctant to try out this place. Three of us had a late lunch there anyway this Saturday afternoon (enticed by its prime location in Ken Church Street). Whilst the food was par for the course, the service, if thats the right word for what we got, was unfriendly, sloppy and grudging at best. Guess they have sufficient passing trade due to the location and do not care about the rest. Really odd though to have this place completely staffed by miserable & uncaring people who so obviously dislike working in the catering & hospitality trade!

Never again!!
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2 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 4
Saturday, July 10, 2010

I am not sure if they have amputated the smiles;warmth;or any sense of welcome from the staff that work here,or whether they only hire people who are completely devoid of any sense of the word "hospitality".We went on a rainy day for lunch .The entrance to the restaurant is awkward as there is no vestibule,you basically step into the restaurant,and there is no area to hang coats etc.

The female maitre d'h gave us a sneer and frown as she pointedly stared at the floor (as opposed to look in our faces to welcome us) as it was obvious that with wet raincoats etc there was no possible way we could enter the place on a rainy day and not leave some trace of the weather outside on the floor inside.Then,with further disapproval and displeasure radiating from every pore she put us at the worst table in the place,while every one of the other tables except one was empty.

We ignored her and sat elsewhere,while she called a cleaner(who was standing by anyway,so obviously she knew that the floor was going to get wet on such a day as customers entered) to dry the floor with a cloth broom.No smiles or any interest while taking our order.And basically it was made clear that she would have preferred an empty restaurant but with intact floor,rather than customers but have the floor to be dried.She must have been a Govt.employee somewhere in the Middle East before this experience.This behaviour is highly unusual,as generally,I find that the welcome extended to customers and visitors in Middle Eastern restaurants is very good indeed.But Randa seems to be the exception.

The food was average and certainly undeserving of any snootiness on the part of the staff. To be avoided.
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A.Booth
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Monday, March 01, 2010

food is amazing 10 star service perfect prices .

wonderful decor and atmosphere and cute workers
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Anna
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, April 25, 2009

Randa is one of the most unforgetable restaurants.It has a lovely atmosphere and friendly service.I went there with my friends from the school for a dinner last weekend.The food was sexy and amazing.However, when we arrived it was crowded and they gave us a table on the second floor. It was empty and we were alone.Despite that, the price was reasonable as it cost 77 pounds for four people.

If I were you, I would invite my friends to go and enjoy Arabic food
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badr saleem
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Friday, March 20, 2009