New Tayyabs

Absolutely manic (waited 40 minutes for a table we had booked) but I guess that's what happens in Tayyabs on a Saturday night. That said when the food eventually arrived it was really delicious. Everything was piping hot, perfectly spiced, fresh and tasty. The veggie dishes were delicious (the baby aubergines, the pumpkin dish, dhal all excellent). The chops for starter were also great and come highly recommended. It's a crazy place (on a saturday at least) but once we'd adjusted to the fact that it was frenetic and packed it was actually quite fun and the atmosphere was fun I'd say, go, try it, expect to wait but also expect really good and very reasonable food. I'd definitely go back again.
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Emma - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 05, 2010

The first time I went to this restaurant was 12 years ago when it was an authentic pakistani restaurant serving good food in a good athmosphere. They certainly became a victim of their own success. They doubled in size, added some horrible interior (blue neon light) which makes it look more like a seedy strip club. Their service is appalling with meat and sides being served with a gap of 30 minutes (!) It is so noisy inside that you are unable to have a conversation.

The food is mediocre at best but still quite good and the price is reasonable.

Somehow they are still really busy and they seem to live from their reputation.

One can still have dinner there but I wouldnt out of my route to go there.
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Tim Tuner
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 5
Friday, January 15, 2010

Booked a table before we arrived. Good thing too. Saw the mass of people waiting outside from down the street and knew this was a hot spot! The queue inside was long and no one seemed in a rush to leave. Caught the attention of the seating staff who promptly seated me and my daughter, well before our booked time. Very cramped and the table very small but was not bothered as I was interested in the food and the service. Ordered the famous chops and Mixed Grill. Waited reasonable amount of time, and ordered a jug of Lassi to kill time. If you counting calories, avoid! but threw caution to the wind and we drank every single drop. The food arrived smoking hot, WONDERFUL! fresh, tasty. Get my hand in there to eat the chops, No shame! A large starter could easly act as a main but I would recommend ordering a bit of everything as it is so good. Highly recommend it if you into good authentic, tasty local food. Planning to take my Asian friends here and show them the gem I found! You have to give this one a try if you venturing into Indian food.
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Sharron Harris
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 04, 2010

Sunday, 27th December 2009. Party of 4, arrived about 3.0 pm without a booking. Parking is a nightmare, strongly advise travelling by underground to Aldgate East then a brisk walk. The restaurant was beginning to empty so we were seated immediately but waiting staff was more interested in settling accounts and clearing tables than in taking our order. However, after order was taken delivery was reasonably quick, but staggered but we were sharing, not exclusive dishes, so we all got underway together. Waiter was attentive during the meal and prompt to clear any plate which became available, just as well as table was rather small. especially with hot dishes in a sort of wooden carry case. Bill brought promptly at our request and settled with alacrity. Boss's Maserati with treasured number plate parked outside so he is obviously doing well and doesn't mind his customers knowing..
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Brian McCarthy, Hornchurch, Essex.
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Sunday, December 27, 2009

I cannot knock the food. The restaurant itself is nicely decked out. The waiting staff is efficient and friendly enough but that is where the positives end. Even if you book you will be made to wait. You are left standing in the middle of a gangway awkwardly trying not to get in peoples way. It is very crowded. Not in the nice atmospheric way either. The poor people who have not booked, have to queue. This looong queue runs inside the restaurant. I over heard a 25 minute, but we had a 15 minute wait and we booked so it is probably closer to an hour wait(but I could be wrong). How many people should you fit into a building of this size? The queue imposes on some of the tables in such a way you could imagine hand bag hitting you on the back of the head while you eat but that only affects the people on the fringes. Every table in there is wedged in so there is very little room. The Waiter had to take our order over the top of the table next to us. Awkward! Once finished eating someone took our plates within 3 minutes of finishing and the bill arrived shortly afterwards. We took the hint. It was packed so people obviously love the place, but I just don’t see it. The food is good but not that good. Oh and they dont server alcohol but you can take some in with you.
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Garry
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 7
Friday, December 11, 2009

It is the best restaurant with North Indian/Pakistani cuisine my husband (of Indian heritage) and I could find so far. The food is delicious, they have a tandoor oven, the service is very friendly and the prices are fair. There is no alcohol served but you can bring your own and they will provide you with glasses. Yes, it is crowded, but that only speaks for the great food. It is recommended to book a table, what you can do online. After a long trial and error we finaly found our restaurant and for us it is worth travelling more than one hour to get there.
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Sibylle Chaudhuri
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Friday, December 04, 2009

If you value your complexion stay away. Beyond too oily. Also very drafty.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

After hearing so much hype I thought I would try Tayyabs - what a disappointment. We waited over an hour for a table...were rushed through service so that those queuing could get a table. The waiters were polite but their intention clearly was ot get people to eat quickly and leave. The food was good but I have eaten equally good food at similar prices in Upper Tooting Street/Tooting High Street and Green Street without the long waits and the noisy crowded atmosphere.

Why all this fuss about Tayyabs?
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 8
Saturday, November 21, 2009

I do not understand why this restaurant is busy. They do not deserve this hype. Food is average and service is bad. Waste of time I do not recommend this restaurant.
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ashok
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

It is generally acknowledged that most ethnics do not eat at ethnic restaurants. They are only too well aware of the shortcomings in the food department. My daughters had virtually forced me into going to this restaurant because they thought food was so 'amazing'. My total dislike of restaurant food has been confirmed over time whenever on the rare occasions I have risked venturing out. The frustratingly long wait in the dim lit interior often snaking out onto the footpaths seems an indication of promise. Until that is the starters are delivered. A bout of coughing and eye irritation fills the cramped seating area. Our warm bits of dead chicken and sheep are piled on a cast iron plate which which seems to have been cooked hot, the plate that is, so that the massala coating and spray of lemon juice sizzles and burns adding acrid smoke to the dingy darkness. I like to see what I am eating. Dimness is a camouflage. After the bout of cacophonous choking the rest is downhill. I ordered bitter gourd in split chickpea dhaal - rarely seen on menus. And for a good reason. Three lonely and slight pieces of ready boiled gourd, ladled from a tin, had been folded into boiled dhaal which had been turned over in barely warm veg oil. It lacked any flavour or taste and could just be seen in the dimness. Going to such food outlets on an empty stomach with hunger in trail, is to be recommended. The lamb curry taken by my daughters looked rich and dark in the darkness. It was an amalgam of cubes of plain tasting sheep in a thick tomatoey sauce. As the two did not taste of the other, one can only assume that they had just been introduced to each other solely for our pleasure. Indian/Pakistani restaurants are for students and for not for Indians/Pakistani grown ups and families. I have not been back since.
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Tariq Mirza
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Sunday, October 25, 2009