Al-Dar

Review based on Al Dar II on Kings Rd

This is undoubtedly an absolutely awful restaurant. In fact, lets get this straight right now - just because it has seats and tables doesn't necessarily make it a restaurant. This is really a dodgy kebab shop with a badly neglected seating area.

When you think of Lebanese food you expect succulent meats served on fragrant saffron rice with plenty of freshly prepared bread. What you get here is overcooked flavourless meat on weird rice/noodle or rice/lentil combinations that are so dry they are almost impossible to swallow. There was also some weirdly flavoured vegetable sauce that was served stone cold with pieces of hot meat floating around in it - we avoided eating it. The flavours, such that there are, are completely imbalanced with a lack of a clear theme.

The only things that were remotely passable were the fresh juices (ho-hum) and the Halloumi (more a testament to the quality of the product, it was still burnt on the outside rather than the crisp golden brown one would expect).

The "chef" is clearly not up to the task, most of the foods are badly imagined, well overcooked, then lumped on a plate without any flair for presentation. Almost everything is almost certainly bought in pre-cooked or prepared in batches and frozen. None of the employees seem to care less about the quality of their product or service, all of which indicates a restaurant that is coasting on the passing lunchtime crowd (more fool them - and us!). This place will probably sadly continue in it's rpesent terrible state for many years to come.

I never, ever thought I would say this, but I would even recommend going into McD's over this place!
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Denko
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I have no idea what the food is like.

I am sure it is fine.

I visited with my wife but after sitting for 20 minutes and being totally unable to get any service even after waving at waiters I decided it was time to LEAVE.

It was early in the day and not busy, in fact there were waiter standing around doing nothing, I felt totally ignored.

I don't think I will try it again any time soon............
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James
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, November 18, 2007

Walking on Edgware Road with a friend, we noticed that this place looked busier than many other similar restaurants in the area: we took this for a good sign and went in. Actually a bit too loud to have a peaceful conversation, but you expect that.

The food was good, although a mezze platter which the waiter claimed to be for 3 people wasn't actually that big. Being uncertain between Mouhalabieh and rice pudding as a dessert, I opted for the former because of the pistachio nuts it should have contained... so, when the dish came, I was disappointed to see there weren't any, in spite of what it said on the menu.

The service was bad: I felt just about tolerated rather than welcome, and when the bill came and I politely pointed out that they had charged us for a coffee we never ordered, the waiter came back a couple of minutes later with a correct bill but not a single word of apology for the mistake.

With so many other Lebanese restaurants around, I don't think I'll go to this one again.
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Giuseppe - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Absolutley terrible!!!! i came back here after many years for lunch, the service was terrible, the waiter took my order after 20mins of waiting and did not bother asking for our drinks we had to wait an additional 10-15 mins to order our drinks as they were busy seeing to the smokers outside. when our food arrived it had a hair in it !!!!! the food was average. after we ate we had to wait over 30mins to get the waiters attention, we did think of walking out at this point! When the bill arrived they bumped up the prices & added service charge which they never used to.

This used to be one of the best lebanese restaurants around, its a shame as the standards (this includes food, service, decor) have dropped dramatically. i will never eat here again!!
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suzie
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Thursday, August 02, 2007

The food here was average, the service was actually very good, the problem I had was when I went to the ladies room and you could see into the kitchen and the waitress was sitting chatting to the chef and SMOKING over the food, what kind of chef allows someone to smoke in their kitchen, I’m afraid I would never go here again. The only good thing was the friendly waiter, change the chef!
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Michelle
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, October 30, 2006

I went there with a friend. The restaurant is not very nice but the quality of the food is good and we had a large dinner with less than 20 pound each. If you want to have some good quality lebanese food and you're not looking for a romantic place, that's your restaurant.
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paolo
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 8
Thursday, June 29, 2006

This was, by all means, my worst experience in a restaurant ever. We went to A******** in Kensington High Street on Friday evening. We ordered big meze starter for 3 of us and main meal each to follow. Ordered some Lebanese wine, to try, which was very sour and awful. After about hour wait our starter arrived together with the main meal. The waiter apologised mentioning that the chef was very busy and he got it all mixed up. We thought ok no problem it can't happen. However, the starter was cold and the falafels and lamb starters were frozen inside, literally. The main course was almost cold to and the meat felt like rubber. Horrible experience, I would never ever go back again.
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alisa
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 12, 2006