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Yalla Yalla

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12 Winsley Street, W1W 8HQ Full details & map

Café: Lebanese

 

Time Out says   9 Users say 4/5 Rate it

Posted: Oct 28 2011

With its jarring mix of neon-yellow, black, white and wood, Yalla Yalla is hardly a place to linger. Tall stools around a communal high table, and an off-Oxford Street location, also suggest pit stop. Yet on our Sunday visit, service was so lethargic and distracted we had no choice but to try and enjoy a leisurely lunch.

The food was diverting, sumptuous enough to grace a formal restaurant, and prices are kinder than those often paid for lesser cooking. Sawda djej (chicken livers with garlic and pomegranate molasses) is typical of the style: big-flavoured ingredients harmoniously combined to thrill the taste buds. Chicken shawarma is nothing short of a feast; even the rice (here with vermicelli) seems ethereally tasty.

The menu is dominated by Lebanese meze and main course classics, so the surprises are all on the palate. We loved chargrilled sea bass with citrus rice and tomato and coriander sauce. Specials might include pumpkin kibbeh parcels, filled with spinach and chickpeas, or grilled halloumi and watermelon salad. To drink, there's an appealing range of juice combos and intriguing wines from the Lebanon. Takeaway is available for those who really are in a hurry.

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Yalla Yalla details

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Address

Yalla Yalla

12 Winsley Street W1W 8HQ

Transport Tottenham Court Road tube

Telephone

020 7637 4748

Yalla Yalla website

Meals served 10am-11.30pm Mon-Fri; 11am-11.30pm Sat

Main courses £4-£13.75. Set lunch £6.50 2 courses

Credit cards AmEx, MC, V

Facilities

Tables outdoors ( 7, pavement ), Babies and children admitted ( high chairs ), Disabled ( toilet ), Takeaway service

Yalla Yalla map

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Comments & ratings 4/5 (Average of 9 ratings)

By Nishy - Feb 28 2012
5/5

think this is a brilliant restaurant. excellent value and high quality food. nice buzz about the place too along with great service. best place of it's kind by far!

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By Manuel - Feb 5 2012
4/5

Our office local for a quick lunch great mezzes and super wraps try the soujoc wrap (spicy sausage) quick and friendly service by eversmiling east european crew no mater how busy they are......well worth a visit

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By JHB - Jan 26 2012
5/5

Excellent mezzes with professional and attentive service, staff seem to enjoy themselves and pass that on to their customers, would highly recommend the sambousseks stuffed with cheese or lamb and the hummus with lamb ..yummy.

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By AnnaL - Dec 14 2011

I went here last night with 3 friends and had an excellent meal. The babaganoush and cheesey sambourek are heavenly, in fact everything we ate was delicious!

Staff were friendly and polite and although we had to wait for a table it was quickly turned arround and we were kep amused with drinks and complementary olives.

I will be back, although having been to quite a few places on this list it isn't the cheapest

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By D Cohen - Nov 24 2011

First visit to Yalla at Winsley street north Oxford st, Lunch was very busy, retaurant and the T away counter, we were 5 of us, they promised us to have a table in 20 mn, and eventually we had it at the exact time they promised which was professional.
The food was awsome, full of flavour, the falafel the best in London, Hummus creamy and bit garlicky which for me work very well, Fattoush salad with the apple vinaigrette was exceptional....lemonades was so refreshing like the pineapple and ginger.
Service was attentive, no rush although they were so busy.
So far the best experience in a well organised Lebanese street food in London and the best authentic food

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By SIMON - Oct 19 2011

Excellent lunch

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By Crewe - Sep 29 2011

My favourite haunt north of Oxford street for take away lunch, great value for money wraps and mezzes , have yet to eat in but the queues of people waiting for a table must be a good sign

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By Karim - Sep 27 2011
5/5

First time visit for me this lunch and had the fortune of having one of the best kofta wraps I've had in London, the unit was very busy and the quality of the wrap and the friendly service was excellent.....highly recommend

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By Emily - Sep 25 2011
4/5

Had the special offer for Lunch with a glass of water melon lemonade and the bill came only under £10.....EXCELLENT quality food and smiley service.
Great bargain for the west end and specially for Market place area.
Highly reccommended.

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Nick Clement
By Nick - Sep 7 2011
4/5

Great for a quick wrap for lunch.

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By ADAM - Aug 24 2011
1/5

Just had the worst experience ive ever had in a restaurant!! This place has the worst Manager in History at the WINSLEY STREET Branch, he has the worst Customer Service relations ever.

Ive been in quite a few times here, recommended and taken friends and always enjoyed the food. So i decided to try a take out wrap. Never again! the service was chaotic, the was no system to placing orders, people who ordered after me got the wraps before me, they couldnt find a card machine so was left waiting even longer,
they had no idea what was under the toasting press, so they had to keep opening up everything which took longer. Ive been in places that serve taken away wraps which are toasted, and its never taken this long

Now i explained this the the Manager, and my experience as a customer.......but he didnt want to hear any off it, all i got was explained over and over was that it takes time to cook the wraps. which i totally understand, but they could have speed it up by having a better system. so he keeps saying this, making me more angry, he just didnt want to hear my experience as a customer.

He then basically told me to go away if i didnt like the service and never come back

im very shocked by this, as all he need to say was that he was sorry, the sorry goes along way, and that he would look into it.

Not much to ask, really, that way he would have kept me as a customer, and also all of my friends, im now going to tell everyone ive recommended it to NOT TO GO

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By J.C - Mar 30 2011
5/5

Addicted!

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By Paul - Mar 26 2011

excellent as always.....

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By Emmy - Mar 19 2011

FANTASTIS food - some of the best Lebanese I've had in London. Excellent service, great atmosphere and all at a very reasonable price. Yalla Yalla (on Winsley St) is minutes off the hustle & bustle of Oxford St - the perfect place to stop and recharge your batteries with some delicious food!

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By Kate Adams - Mar 5 2011
1/5

I went to Yalla Yalla with 5 friends on Friday night, as nice as the food was, our evening was completely overshadowed by the appaling service we received. We were firstly given a tiny table to try and squeeze all 6 of us onto. We were then left waiting for at least 15 minutes before being asked if we would like to order drinks. After ordering food, 4 people's main courses arrived when we were still eating our starters and we were left to tidy the table to make room for the plates. The 2 remaining main dishes arrived after not only had the other 4 of us finished eating, but our plates had been cleared. There were no apologies throughout and all we were offered at the end were a few baklava. Not happy.

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