Yalla Yalla (Lebanese) – London, England (8.5/10)
Aug 17th, 2009 by admin
Background:
I booked a table for a work lunch at new Lebanese eaterie Yalla Yalla, having heard positive reports of the food there. ‘Yalla’ means ‘hurry up!’ or ‘let’s go!’ in Arabic and is a most familiar word to me, because an ex-Lebanese boyfriend used to say it to me constantly. Not that I was a dawdler or particularly slow, but perhaps he was just an impatient person. When we arrived, we couldn’t even get through the door, as there was a lengthy takeaway queue, which remained for the entire two hours, apart from a brief ten minute respite when we could actually see the other side of the room!
First impressions:
Fortunately our table was ready for us. Unfortunately, as Yalla Yalla had been featured in the Metro that day (which I only found out as I was leaving), it was one of their busiest days ever and there were only two incredibly friendly but overworked waitresses. Insanely hot inside, even with the door wide open and a portable air conditioner right next to our table, it really felt like I was back in Beirut. I was almost ready to say ‘Yalla!’ to my colleagues after 15 minutes of non-service (though I did get many apologetic glances and smiles from the waitresses), when one miraculously appeared in front of me to take our order.
What we ordered:
With two vegetarians among us (the reason I chose Yalla Yalla), I ordered all ten vegetarian meze on the menu (see list below), plus three non-vegetarian dishes – makalé samak (deep fried tiger prawns, calamar & white bait with spring onions, crispy aubergine & chilli minted greek yoghurt, £5,50), a main of lahém meshoué (charcoal grilled marinated lamb skewers, grilled tomato, sumac onion salad & vermicelli basmati rice, £8.00) and the daily special of farrouj (charcoal grilled baby chicken with garlic, thyme and sumac potato wedges, £9.00). Unfortunately they didn’t have any kibbé nayyé (lamb tartar with spiced cracked wheat, spring onions, fresh mint & basil, £4.00) left, which I’ve had in Beirut and absolutely loved. I’ll definitely order that next time.
The meze are generally quite small in size, apart from the shockingly large fatayer spinach, which came as one giant pastry that had to be divided up. We ordered two of these, not knowing how large they were, as well as doubling up on the hommos and baba ghannouj for the vegetarians. Most of the meze dishes were suitable for sharing, although the pastries and the halloumi required cutting up.
- Hommos (chickpea purée, tahini & fresh lemon juice dip, £3.75)
- Baba ghannouj (charcoal grilled aubergine purée, tahini & fresh lemon juice dip, £4.00)
- Labné bil thum (Greek yoghurt with garlic, spring onions & olive oil dip, £3.50)
- Fattoush (gem lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spring onion, mint, raddish, parsley & tossed crispy pita bread with sumac, red wine vinegar & olive oil salad, £4.00)
- Tabboulé (chopped parsley, mint, spring onion, tomato, olive oil, lemon juice & cracked wheat salad, £3.50)
- Falafel (chickpea & broad beans patties with salads, tahini & garlic yoghurt sauce, £3.50)
- Batata harra (spicy sautéed potato with red pepper, corriander, garlic, cumin & fresh red chilli, £3.50)
- Halloum meshoué (grilled Halloumi cheese with tomato, black olives, fresh mint & olive oil, £3.75)
- Samboussek jibné (pastry filled with feta & halloumi cheese & fresh mint, £3.50)
- Fatayer spinach (pastry filled with baby spinach, spring onions, sumac, pine nuts & olive oil, £3.50)
Overall, everything was incredibly delicious. The hummous was the best I’ve had in years. It was so fresh and garlicky and just so ‘right’. Similarly, the baba ghannouj, which I’m going to be making at home for a cookery book review, was superb. I particularly liked the batata harra, which reminded me of the paprika fried potatoes I used to enjoy so much. The lamb was overcooked and dry, but still tasty enough. The farrouj (chicken) on the other hand, was pure heaven. It was tender, succulent, perfectly grilled and I could have eaten the entire portion on my own. If you ever see this at Yalla Yalla, it must be ordered. This was the star dish of the entire lunch.
The verdict:
The service was slow, but I could see that they weren’t coping very well with the crowds and yet they remained remarkably friendly and composed under pressure. The food was extremely fresh and excellent value for money. Yalla Yalla is only a tiny space with about ten small tables seating no more than twenty people. However, they do take bookings, which is great news. And if you can bear the lunchtime queues, you can also take your food away. There is only one main (moussaka!), if you’re vegetarian, but you could certainly fill up on the ten vegetarian meze and free pita bread as my colleagues did. As for me, I’m very much looking forward to returning to try more meaty dishes and the pastries at the counter!
The bill came to £88.00 for six people, with beers and soft drinks, but excluding service charge and tip.
You can see the Yalla Yalla menu here and the entire set of food photos here.
10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact details:
Yalla Yalla
1 Greens Court (between Brewer Street & Wardour Street)
London W1F 0HA
Tel: 0207 0287 7663
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
Everything looks so delicious, esp the charcoal grilled aubergine purée, tahini & fresh lemon juice dip, love it when they garnished this dip with pomegranate, looks like little ruby gemstones nested atop!
Those pastries staging at the counter make me wanna fly to London immediately!
I definitely want to try this place but I’m going to wait for things to die down a bit first! I am very intrigued by the hummus because I can never get mine quite right at home.
Oh I’m so glad you liked it! In most Lebanese places, there are usually a few dishes you wouldn’t orger again, but here everything was fresh and delicious. They had great reviews in the Metro, TimeOut and TheLondonPaper last week so I think they’ll be busy for a while!
I’ve hearda lot about this place, it sounds great. Looking forward to trying it out soon, especially the kibeh. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it yet; I walk through Brewer and Wardour Street twice a day and I’ve been looking!
Helen a good friend of mine who is a half Lebanese haf Sicilian Texan has been raving about Yalla Yalla since they opened – what he particularly likes is the freshness and that many dishes are prepared a la minute as they should do.
Your great review has jolted me into going very soon !
That’s it, I’m going this week! Yalla Yalla’s been on my list since Nick Lander reviewed it in the FT Weekend a few months ago, might pop down post-lunch to check it out when not so busy.
Great post
The dishes look wonderful! You made my mouth salivate reading you describe it and I always like a place when the waiters/waitresses acknowledge you even though they can’t get to you just yet. The extra waiting time would have been worth it!
Great review as always!
That makalé samak seriously looks amazing, like the rest of London, I’m putting this on my to eat list, but like Helen G says, going to wait for things to calm down abit before finally making a visit
KennyT – everything really was so delicious, I was pleasantly surprised. Next time I’m saving room for those pastries!
Helen – good idea. Re the hummous, whenever G makes it, I always say it’s not quite right, but I don’t know what’s missing or what’s wrong with it.
Kate – yes, everything was superb! I was quite overwhelmed by the takeaway queue and quite hot and bothered sitting inside. So glad I was patient!
Lizzie – it’s on a tiny tiny street between Wardour and Brewer, parallel to Peter Street. Would be nervous to walk down it late at night…
Gastro1 – absolutely. I don’t mind the wait when it’s that good. The spinach pastries took a while and after I chased it up, they still took ages to arrive, because they were just being baked. They were amazing.
Signe – good luck! Either book a table or go very off-peak. Let me know your thoughts on the food.
Chee Packer – the friendly and sympathetic acknowledgements saved me from leaving. If they’d avoided all eye contact as some people like to do, I would have decided to leave much earlier.
kang – thanks Kang! Good idea to wait a bit til the fuss dies down. You don’t want to feel rushed when taking photos. I had seconds before my colleagues pounced on each dish!
Helen Yuet Ling
I’ve heard a lot about this place too! The makalé samak looks so good and so does everything else. another must-try! Great review!
Per my Twitter this morning, I was seriously considering Yalla Yalla for lunch yesterday, but was too lazy to take the bus over so opted for a walk eastward instead. My falafel was good but perhaps not as enticing as your Yalla Yalla!
Wow, that’s saying a lot for the poor waitstaff to keep up under what sounds like a lot of pressure. I love good Lebanese and not much beats munching on good meze. I need to find a good Lebanese restaurant in SF, not as obvious as in DC, funny how those regional differences pop up.
Everything looks fantastic.
Your photos make this place look absolutely delicious! I’m always out & about in that part of town, Yalla’s definitely on my to-try list now.
Helen, glad to read that you enjoyed Yalla Yalla and luckily for you it’s local to your work.
I tried their kibbe nayye on my last visit and found it overseasoned to my palate but I’ve really enjoyed everything else I’ve tried there. The farrouj sounds excellent, it’s obviously worth keeping an eye out for their daily specials. I also really like the home made lemonades and the damascus milk pudding (muhallaabiya).
Talking of raw meat, I hope that you’re planning to try chicken sashimi and basashi (horse sashimi) when you’re in Japan, you won’t regret it I promise you!!
Well, I visited yesterday and like Oonth, found the lamb tartare to be far too salty. Otherwise, all the other meze dishes we tried were delicious, and the orange blossom lemonade was very refreshing. I don’t know how your photos came out so well, it was pretty dark in there yesterday!
Oh my gosh, i love Lebanese food and everything on this post looks spot-on! Since London is not exactly next door i’ll be on the look-out for something just as good in New-york. Tough.
Checked your images, parsley in the Tabboulé could need some mincing, but probably that’s because they’re understaffed and overloaded.
pigpigscorner – everything was delicious, even the overcooked lamb!
Krista – I’m sure I would have gone for a closer option too. Luckily Yalla Yalla is only a five minute walk from my office.
OysterCulture – they coped remarkably well & I’m really glad we stayed! Good luck with your search for a good Lebanese restaurant in SF…
canelvr – let me know what you think if you manage to get in through the door!
Oonth – I’ll have to leave room for the damascus milk pudding. It really sounds like my type of pudding! And thanks for the reminder to eat chicken and horse sashimi in Japan. Eek.
Lizzie – I don’t want to be disappointed by the kibbe nayye when I go back! Re the photos, it’s the amazing Leica, not me. It was dark in there when I was there.
zenchef – well, if you ever come to London! New York in my opinion has many great restaurants in a wide price range. In London you have to look a lot harder. I miss New York so much…
Mangerati – well, you’re probably right there.
Helen Yuet Ling
I love this place too! It has sort of become a victim of it’s own success in that the service is a little slow, but the girls who work there are so lovely and friendly you can’t really hold it against them. Please try the Kibbe Lahme next time you go there, it’s delicious! Also the chocolate tart is a must try!
Dolly – great news! The waitresses are so sweet and friendly, I forgave them (and I’m a very impatient person!). I can’t wait to return to try all the other dishes now. Just waiting for everyone else to give Yalla Yalla a try before I go back…
Helen Yuet Ling
The food in Yalla Yalla is very good but I find it way too salty… Everything was overly salty (I admit I don’t use much salt at home though) The hommos was salty and the deep fried calamari was also too salty
The best dish was Samboussek lahmé… I have no problem just eating a dozen of it by myself
Andrew – I’ve heard others say that about certain dishes. I didn’t have that problem when I went, but instead the service was very slow. I’ll try some more things over another lunch soon…
I really like your website and I REALLY liked this post. I’ve just moved to London so I need to learn about all these fabulous places, but also I’m a vegetarian and sometimes really good veggie food can be hard to come by. Thanks for sharing!
Kelly – thank you, that’s really kind of you to say so. I’ll have to remember that you’re a reader when I write my future restaurant posts! I usually remember to mention vegetarian dishes because the husband doesn’t eat meat or seafood. If you look at my post on Garufa for example, an Argentinian steakhouse, you’ll find that the best dishes were actually vegetarian!
Helen Yuet Ling