Al Hamra Restaurant

One of my favorites in London. cosy and friendly, with the best hummus this side of the middle east!

This is a cosy and friendly restaurant with traditional Lebanese menu. The service is quick and efficient. I enjoy the regular things — hummus, fattoush, and mixed grill. Friends have also tried the fish and other grilled food and were happy with selection.
I love sitting outside and enjoying a shisha (good flavour and clean water pipes). It is a cosy place to relax and people watch. Also owner is usually around and keeps an eye on guests to make sure they are satisfied with the place.

If you are in the mood for some over priced, very salty, dried piece of chicken with bad service, then this the place for you! They also have over priced, dried, salty, beef skewers also. The hummus is good and the outside sitting is nice, but the food and service need improvement.

The service was terrible unfortunately, the food was not great or tasty at all, I have tasted far better dishes that are similar. This was my first and LAST time to visit the place.

I go to London fairly often and always end up at Al Hamra. The people who work here are a-​holes. Sorry. They are. However, the food makes up for it. The crudite when you arrive is crazy. All kinds of vegetables. Get the hummus with lamb appetizer. Everything on the menu is good. If the weather is good, sit outside. There is a cool pub just down the alley if the place is busy or if you’re looking for an after dinner pint.

Good late night eats and atmosphere after a swank night at Loulous. You’ll smell the hookah and spices and be transported to another world. Do we have Lebanese this good in Toronto? I was going to 4 star this place based on taste and freshness but the service wasn’t amazing and I’m not going to get ahead of myself. Still though, yum. Puts Paramount to shame.

We had dinner here two nights ago based on a recommendation from my FIL. As he has fairly high standards, I expected this restaurant to be amazing. Unfortunately it was nothing close to that.
Service: Friendly enough but it definitely took a while to get menus, drinks, food, the bill, etc. Other parties arrived after us but were served before us. And they put the wrong entrees in front of the wrong diners — definitely odd as none of us moved seats.
Ambiance: Great location, clean restaurant.
Food: Just okay. Fattoush salad, usually my favorite, was far too acidic and needed more pita chips (my favorite part of the salad). Bread was a bit dry but the hummus was a hit at the table. Sea bass was tasty, and I like how they deboned it before serving, but the rice was dry (tasted old) and the green beans /​tomato entrée was quite terrible. Let’s just say I could have made better green beans and my cooking is pretty horrible.
Overall: This place is not cheap and with a ton of Lebanese options in London I’m not sure why we’d ever return?

If you can reconcile in your mind their clean & casual environment with the aloof, overdressed suits running this place – who parade about their floor as if patrolling a high-​rent gaming establishment – you’ll find the food to be flavorful, authentic and appetizing.
The absurdities of our dining adventure began when we were seated directly next to the only other party occupying this rather large, quiet restaurant. We were now essentially sharing a single table and an awkwardness now fell over this shared space. When we finally got a server’s attention and placed our order, we were informed that we had not met their minimum order amount and to order additional items. Too hungry to leave, we obliged, and as the server headed back to the kitchen the diner on my right shoulder gave my spouse a knowing, perhaps pitying, glance.
Getting service was a surreal exercise. Imagine, for a moment, that you’d like to catch your server’s attention, maybe to place your order, request a condiment, order a drink or ask for your check. Naturally, you attempt to catch his attention by casting your eyes over the group of servers clustering around the end of the service bar near the seemingly intoxicating scent of sterling pounds wafting from the nearby, brightly lit cashier’s booth. You find yourself mesmerized as you observe how they move about each other in a slow, engrossed dance. The spell is broken by a momentary surge of hope when your sever slips away from his group and back into the landscape of empty tables. But, alas, this time it is to service something – a drafty window perhaps – and then return to the warm bosom of his comrades. You watch hopelessly as he wanders, again and again, across this empty stage, and each time he coyly averts his eyes – this time darting to the left, perhaps next time to the right – while petting away from the direction of your gaze.
We did finally notice one fellow in an ordinary bus-​boy outfit carrying plates who caught our eye and brought us our check – and our release from this strange spectacle.

I can’t tell you if the food was good or not because they refused to serve us because we only wanted to share a couple of starters and have a cocktail.

Below average meal. Poor, inattentive service.

Ate here on a recent trip to the UK. We went down to Mayfair to go to a Thai restaurant that one of my teammates recommended and were sad to arrive to find it closed. Undaunted, said teammate suggested Lebanese and we enthusiastically agreed! The food was divine! Standouts were the Muhamara (MY TOP PICK!!!), Moutabbal Papa Ghanouge of Aubergine, the home made lamb sausages, and the Falafel. Everything we had was bursting with flavor. Service was adequate, though it took a while to get the bill… but that was mainly because when we arrived it was empty but packed when we left!!! The interior is quaint and cozy with lots of plants. If you dont know Lebanese food well, you are very safe just to order a variety… you seriously can’t go wrong.

Delicious food! Super yummy falafel, hummus, and lamb. Authentic Mediterranean food in a very cute, quaint location. Wine selection by the glass was very limited (two red options, two white options), but otherwise, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

We stumbled upon Al Hamra on a late evening while in Mayfair. Located in the cute Shepherd Market area, we were struggling with a place to have dinner. We decided to give this place a go and were seated quickly around 9 pm. Service was fast. This was both of our first time eating Lebanese and we were extremely pleased with the flavor. We started off with lentil soup which I assumed would be chunky, but to my surprise it was all broth. A bit disappointing. The other appetizer we got were the cheese rolls — phyllo dough fried with cheese and parsley inside — this was amazing, so it made up for the soup! I ordered a Shish Taouk (chicken dish) with rice and the chicken was basically inside a warm lavash bread — very tasty and almost a char-​grilled flavor. My husband ordered karfta antabiyeh, a lamb dish, in spicy tomato sauce. We both enjoyed the flavors a lot and were overwhelmed with the large portions! We wished we could finish our plates, but we maxed out about ²⁄₃ of the way. Very nice dining experience.

The best chicken soarma I’ve had in awhile — could easily go back weekly if I lived in Mayfair!
Everything we ordered was top-​notch, well-​prepared and delicious. The service and staff were impeccable.

I’ve now been to Al Hamra three times and thus it’s about time to write a review about it and my clear-​cut verdict is simple: superb!
On my first two visits I was in the company of a befriended couple, who really loves dining here. And since they have always just ordered for us, I didn’t have to make any decisions about the rather extensive menu-options…This last time though, I was not in the fortuitous situation of my usual generous hosts and so I was a little at loss when it came to place an order.
Luckily I recognised the waiter who’d served us during my last visit and double-​luckily he even recognised me:
Waiter: «Yes, I remember you. Aren’t you the guy who left his mobile on the table???»
Uli: «Erm…yes…» (blushing)
Anyway, he knew right away what would make us happy and so I entrusted him with ordering for us. And in order to ease spending-​decision of you future Unilocal-​visitors, I have compiled a list of things that I have deemed as simply amazing:
Hommos, Moutabal Aubergine, Muhamara, Tabouleh, Grilled Halloumi, Kibbeh Maklieh, Sawda Dajaj, Kibbeh Nayeh & Falafel.
I understand that this is a rather standard selection of standards, but I find that ordering just the appetizers is plenty and it will not drain your wallet as much. In fact, after we had finished this selection of small, but delectable dishes, we found ourselves too full to really enjoy the additional items of «Mixed Grill». (On top of that, the three orders of «Mixed Grill» alone totalled up to about £50 pounds and I simply could not justify that expense.)
So, if you want to enjoy good food in a luxurious, but not stuffy nor over-​the-​top fancy atmosphere, you should come here!

We went here based on the recommendation of the concierge at our hotel, and he was right to recommend it– we were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was.
I suggest the hummus and babaganoush (they spelled it papa ganoush or something). Especially the babaganoush.
Healthy, fresh, straightforward Lebanese cuisine. Even a person who has never had Lebanese food before can like this food because while it is «exotic,» the palate is so very universal. Fresh herbs, lemon, garlic, olive oil, and grilled meats. Who doesn’t like those things? Seriously?!

Food was pretty good. Service was great. Place is cute, but nothing unique or spectacular.

On vacation for three weeks — London, Paris and Dublin — and this was the best meal I had. Open late, friendly staff, decliious food. They had an amazing fatoush salad that I am still thinking about. Will definitely go back next time I’m in London.

It was 10:30pm, and my boyfriend and I were wandering around Mayfair for a good place to eat (and that was open!). This place was open, and he went in to ask if their kitchen was still open. Luckily it was, and we were seated right away. When we had our menus, I was really excited for Mediterrian cuisine, as the boyfriend never had it before! The waiter was incredibly attentive and honest, which was crucial because it gave me a wonderful dining experience.
It gave me my craving for something vegetarian and healthy (I don’t remember what I got, but I got the first item on the vegetarian menu which included peppers, eggplant, and tomato). The boyfriend didn’t know what to order, so I suggested that he order the quail as he never had it before. He was very pleased with the quail, but like any American, he wanted more of the greatness the quail offered.
Overall, it’s in a good section of London for restaurants, and although pricier, it gave a great and memorable dinner.

Very very good Lebanese food. With all the traditional fixings, to start we were brought a huge plate of vegetables (including a huge head of lettuce with which i still cant really understand what they wanted us to do)
I got the mix grill which came with minced lamb, chicken, and lamb kebabs. Obviously i had to order hommous and babaganouj as well, which were both absolutely delicious. It was also a nice touch that they came around with fresh hot pita every now and then.
We came in on a tuesday night and it was aboslutely packed, we were even almost turned away because we didnt have a reservation.#
The only reason I docked this restaurant of a star was because they kind of pressure you into ordering more than you actually want and they are not extremely friendly.
Nonetheless, the food is good, a bit pricey, but delish.