Maroush

Worse takeaway experience ever. I walked in during my lunch break having preordered online for pick up a shawarma, the person gave me a receipt but did not add the online discount. The staff was all busy talking to each other and not attending to customers. Another customer walked in and said they gave him the wrong order who also ordered take away. I handed over my money to pay, the server wasn’t paying attention and gave me the wrong change back. He ran off before I could even talk to him. Eventually I complained and got the right change back with my discount. The worst part of this all is that the wrap tasted horrible! Never again will I be back. Sorry!

Good food. I liked both dishes I tried. Service was quick and friendly.
Really liked the hummus.

Excellent!!! If you get chance try it. My husband vegetarian and I am not so they bright us a huge selection of tapas to try. Would definitely eat here again.

«Terrible experience — spilt juice over clothes — would not recommend»
The waiter accidentally spilt juice all over my friend’s clothes and trousers, and his trousers were all drenched and stained, and it looked like someone had thrown up on him, or he had a shower. Glass was also on the floor and they had to change the table. Having made a special effort to travel two hours into London, he had to leave the restaurant before the starters came, to get changed! In total 4 hrs of his time was spent commuting. The waiter asked why he had left, although it was obvious it was understandably uncomfortable for him to sit in wet trousers all night! The waiter looked perplexed. The food that arrived was average the mixed kebab was bland and tasteless. The waiter packed up about half of the food we asked to takeaway, and he probably thrown out the rest by mistake and did not tell us. I was so frustrated and tired at this point I couldn’t be bothered to raise this.
The final straw was when we received the bill. Instead of offering us a discount, they brought us complimentary biscuits and fruit which we were too full to eat (and said we didn’t want), and they gave us complimentary drinks which they originally spilt in the first place! They even charged us cover charge which I thought was really unreasonable. The reason was because it was «fine dining» — this definitely was not fine dining and as a small gesture for the inconvenience and upset they caused during the night they should have offered at least a small discount on the bill. Avoid at all costs.

I was excited to try Maroush for a few reasons. Firstly, London has a bigger Lebanese community, so I expect their Lebanese food to be more authentic than what you find in Dublin. Secondly, I LOVE the Maroush in Beirut. Expectations were high.
The food was okay, nothing too mind blowing. The portions were big, but plain, The shawarma plate is merely some shawarma on bread. No side salad or fries or extra garlic. Not what a restaurant in Lebanon would give. At the end of the meal, they gave us some fruits and sweets, which was nice.
The staff were really friendly. There was a belly dancer which was cool too.
It was okay Lebanese food, but not worthy of the Maroush name.

Good meal, adequate service. Not an inexpensive meal but pretty tasty. A solid option for the area.

I’d give Maroush Express 3.5 stars. Came in for a midnight dinner. Staff were friendly and efficient. I got my hopes up when I saw another table with a bottle of Château Ksara’s Reserve du Couvent, a Lebanese Syrah-​dominant blend that goes down nicely with lamb and olives, but alas, our server informed us that they stopped serving wine at midnight on the dot, so we made do with mint lemonade (which was nice). We shared some olives and pickles and then the braised lamb shank and grilled lamb. The lamb shank was perfectly tender and came with a huge helping of cardamom rice. Tip: definitely order the house-​made chile sauce and garlic sauce. Both are winners.
In terms of food quality, this was one of the better meals I’ve had on Edgware Road, and definitely a good place to go if you want a quick, no-​frills meal for a reasonable price close to Hyde Park. I plan to check out their fancier big brother Maroush Gardens, located across the street, for some kibbeh nayeh (lamb tartare — my favorite Lebanese dish) next time I’m in the neighborhood — Express doesn’t have it on the menu, sadly, but Gardens has several versions of it.

The food is excellent, this is probably the best Lebanese food I have ever taste in my life! I warmly recommend you to try the shish taouk!

Excellent and delicious Chicken Shawarma Sandwich with Garlic sauce and Melon Jiuce. However its always busy, so be prepared to queue for 20 minutes.

WOWWWWW this is the best food ever. Everything I tried was just great. The service was welcoming, the prices were ok (comparing to Maroush II in Chelsea which is the same just much more expensive and less selection). I can just say that if it had been next to my home, I would eat here every day. Amazing salads, amazing everything. And the lots of Arabs sitting there themselves probably says it all.

My beloved brought me here for my big birthday dinner before going to see Phantom of the Opera. This place is known for having belly dancers and good entertainment, but we were a little early in the evening for that! We were probably the first customers of the evening, and it was a very large downstairs area.
There was no pre-​theatre option, so we ordered from the a la carte menu. We strongly suspected that the plate sizes were going to be enormous, so Harry and I ordered a main course each, and I had one of their fruit cocktails, which was very much like a smoothie of magical deliciousness.
Having never tried Lebanese cuisine outside of a home environment, I was very much hoping to try a raw dish called Kibbeh Nayyeh, which I think I’m rightly suspecting can’t be sampled outside of a Lebanese home or the Middle East, but I was hopeful none-​the-​less! I couldn’t remember the full name of the dish, so ended up ordering Kibbeh Saynieh instead. This was minced lamb mixed with spices and cracked wheat, filled with sautéed minced meat, pine kernels and onion. It came with a lovely yoghurt and cucumber sauce. The waiter also gave us a giant bowl of raw vegetables to go with our dish, but I couldn’t manage it.
The food was indeed tasty, as suspected, and I’m strongly of the opinion that most dishes are designed to be shared between at least two people, to be eaten family style. After having a main each, we were just stuffed to the gunnels. We had flirted with dessert before starting, but after eating we just wanted to get our bill. We were given a complimentary plate of fruit afterwards, too! I gave the melon a heroic effort, but again… we were just too full to partake. Felt I had to be rolled out the door afterwards!
I found the staff to be pleasant and attentive, and thought the food was lovely. Looking at the menu, you might think that the food is pricey, but the price definitely reflects the quantity. I’m just sad we didn’t get to see the evening’s entertainment!

Very nice restaurant, tasty food and the staff were lovely. I had a sea bass which although was tasty wasnt amazing as a sea bass should be and was also very bony as they had basically split the fish down the middle. We also ordered the kibhei (sp) which was a lamb dish and absoloutely brilliant full of lamb and pine nuts and other delicious things. The restaurant brought us a complimentary bowl of vegetables which we could use in our meal which was a nice touch and then a full fruit bowl for desert which was really very nice of them.
All in all a very nice restaurant, tasty, spacious with attentive staff.

Very high quality Lebanese Reataurant and amazingly fresh and flavorful for a chain. Loved their baba ganoush and hummus as well as their lamb Kabab (even though I am not a big lamb fan). Very efficient service and good for both done in and take out. If you are doing take out the Maroush express nearby is a faster and cheaper choice.

We are very familiar with Lebanese culinary. However, this restaurant is specified by an unfriendly staff, high prices and low quality of the food. That’s a pity because oriental food is very good normally. We felt that the humus was freshly taken out of the can. And so on.
The music entertainment was so loud that no one can hold a conversation.

Apparently I’m in line with most other reviewers of this place with my 3 star rating. Overall I liked it, I was completely stuffed when I left, but there was just something missing from the experience. Also, the food is good, but why is it so expensive? I can go upstairs and get a take-​away kabob for £5, so why does my dinner cost over £30?
That said, it was hilarious at 9pm when the DJ turned up (on a Monday night!) and blasted some tunes. I thought I was in a time warp for a bit until I realized that there was also a belly dancer involved (my view was obstructed…). I’m curious what this place is like later in the week — does it get busier? Are there actually people there to watch the belly dancer? Do people get up and dance with her when she comes over and asks them to? Something to check out another time possibly. If I’m hungry and am desperately craving Lebanese food.

Geschmacklich OK, aber zwei von Drei Essern aus meiner Runde ging es hinterher schlecht

Oh Maroush. I came here for dinner on my second night in London. When we arrived, we sat upstairs, which has kind of a quick-​serve takeout place vibe. My friend with us is Lebanese so he said some stuff to the owner, asked what the best wine was to get, ordered a bottle, then told us we’d opted for the chef’s tasting menu – something like £20 or 30 per person. They asked us if we’d like to go downstairs, which I’m super glad we did.
They were setting up for live music, which we feared would be annoying, but the space downstairs is much bigger and actually feels like a restaurant.
The food was insane. We started with pita with two kinds of hummus, plus a basket of veggies– carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, and more we didn’t eat. We had other tasty appetizers, including halloumi, but we ordered that specially.
I was stuffed, but dinner had not yet arrived. That course was two huge plates of meat over rice. Both were seriously seasoned and tasty. Then there was dessert. A ton of fruit, and mini baklavas and other savory fingery foods. Those I somehow found room for.
I left sickly full and happy we’d chosen to walk from the hotel.
Oh yeah, and there were belly dancers.
I’d take off a couple stars for atmosphere since this isn’t really my scene (especially if hookah’s not included), but the food itself was good.

Loved this place. My friends and I were hunting for a cheaper chicken shawerma wrap and found one here, maroush express. The quality is top shelf and the price isn’t bad at all. I also recommend trying their hummous starter, and the Lebanese coffee.

I was very disappointed at my last visit, the service and quality of food has deteriorated tremendously. My first visit back in 97ish and through 2003 was always consitently good. Alas, the past few years it has gotten terrible.
I am very disappointed to say, I will never go back.

As a member of the Clean Plate Committee (CPC), you can understand my concern when, on a recent visit to Maroush, I was struggling to finish everything I had ordered. Once you retain one loser on the CPC, you have to let everyone join. Shameful.
They only have two by-​the-​glass wine offerings: Lebanese house white and red. I got the red, and it was tasty. The salad was enormous, and being hungry, I did all the damage I could (I ate it all). When the cubed chicken wrap arrived, I took an unfortunate dry bite. After the third try, with my CPC membership in jeopardy, I found a work around: disassemble the wrap and reassemble the best bits into tasty bites. When I checked out the contents, there were slivers of pickles, some garlic sauce, and tomatoes. I did the best I could, quietly cursing myself for having eaten all of the salad before the wrap arrived. That flavorful salad could have added bright juiciness to my wrap.
Dry wrap aside, the meal was good, and the servers were a sweet bunch. Just as I was thinking of a sugar fix, I was presented with 3 (free!) sugar-​loaded pieces of baklava. I heard angels singing. It was probably the best baklava I have ever had — then again, it was in front of me at the time, so my opinion could be biased. No pistachios or anything fancy, but I don’t think that’s what Maroush is about. And if you’re not into hookah-​ing or a big bill, it’s probably okay.

When I eat ethnic food, I try to seek opinions from friends with a background in that style of cuisine to get local opinion on restaurants. Maroush seems to divide opinion quite sharply — it’s either viewed as a corporate soul-​less chain or a good reliable purveyor of Middle Eastern cuisine in London.
I’ve lost count of the number of branches of Maroush which have now sprung up but I still return to this Edgware Road branch as walking down the road with its long line of restaurants with customers out front smoking shish pipes makes it feel like you are somewhere in the Middle East. As Omid Djalili, the Iranian comedian, said in his act (to the ⁷⁄₇ London bomber),“You fool! You blew up Edgware Road! Where else is more Middle Eastern than that?“
The restaurant is nicely decorated and the service is friendly. However, the food is now average at best. I’ve now had the privilege to dine at other Middle Eastern restaurants with friends and there is more zing and flavour with the food elsewhere.
The only exception to this is the amazing melon juice. It is nectar, bursting with sunshine locked into the melon fruit. I could drink that all day and if they decided to market and sell it to Tesco, they would make a killing.
Sadly, I have to side with the opinion that Maroush is a chain which has lost its mojo.