Saurav Bandyopadhyay
After a considerable hiatus, my taste buds were thoroughly delighted by the delectable cuisine at Tayyabs restaurant. This establishment transported me to the heart of India with its authentic flavors. With its four-tiered seating setup, the restaurant boasts ample tables; nevertheless, a queue of eager diners eagerly awaits an available space. Hence, I strongly recommend making an online reservation if you plan to visit. The staff exhibits remarkable professionalism, efficiently tending to their duties. Furthermore, the food is reasonably priced, in perfect alignment with the exceptional taste and generous portion sizes.
Random Explorer
Food was served super fast I guess they are well prepared serving busy crowds. Food tasted nice and was full of flavour. I heard lots of good things about this restaurant and finally had the opportunity to try out. I turned away twice in the past after noticing a long queue outside. Overall, mixed grilled and lamb korai was amazing with keema Nan.
Christina Vedar
Food is delicious and so affordable! You get soo much food for the price. My favorite was the dry meat dish. It’s super busy in there so don’t be intimidated! You can go in and wait in the queue if you don’t have a reservation. We only waited about 10 minutes until we got a table. Definitely worth it.
Bianca Camilleri
I recently dined here on a trip to London and I must say, it was a standout. The food was deliciously authentic, and the service was great. Highly recommended for anyone craving authentic Punjabi cuisine!
Hot tip: get the lamb chops 🤤
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambience: 3
Rick Chung
Tayyabs is definitely one of the best in town. The dishes and services are superb. Lamb Chops are definitely the best and can’t missed. Highly recommended.
Jessica Davis
Visited and had a great meal, highly recommend the sizzling dishes, very delicious! So many great options on the menu, and so reasonably priced it’s no surprise to see why this place is so busy. Booking is recommended as you’ll likely not get a table otherwise. Bring your own alcohol too. They do serve a selection of soft drinks.
The staff are so helpful and ensure you don’t over order and bring out food swiftly and efficiently.
I can’t recommend this place enough, it’s superb on every level. Go eat and enjoy, you won’t be disappointed.
Francis McGowan
This restaurant was fantastic!! You can bring your own alcohol, there is even a shop right next door to buy some. This means you save a lot of money. Everyone brings alcohol in, it's part of the attraction to this place.
We all enjoyed our food, very tasty and delivered very quickly.
The staff work tremendously hard and do such a great job. They were incredible.
Highly recommend visiting this place, great experience.
vanick kam
Went there with my colleagues after work. It was recommended to us as the best in London for this cuisine. We all loved every bit of food that was on the table 🙌🏾. It was awesome ❤️. Especially the lamb 🥩 and the shrimps 🍤 . Garlic naan is always a delight. The mango lassi was much appreciated though I have had better before.
In general I can confirm that this is a great place to eat in London.
Mubin Ahmed
Tayyabs signature burger is just deliciously tasty. I’ve been eating these burgers since childhood living in Brick lane. The burger patty is handmade and the fried onion and sauce which makes it very good to eat.
Julia P
One of the best food experiences in London.
Such a great food and nice service.
Be ready for noisy and full of people place 🤪
Must try - Dry meat!
Gurdip Gill
Atmosphere was great buzzing place. You can bring your own alcoholic beverages if you fancy. Food was well flavoured save that the chicken tikka a bit overdone.
Rett Perera
What a place! The food is excellent, friendly service, authentic vibes and it's halal but you can pop into the offie next door and bring your own beer, as most do! It's excellent value, we ordered loads and made it out with a 38£ bill.
Dr Nany Orchid
The food is wonderful
Mango lassi is yummy 😋
Rasmalai is so scrumptious
The rice cane a bit cold
The drinks took so long to be served
The glass cups are very old and do not look good at all must be changed!
The price is suitable die to quality material 👍🏻
Service should be improved to be faster.
Carolyn Sigman
Fantastic food with great prices! BYOB which makes the value even better. Beware that it’s close quarters and can get warm. Also the one side of the restaurant connects to the open kitchen so it can be a bit smoky. Overall recommend though!
Kiran Sharma
Maybe a busy place but over rated! The food is vile and had no flavour. We were seated in a tight space and after our starters we were not given new plates for our mains - I had to demand for them. The staff expected my boys to eat on the same plate they had lamb chop bones left over On! Vegetarian food had no flavour at all "panjabi" food but the channa (chickpea) curry was just chickpeas drowned in butter. The Currys had alot of oil...salad plate looked awful. The standards of this restaurant and the food are of very low quality!never again...
Hugo Veazey
I am a mad, mad curry lover and have done some fairly considerable and extensive research in this field over many, many years. Don’t believe me? Check my photos! Anyway, this was quite simply the tastiest curry I have ever had. I’m not saying it’s the best, as that is like comparing lovers and I’m not planning on doing that on Facebook anytime soon! I’m spoiled in terms of what is available where I live however this place was another level. Seriously. The lamb chops - quite simply incredible. The dry meat - sumptuous and delicious. Even the plain pulao rice was exquisite. Hard to fault this place, I can not wait to go back. How anybody can NOT give this place 5 stars is beyond me.
Elliot Vaughan
As always the food was great but the service is too rushed to free up the table for the next customer. Very disappointed at the end when the card machine packed up (allegedly). Only taking cash, had to go outside in search of a cash point , needless to say no tip given and no apology given by the restaurant. Great food , very poor customer service .
Haroon Sadiq
I visited with my parents who are visiting from Pakistan last weekend. I brought them specially to eat the lamb chops. I am so disappointed to say that the lamb chops were badly cooked. They were brittle and cold only the hot plate was hot. It was such an embarrassment. Everything that day was sub par, be it mango lassi, gosht karahi or mix grill. I have always recommended Tayyabs to friends but never again. Also I am not going to ever travel this far specially for Tayyabs.
Naz Noor
Food was okay but sitting place too congested and lots of food on the floor. It was disgusting sitting around food on the floor. Dirty!
Eddie Hunt
Had a great meal tonight and was the best curry I have eaten in a long time ��
Tazmeen Khaan
Busy place, receptionist needs a bit of friendly skills towards pregnant ladies. The staff are great who are running around serving food!
Diane Reale Grieves
Worst experience I have ever had. Tandoori chicken was served in a raw marinade which was just awful. My chicken curry was like warm and the Baltimore fish was cold. Mans bread was flat and again cold. It seemed the service was just to hurry you up and keg the next people in even though there was empty tables. We've been going here for years but I don't think we will be returning.
Waleed Muhammad
Amazing food, amazing environment, friendly staff
Perfect place to take someone, friend or family for lunch or dinner.
Shekhar Sumit
Service was good, our waiter was friendly but the food was quite sad! Our Paneer Tikkas were pretty much deep-fried chunks of paneer with little else and our Daal Gosht was incredibly salty! Overall, quite disappointing!!
Kabir Ahmed
You need to book in advance if you want a table especially if it's for 3 people or more.
I couldn't believe how big this restaurant has got, the last time i visited this place was about 15 years ago and seating was on the ground floor but fast forward to 2018 and they have seating upstairs downstairs and sideways.
The service was Ok, waiters were close by. Food was Ok. During busy times the management state that a table booking has a time limit of 1.30 hours.
The tables and chairs are very tightly packed so you'll probably be hitting the chair of the diner behind you.
Once you leave the restaurant your clothes will be stinking of curry...trust me it will.
A nice experience.
Ellen Ansell
Another amazing birthday meal at tayyabs. Love the prawns and lamb chops and dry meats and all of it .
Jazzy Jazz Rai
Went for my niece’s birthday yesterday evening, I’ve been going here for many years & even though it’s always busy, you can never fault the great food & great service 😀 10/10
Justine Hood
Loved the Saturday special, my prawn and okra dish with a delicious nan! Tried the famous lamb chops too..yum!
Peter Bushby
I ate at about 4PM so it wan't busy. The papadoms were wafer thin and very tasty with very tasty sauces. Jugs of water were available without asking.
I had a couple of vegetable samosas to start with which were very tasty.
For my main course I had the Tuesday daily special which was Quail. The sauce was superb - lots of different flavours coming through and not over-hot.
I had the ordinary Naan which was great...
I didn't have dessert but having seen the display case on the way out I wish I had!!!! The staff were not in your face but were very helpful when needed.
I'm so glad I went there and not just because the meal was incredible value.
Nicole Jackson
Came in on a Saturday morning and with a warm greeting my wife and I were promptly supplied with menus and delicious coffee.
Abhishek Paul
Great food. But not worth 30 minutes waiting, specially after seeing an ex international cricket player from my country (Md Ashraful - Bangladesh) being cropped into a picture and shown as a waiter there. If looked closely, it's very clear that the photo has been mastered. The authority should feel ashamed and apologize. Sincerely hope they take it out of the wall soon.
RaphaEspíritoSanto
Amazing place in London. I love the food. can’t wait to come back here again. Congratulations to the staff.
Miro Loves
Wonderful place. Delicious freshly made and served in a nice ambience and atmosphere. The staff is friendly and helpful, the service is prompt and punctual and the hygiene is always up to standards.
Deepak Bajaj
We had the table booked at Tayyabs which actually made our life easy otherwise there was a big waiting queue.<br/>Well food was amazing. I would recommend lamb chops ghost daal and mutton keema. It had an authentic taste and aroma so well done at that part. Ambiance is okay but place was too noisy and there was Indian music also being played , I dont know if anyone could actually hear to the music because of the noise. <br/>With respect to service and hygiene it was pretty much standard that you will expect to get in any restaurant.<br/>Overall go for it for the food and you will not regret and you can bring your own booze which is a plus.
Modyfoody
Very good Indian restaurant in the area. The staff is highly professional and friendly, the service is prompt and punctual and the hygiene is optimal always . Highly recommended to all those seeking a lovely dining experience.
Abhishek Joshi
Heaven for non-vegetarians, order all the starters and you will like all of them. Don't focus on the main course as starters are sufficient enough to fill your stomach. And last not the least, they allow BYOD - Bring your own drinks. :)
Foodandfrostings
One of the best places for Indian food. Loved the biryani, chicken Tikka and mutton Tikka. They have se great options in veg dishes as well.
Foodaddict
Chicken tikka and murgh kadhai is the best you can ever have in whole London this place had a variety of dishes and it's flavors along with the aromas of the masala is awesome we had a great dinner and everyone loved the food as well as there hospitality<br/><br/>We recommend this place for asli desi khana
Henna Navid
Tayyabs was highly recommended by a friend and the great reviews made us want to check this place out. It's located in Whitechapel on a very dark road but the crowd outside will not make you miss it. So, we get there (without any reservation) and the wait time was 40 minutes. We didn't mind the wait at all because looking at the crowd inside and waiting outside confirmed the food must be good. The amount of brits in a Indian/Pakistani restaurant was crazy. There is plenty of seating across two floors. The ambiance is awesome. We finally get a table and get seated. We ordered the much raved about Dry Meat platter and it was delicious. The mango lassi was fantastic as well. Highly recommend this place.
Atul Gupta
Introduced to this place by a Brit friend of mine in Whitechapel.<br/>So, my friend had already done the advance booking and we turned up at 6:30 PM for dinner.<br/>The place is spread across 2 floors with lot of seating capacity, and at this place you can carry on your own booze. Get your beer or whatever you fancy and enjoy it with the Indian food.<br/>They serve complimentary Papads (Roasted and Fried) along with different kinds of chutney. <br/>We tried Karahi Lamb Chops, Dal, Karahi Chicken, Garlic Naan. <br/>All the items were really good and Dal was actually stood out. Service was quick. <br/>By the time we left i.e. around 7:30 PM the place was full of people and couldn't find a single table available.<br/><br/>Overall, if you are looking for Indian food then go ahead without any 2nd thought, and don't forget to carry you booze.
FoOdZoNe
Had been to the tayyabs and it was amazing and fantastic restaurant with good ambience and nice service and great staff . The food was very very delicious and yummy i tried many cuisine their with my sqaud in starter we tried mutton tikka in mains we tried karahi gosht,and tayyabs special dry meat and all the food was delicious and mouth watering give 5/5 to the food<br/>Dessert 4.5/5<br/>Ambience 4/5
Inês Barril
Definitely my favourite indian-paskistani! The food is simply delicious and you can bring your own drinks (there’s a Tesco nearby). You can expect a crowded place, even if you reserve you’ll probably have to wait a bit. However is totally worth it!
Khaane Ka Jaankaar
Kch din pehle tayyabs ka chicken khaaya . Chicken OK OK tha. Main course Acha tha... Ambience Bada sai tha. Ek baar yaha jaakr Khaana Khaaya ja skta h
Sumit
In this restaurant chicken is a very delicious , service's are good food taste is good environment is nice and my favorite is tandoori chicken , chicken tikka
Priyanka Mungekar
We a group of 10+ members arrived at Tayyabs for dinner with prior reservation s made. We were not allowed to take the table until the full party arrived. On being asked several times if we can take the table we were asked not to occupy more than an hour and half which wasn't even mentioned during making the reservation. The food was ok however the service of the staff very disappointing. After paying a hefty amount we were asked to leave immediately as they wanted to make more business by accommodating new customers.<br/>I would rate this restaurant on customer service as a big zero. No point of fine food if there isn't quality service provided.
Fan Of Food
THE place to be in to try Asian Kebabs and Naan. Replete with Indian spices.<br/><br/>Food: 4/5<br/>Service: 4.5/5<br/>Ambience: 4/5<br/>Value for Money: 3.5/5<br/>Overall: 4/5
Diwakar Bhati
Absolutely beautiful! The food was delightful, spicy, but not overwhelmingly. Everything we tasted was super tasty. We also tried their specialty dessert and it was amazing and the mango ice cream is super creamy. Also they serve desserts as take away. I would visit again for sure.
Sumukh Herlekar
Well it's no wonder that this place is the go to place for Londonerz to enjoy the asian kebabs and naan .. The food was superb with the waiting times being the only pain bit that helps to build up your hunger as well.. possibly they can add a few veg Dishes for poor veg souls :)
Aryan Pathak
I orderred a curry (bland poor flavour meat was horrid) lamb chops (ok tandoori flavour but the meat quality poor and no meat chewy texture was the worst). Popadoms/ Naan bland, overall flavourless and if like me you enjoy good food and expecially good curry do not do it it’s easily on the top 5 worse restaurant I’ve been to. Best part was taking my own beer 🍺.
Bruno Roldão
Amazing experience almost 1 year after visit India. Food with very good quality and very tasty. I saw the recommendation on the Time Out and I'll recommend this Indian restaurant, probably one of the best in London!
Ranjana Syal
Tayabbs is very famous for its spicy Indian kebabs and it was worth going to this place. One can't miss to try Indian food from this place.<br/><br/>Filled with Indian spices and amazing curry dishes you need to try this place for sure.
Sandeep Singh
Awesome food and prompt service!<br/><br/>A heaven for Indian food lovers. Chicken Tikka masala was love, their naan would remind of Indian nukkad ka halwai (Indian street food stalls) desserts are authentic, I had Rasmalai for the dessert. Their seek kebab was simply mouth watering. Management is courteous and prompt. I would definitely recommend this place to my friends.<br/>
Ivan Tumpak
I and my colleagues had a great dinner here. The Karahi Gosht was so delicious and very tender. Typical Punjab dishes. The place was pretty huge although some of the staff were not deft. However, I had a great gastro-experience here. Recommended one: MANGO LASSI!!! The best ever tasted in the entire world.
Marta Figueiredo
Tayyabs is a door to the real Indian/Pakistani cuisine, with tasty (and spicy!!!) food and crowded environment, which enriches the whole experience. The food is great (if you don't like spicy food make sure you clearly ask for a non-spicy dish, they can arrange that for you!), the staff very helpful, and the price is nice. They do not sell alcohol so if you'd like some, bring your own.
Sudeep
Grate non veg varieties near liverpool station.<br/>Most of the Pakistani food items are served here<br/>“Amazing Tandoori Chicken and Lamb Chops + best naan of my life”
Shaheen
We ordered the mix grill platter, chicken tikka masala, masala fish, haleem, karahi chicken, karahi ghost, ras malai. <br/>The mixed grill was really nice and full of flavours, the masala fish was not upto the mark, it was perfectly cooked lacked flavours. The main course were nice too, except the chicken karahi. Really loved the ras malai. <br/>Nice ambience. <br/>Good service.
Ridhima
Went here for a lunch and had an amazing experience, the place justifies its name , the food was just beyond amazing the chicken is a must try and the naan was just amazing<br/><br/>they serve a delightful dessert after the meal which tastes just like bliss. The chicken is one of my favourite and kabab was really yum, you should try prantha also. The service was extraordinary they have a really humble staff.<br/>Must recommended.<br/><br/>Service-4/5<br/>Ambience-3/5<br/>Food-3/5
Mohammed Kashim
Not worth the wait I wasn't impressed with the amount of oil the curry contained in the end I couldn't eat any more. There's no privacy all tables are next to each other. Unfortunately I left without checking the bill and realised I was charged for nan bread that I didn't order!
Alexandre De Castro Nunes
Amazing food! Amazing environment! Very good service! I get the feeling that I am traveling to Asia and discovered the real flavors! Definitely will come back!
Anurag Ajmera
This is a great place to go ahead for an Asian meal. The food is awesome with a bery reasonable price. They have got a great variety of food and the papadoms that they serve are great. There is a crunch of space inside though but it doesnt count as the overall experience was very nice.<br/><br/>Do visit them for authentic Asian food.
Paula Sampaio
Best Indian restaurant in London. There is always a line to sit, a small price to pay for such amazing food. You can bring your own alcoholic beverages!
Gaurav Sharma
A home away from home. Tayyabs definitely satisfies your craving for mughlai food. Chicken tikka was tender with balanced spices. The kebabs were soft and melt in mouth
Zeenat Patel
For a special meat out for Indian food, I recommend it. We ordered seekh kebab and chicken tikka for starters. A bit on the spicy side but delicious. The chicken curry was tasty but I think I would stick to a range of finger starters for next time. Their sauces used as a dip for the popadums are yum. I thought they were quite sneaky to offer the popadums as soon as we started only to charge us later...thought it was complimentary. The goolab jamun for dessert was great. The ice creams were nice but over priced in my opinion. Many of the waiters don’t speak English which requires patience when conversing. Overall is was a decent experience
Ashok Karwasra
Amazing food and even better customer service. I would like to come again for the delicious food. Desserts are truly icing on the cake. Cheers
Kailash Daultani
This place reminded me of a long queue in hostel for meal, after 40 mins of tube from Central London but it’s worth it. Delicious food and environment like Shalimar at Mohammad Ali road Mumbai. If staff shows some politeness, it rocks : go for it !!
M
Grown up around Indian food all my life and to be honest the food was a complete let down! The kebabs and tandoori chicken were dry and overcooked. The ambience was dark and noisy and the wait - atrocious inspite of making a prior reservation. The only reason I did give the place a 2 star is because our server was extremely sweet and tried his level best to keep us happy.
Murdi Althaf
It's a pretty decent place to take your girl. Although the service was a bit slow, the food made up for it. Overall I think it's worth it for their prices. #worthit #indianfood
Sahil.kapoor5481
Had high expectations but in the end was arealky disappointing experience. The mutton tikka was not at all properly cooked and chicken kadhai was also not great. Only thing we liked was seekh kebab. Will not go again.
Lidia G
I used to come here often, but something has hanged in last year. To start with, the scandal they had about staff being underpaid, secondly the food is ok-ish, the smell inside of restaurant is horrible, dry cleaned my coat and I still can smell the food smell on it! The air con most likely doesn’t work properly. Big thumbs up for BYOA option, which is very helpful when dinning in big groups.
Filipe Passos-Coelho
Tayyabs' food is an explosion of flavours. The seasoning of the lamb chops is perfect, the masala and curries are an experience, the mango kulfi is delicious. Words make it no justice. Do go and try it.
Ataque Shah
One of the best desi Restaurants in London. <br/>Tried it back in 2014 and 3 years later they have managed to be consistent with their food.<br/><br/>The chicken karahi should not be missed.<br/><br/>
Jaycee
Value for money restaurant. Nothing exceptional. Decent enough ambience, good service. Both non-veg and vegetarian South Asian medium spicy food available. Almost all items taste that of Punjab province in Pakistan. Rasmalai sweet dish was excellent.
Lewis Greyson
Visited Tayyabs for lunch with two colleagues, as soon as we walked in poppadoms were quickly put on our table. The staff didn't seem very happy to be there or to serve. <br/><br/>I chose a small chicken dish and pilau rice (totals £13.50) which I thought would be excellent considering reviews I've seen. Unfortunately this wasn't the case, I soon realized the chicken dish was exactly the same size as the starter grilled dishes with a £6 difference price range between the two.<br/><br/>I was so disappointed in the price ranges for the flavor and quality on the plate, I would highly recommend other Indian restaurants towards Shoreditch where you can get more for your money and at the same standard (in most cases better).<br/><br/>To top this the poppadoms served at the beginning which I thought were free is £2.70 (3 cold pieces out of a packet). If these were warm or freshly made it would have been justifiable but this wasn't the case.<br/><br/>Finally on leaving the restaurant staff still seemed miserable and we didn't even get a goodbye or thank you on paying or departing. <br/><br/>Never again.
Kalyani
Decent food. Although the vegetarian food was not as great but my friends really enjoyed the non vegetarian food.. especially the platter.. the seating arrangements are a bit too close as a lot of tables are crammed in that space.. overall, a decent place to dine if you wish to have Indian food but don't expect too much..
Alice Gee
It's been a few years since I was last at Tayyabs and things have changed. They have expanded next door, out back, upstairs and downstairs so can accomodate more customers. Service is still swift so I guess they expanded the kitchen too. Another good development is the Tesco Metro at the beginning of Fieldgate Street. It used to be a struggle to find an off license in Whitechaple to take advantage of the BYO polcy.<br/><br/>My Pakistani colleague was celebrating a promotion and ordered for our table of eight. For me, the stand out dishes were the grilled lamb chops and seekh kebabs from the starters section of the menu. Tandoori chicken was nice too, but not super tender. <br/><br/>I am not crazy about the curries at Tayyabs but did enjoy the vegetarian dhal baingun. That's lentils with fried halved baby aubergines. A little under seasoned but tasty and rich. We had some rotis and naans for mopping up the curries which were very nice.<br/><br/>There were complimentary poppadoms and chutneys brought to the table as we sat down along with salad dressed with lemon wedges. <br/><br/>Desserts of mango and pistachio kulfi (ice cream on popsicle sticks) were okay but nothing special. In the future I will stick to the grilled meat starters, the dahls and the breads here which are all superb.
FoodScanvanger
The food, service and management are the very good and organized. Used to recommend people to go and enjoy variety of foods. From naan to chicken Karahi and kabab plus Nihari, all are superb. Mango really very enjoyable for what it is known for.<br/><br/>You can book your by phone in advance, don't need to visit and then wait. <br/><br/>
M. Faisal Siddiqui
The restaurant is quite big and it's always full with one hell of a waiting queue. However, we managed to get a table in 25 minutes because we were not mix group :D. A lot of noise and surely it's not candle light dinner. Better you book your seats in advance when visiting this place.<br/><br/>Papad is damn expensive and i guess a good way to earn a hell of cash while asking people to wait for their main course and appetizer.<br/>Bar b q is damn good and unexpectedly the lamb chops were superb. Mango lassi was not bad either however due to the preference given to mix groups instead of same gender ones was not a pleasant experience. BYOB is an added quality. Location of this restaurant is not that bad either. Over all a very nice place .... but avoid visiting at night specially in weekends. Reducing the rating only because of staff and their treatment with customers.
Faisal Chaudhry
I've visited Tayyab's several times over the past 4 years or so. They seem to be popular and always busy. Service is usually fast despite the crowd though. Whats pulling the crowds? I can't tell, honestly, because the food is so mediocre. Most of their grilled items are just not infused with any "zing" - the spices mostly feel raw. The mutton seekh kabaabs might be an exception though. I also tried mutton karahi recently and regretted it. The dish appeared to have been prepared hastily and the gravy was a bit watery. It clearly needed more time on the flames. The saag paneer was fairly decent though. On the whole, this place fails to live up to the hype.
Subhadeep Ghosh
Well being an Indian it's a no brainer to guess that I would be liking this place in London. I ensure that's it's on my list everytime I visit London. The kebabs are the types which don't make you miss hone much. Nice ambience. A pretty decent experience everytime I visit.
Raagini Bhalla
The restaurant is huge and looks like it's always full and there's a waiting queue. However, we managed to get a table in 5 minutes. It's not a calm dine-in restaurant as it's just too crowded.<br/>The menu has a lot to choose from. The best part is it's not very expensive. They have snacks starting from £1. You should be able to have a good, filling meal in £10 per person.<br/>They serve one papad per person along with onions and green chutney which is complementary.<br/>We ordered-<br/>Jug of mango lassi- it was delicious, just how it should taste and ofcourse, very filling.<br/>
Sharvari Karnik
Proper curry in London! Do book if you plan in advance to go to tayyabs. Or else be prepared to stand in a queue. This place is always crowded. We ordered the lamb chops which had the amazing tandoor aroma and delicious marinade. Enjoyed it thoroughly. For the mains, we ordered the chef's special chicken tikka masala and meat biryani which comes with meat gravy.. All were delicious... Finally her licking. But the one thing I will go here again and again for are their naan. Most delicious, soft, sweet and extremely homely like your mom's made for you. Also do try the mango lassi it doesn't taste like the ones that come with mango pulp. (not sure if it has though) Good food altogether, you come out smiling, satisfied, as you don't spend a lot, and of course smelling of curry 😊😊
Abhishek Ghosh
If you just care about the food quality this is the best place for Indian food. Period. <br/>The kebabs and the mutton curries are absolutely delightful.<br/>Doesnt get better than this in docklands, or in entire London for that matter.<br/>Caution: it would be spicy & might not suit everyone.
Eat Like Ushi
Although Tayyabs has the name and reputation, I'd suggest going to Needoo instead. Needoo has less queue, better curries and no lingering odour. Tayyabs generally has better grill, but nothing else. This is the summary of having lived in Whitechapel cumulatively for two years (and eating from one or the other 5 times in the past month).<br/><br/>On this visit, we sat upstairs where it seems you must buy bottled water. This is different to the ground or downstairs where tap water is complimentary. There's no rationale for it. Being forced to buy bottled water in this city is unforgivable. They also place it on your table without explanation and charge you for it automatically - be aware of telling them if you don't actually drink it.<br/><br/>The dry meat curry is not as good in flavour as Needoo, but the meat is more tender. On this occasion what was terrible is that the large size ordered was the same size as other curries small size. Having bought the small size before, I know it's not a large. But they insisted it is and charged for it too.<br/><br/>You also can't get biryani at Tayyabs most days of the week.<br/><br/>Tayyabs is most known for the lamb chops and I'll admit they taste good. However it is only when they are actually cooked properly (ie. medium to medium-rare) are they edible rather than the overcooked dry chewy tough ones they served on our second order. To be fair, Needoo grill is worse as they always overcook them.<br/> <br/>Let's also not forget to expect your clothes and body to smell of meat odours and sweats after you leave.<br/><br/>It still won't stop the masses queuing there at all times and by all means you'll still have a decent meal there. But maybe this post will educate people a little more at the differences between the two very similar places and which one to pick.
Pleasefeedmeimadoge
Tayyabs is an often lauded institution for Indian food. It is massive, loud and hectic. A beautiful and controlled chaos.<br/><br/>I think the food suffers from many places that are characterized as institutions do. No need or desire to improve and a reputation that will guarantee itself plenty of one timers and repeat visitors.<br/><br/>Starters of pakora and samosa were nothing beyond mediocre. I was fraught with curries that were drowning in pools of ghee and the infamous lamb chops were the typical thin and overcooked meat morsels that are a sad and accepted standard in Indian fare. The naans were of quite good quality however.<br/><br/>I would not visit Tayyabs again but can certainly see it's appeal and why people would come here.
LondonDelish
I went in with high expectations and came out full but not as amazed as I thought I would be. Good Indian / Pakistani food, very tasty but also very similar to a few places that surround it. Great value but I think I had set my hopes for something more exciting.
کۆسار کوردی
Where do I begin...As me and my wife came from Sweden I thought of making our first dinner of the trip special so we went to Tayyabs. This was my first visit here and I had some high expectations after everything I read about this place beforehand. Worth to mention is that my wife doesn't really like pakistani and Indian food but I got her convinced to try this joint. Even though it was Monday night the place was crowded and we got a table at the 3rd floor. We ordered the mix grill starter and a jug of mango lassi to begin with, along with some tandoori naan. Honestly I cannot describe how delicious that food was. The mango lassi is definitely the best ever. No other place can match that fresh mango lassi and I've been in many pakistani restaurants around the world. Hope they never decrease the top quality! Mix grill is also a must. That sikh kabab and lamb chops will make you dream back to the moment it melted in your mouth. Chicken karahi and dry meat for the main. They were also delicious, however the mix grill starter took the price. Will definitely come back many more times in shaa Allah.
Donutsam
My very first dinner in London was at Tayyabs. They’ve served their Pakistani-Punjabi styled cuisines since 1974. The local climate was about 2 degrees upon landing with a bout of morning snow, so comforting curries would do the trick for this evening. Tayyabs is huge in size, over many levels, but still can be at busting point with queues down the street. We enjoyed a mix of the lamb chops, kebabs, curries and naan. All very excellently priced. All prepared decently well. I liked the flavour of the curries but the serving sizes were curious. Naan was fine but the grilled meats were definitely the best part for our dinner. Tayyabs also has a good rep for covering off the vegetarian palates too so it’s an easy crowd pleaser.
Kasi Chettiar
There are lots of bad things I have done but I believe if I volunteer here and serve their lamb chops for a week I can salvage myself.<br/><br/>The slight downgrade is sometimes it can be a hit and miss but so is genius. @aliahmadansari
Vaibhav Rajiv Chakravarti
Best non-veg in london. The place is huge & always full. The best part is they let you bring your own drinks. Dry meat perfect. Seekh is quite good.
Gad Mimran
I have been to Tayyabs several times in the past. It's cheap, BYOB, and the food is decent. However, my issue is with the staff, in particular the manager.<br/><br/>It was my girlfriend's birthday and I had purchased a personalised cake and bought it to the restaurant shortly before she arrived, with clear instructions on when to bring it out. There is a £10 charge for them to bring the cake out. This is pretty steep, but what the hell; she'd love the surprise.<br/><br/>So here goes..<br/><br/>We finish our meals, my friend goes over and asks them to start preparing the cake. A waiter then comes over, clears our table, and starts setting out small plates with spoons...surprise over.<br/><br/>One of the waiter then walks over and brashly announces to the whole table "where is the cake?", at this point I am appalled. My friend goes over to speak to the main desk and they give him the cake in the box it came in. He explains, they are charging us to present the cake, after which the rudely agree. Then they come back to the table and ask for candles. I give them candles.<br/><br/>10 minutes later, surprise completely over, they bring the cake.<br/><br/>Then the bill comes with the £10 charge. I tell them I'd like this to be removed because of the hassle that was involved and fact they spoilt the surprise. The waiter says no, calls over a more senior manager. This guy also says no, all very rudely and aggressively. He then calls over the general manager. I reasonably state why I don't think this charge should be added, all things considered. The general manager, in a very hostile manner, out right refuses, with no explanation, attempt to discuss the point, just shouts that I have to pay the bill, "or else" as he aggressively put it. <br/><br/>I continued to debate the issue, after seeing these are completely unreasonable people I begrudgingly had to pay the charge, life is too short.<br/><br/>For a restaurant that features in Time Out, had a table bill of over £100 and had ruined a very simple request, they had the audacity to still charge £10 for bringing our own cake. I am most frustrated by the aggressive, disrespectful and outright nasty behaviour of the manager.<br/><br/>This is an absolute disgrace and there should be consequences to treating human beings this way, let alone paying customers.<br/><br/>There are much nice restaurants close by that offer BYOB and great food. I'd urge decent people to avoid Tayyabs and go to one of the other alternatives. This kind of behaviour should not be allowed to slide.
Niks
Among the best north Indian restaurants in London. Quick service, great taste. What this place lacks in ambiance it makes up in food. We ordered a mix of vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes. Everything was perfect. Looking forward to visiting again when I am in London next.
Neil Burman
Bustling hole in the wall place that now has lines out the door not to mention inside the restaurant when it's raining - depending on day and time that you visit. The slightly eclectic menu has dishes like Tinda Masala. Plus it was byob on my last visit which adds the extra charm.<br/>
Rajiv Tuli
I had ordered karaghi chicken curry, chicken tikka and lamp chops.. everything was awesome...<br/>Queue is very long.. make sure you prebook and visit the place otherwise the wait is too much... must visit place.. highly recommended
Musleh Ahmed
Tayyabs USED to be the place to go!<br/>However these days it's the place to avoid!<br/><br/>I used to go to tayyabs on a regular basis in the past, the food was exploding with authentic flavours in your mouth and the service provided felt personal.<br/><br/>But now days it's just surviving on the name from the past.<br/>People get tayyabs confused with a cheap Curry.<br/>Tayyabs is not cheap, it is very expensive compared to the local surrounding indian/punjabi restaurants.<br/><br/>The service is terrible and the food is horrible.<br/>Dirty glasses and dirty plates, the food is lacking authenticity and flavour.<br/>The food in tayyabs used to be memorable but now it's somthing that will most likely give u a trip to the bathroom which you will soon want to forget.<br/>
Meghana Nair
The quintessential kebab and keema place in Whitechapel, the Lamb Chops are a big hit and so is the BYOB ( Bring your own booze ) concept. This huge, loud and busy place celebrates North Indian cuisine like no other.<br/><br/>The queues are long, and the lovely aroma makes it almost impossible to wait, but it is worth it. My favourites: The keema, Mango Lassi(tastes a lot more like the milkshake than lassi), Tandoori Chicken, Daal and the Naans. <br/><br/>Keep Gobbling xx
Tosin Awosu
Place is quite overrated. Didn't actually like much of the dishes we were served. Didn't taste fresh. Service was quite slow. A lot of people who came after us were being served before us and so had to remind the waiter to chase up our order. Not what it used to be.
Lucy Pinkstone
Tayyabs is a Punjabi restaurant tucked away down a side street in Whitechapel. It is something of a local institution, with people prepared to queue down the street for a table. It is worth persevering with the wait though, because the food here is something else. Seriously, forget all about going down the road to Brick Lane because Tayyabs is the real deal.
Shray Chawla
Having just arrived in London we decided we must have an authentic curry. Passing scads of mostly empty restaurants, we arrived at Tayyabs which was busy on an early Tuesday evening. It's a bit off the beaten path but not much of a walk past the main curry area of Brick Lane. <br/><br/>We were seated right away, though rather unfortunately beside a large family with a baby that screamed intermittently. If there had been other tables available we would have requested to move but as it was we stayed put. Service was quick, not exactly attentive but not rude either.<br/><br/>We started with the chicken tikka and the lamb chops, and a vegetable Samosa for my vegetarian sister. The lamb chops were good, but the meat was a bit tough and chewy. Tikka and samosa also fair. <br/><br/>Poppadums were brought to the table which were light, crispy and airy. There were also three sauces put on the table to choose from. Two were quite spicy but good. They also left a jug of water which was refilled promptly when we asked. <br/><br/>We ordered the garlic naan, and traditional style naan. My sister had the dal curry, my wife and I shared the dry meat and the pumpkin curry. The dishes were fine, nothing to fault them but certainly not amazing. Maybe we are just spoiled by the fact that we can get excellent Indian food at home, but we didn't get what the fuss was about with this place. Definitely decent, but not exceptional by any stretch. <br/><br/>The only other thing that off putting was the waiter hovering by the table as we sorted out the bill between us. The second we put the money down he grabbed at it as though he'd never seen a pound note in his life, even reaching over my sister to snatch the money off the table. Not nice. <br/><br/>Overall, I had very average experience.
VAAAAH BLOGGERS
I went here based on the reviews and have to say that if you are looking for authentic Pakistani food then this is definitely not the place to go. I dont like my food spicy but this was just down right bland. I had to send the food back twice due to undercooking. Service was terrible and the waiters were rude-and to top it off we got charged for popadoms- who charges for that??? <br/>Not the best place to eat in my opinion!! <br/>
Mohit Singh
My boss in London was a great Tyabs fan. He took me there, after that he regretted and promise never to come back in this restaurant because of arrogant waiters with impunity. Chops were rubbers. Chicken tikka was okay(not fantastic). Much hyped less content. I think the restaurant need to work on its customer service. Need to pay them well. Give them training on customer service.
Himanshu Kumar
Tayyabs Whitechaple, This is the place where I witnessed racism first time in my life. Staff are rude. They are just misusing there fame. Food was good but, you can easily find many places in London better than this.
David Orlando Da Costa
Absolutely packed despite stiff competition from neighbouring kebab houses. Once you have eaten you'll know why it's always crowded. Ordered the dry meat, which was not dry but succulent. Lamb perfectly cooked. The mixed grill contained sheek kebabs, Mutton chops and chicken fried. Absolute delight. The popudum and Chutneys aren't a let down. Naan is authentic. The spacing is huge. However the banana lassi was more of a milkshake than actual lassi. Good quantity, and friendly staff. The Tayyabs chocolate at the end of the meal is absolutely Minty.
Vaneesa
So I had heard a lot of rave reviews about Tayyabs and it was on my list of places to eat at. I wish I could say it lived upto, let alone exceeded my expectations. <br/><br/>We ordered lamb chops, chicken tikka, karahi gosht, bhuna chicken, dal and naan. <br/>The lamb chops were overdone and slightly burnt. The chicken tikka was no different as it was very dry. The rest of the food wasn't phenomenal either. It was oily and I literally had to dish out the oil to the side before eating.<br/><br/>For dessert, we ordered Malai kulfi, ras malai and gulab jamun. The Malayi kulfi was probably the best of the lot as the gulab jamun were too dry and ras malai was grainy.<br/><br/>Adding to this, the service was terrible. The waiters constantly seemed like they were in another part of the world. One of them was rude enough to say, 'Can't you see the sign? It says Cash only!' And this comment came 5 mins after his colleague said that card payments could be made at the exit on the ground floor. Also, when we ordered dessert, instead of clearing the table they just moved stuff around to fit in 3 additional plates - we had to clear our table to one side to make sure we were all had enough space to eat! <br/><br/>As you can imagine - I've not had a great experience and I think Tayyabs is overhyped for the food they serve and service they provide.<br/>
Maheen
I have never before experienced such bad customer service as I have at Tayyabs today. The waiters are rude, have a poor understanding of customer satisfaction and do not know how to deal with customers in general. It's such a shame because the food is tasty and full of flavour.
Dinaben Babubhai Makwana
Recently went there during Ramadan. Sadly, they do not offer any Iftar special food. Unlike most places, Tayyabs doesn't have a variety of Biryani options which is a bummer. We mainly only had starters since their menu isn't as varied, honestly. The lamb chops and the sheekh kebab were the best. I'd recommend, you avoid the mutton kebabs since they were insanely chewy. The samosas were quite oily but good in taste. The prawns tikka were quite good. Costed around £65 for 6 of us - only starters but we ate till we burped!
Rahul Duggal
For poor veg preparation. Horrible dal tadka and mix veg, not eatable. For non veg I heard it's good , so make your choice optimally. For veg, big NO!
Ayush Lodha
Tayyabs is one of the authentic indian restaurants in London. The travel to east london is totally worth it. Make sure to book in advance as they have long queues. The place is lively and the service was fast. Would go again.
Rainmaker107
Went to Tayyabs upon recommendation from many Indian friends. Naturally, we had high expectations because of the hype. And unfortunately, we were VERY disappointed to say the least. Everything we ordered was tasteless.. Like runny, bland tasteless. We left half of the food as is, including the breads. Still clueless, as to what's the big deal about.
Noz
Was told by a friend of mine who had eaten at tayyabs the previous week that his experience was an absolute disaster. Complained about everything from the service to the quality of food. Having heard of his experience I decided to not take his word for it, and go there myself. To be honest the mix grill was totally over seasoned, and the tukka dal was under seasoned. Poor service and moody waiters, felt like cattle in and out I would avoid this restaurant like the plague. Living on past reputation. Overrated big time 4.0 your having a laugh. At best 2.5
Rahul Banerjee
Honestly speaking am not away from home long and more honestly am a Food Explorer by passion back in India and have explored quite a number cities for their cuisines... mainly North India and its Islamic influence. And I didnot expect anything great in a Pakistani resto in the heart of London, no matter how big a name it is... I knew it would be nowhere closw to the original. .. having said that I expected a decent tey at our heritage cuisine.<br/>Lamb chops are not strictly Pakistani or Indian... its Continental and Tayyabs has given it a Desi twist... and came out well only if the meat would loosen out from the bones better. .. but that was not to be... !!! We had ordered Mutton tikka Kadahi Masala (chef spcl), which was the qorst of the lot... seemed like a fwlew pieces of stones amidst some onion paste on my plate... chcken kadahi and lamb kadahi... the less said the better. The Naan and Tandoori Roti was good... the Mango Lassi was good too... could have been sweeter. <br/>But overall Tayyabs didnot live up to its name for me !!!
Gaurav Arora
No matter what day of week you will always find queues in this restaurant .Been going over years and quality here never fails and specially their Signature Seekh kebabs and Dry Lamb .Great value for money and very good food .
Spice It Up With Sam
I have had the opportunity to sample some really nice food over last few days in London, but last evening the kebab and curry cravings were at their peak. Met an ex colleague and a dear friend after ages and after sampling a couple of IPAs at the Shoreditch Grind, we zeroed in on Tayyabs for dinner. This 44 year old institution lived up to its reputation. It was raining and even at 1030 PM, we had to queue up to get a table. Amazing !! We<br/>Ordered seekh kebabs and lamb chops for starters and Dry meat(signature dish) and karahi gosht for the mains with some crisp tandoori rotis. The seekh kebabs were outstanding and very well cooked !! Right balance of spice and char !! Actually they were so good, that we ordered an additional portion and easily cleaned it off .The lamb chops were really good as well but no comparison to the kebabs. The mains were nice and decently spiced - they went really well with the crisp tandoori rotis and the 3 types of chutneys on the table. The dry meat basically consisted of small chunks of well cooked mutton wrapped around in thick khada masala. A squeeze of lemon on the top enhanced the taste of this gem and took it to a different level. On the other side, the karahi gosht was a nicely spiced mutton dish with some curry. It was nice but the seekh kebabs and dry meat were my picks for the evening. I think I shall definitely be paying a visit to Tayyabs again - you should too !! Highly recommend it.<br/><br/>Follow me on Instagram @SPICEITUPWITHSAM
Phil
The good: fast, v cheap, friendly, great atmosphere, BYO beer and wine <br/><br/>The meh: the curry it self I felt was more along the lines of the meat, potato (aloo) and sauce in a tray with some rice on the side. Nothing to inspiring. <br/><br/>Though looking around I did have some food envy and perhaps it was a choice of bad ordering. <br/><br/>£15 a head for main dishes, naan, roti, rice, popadum and chutney.
Mimmaksud
Food is ok but service is very very very bad.manager needs to learn how to talk to customers.he was very rude.i ll not visit this place again bcoz there are more good restaurants
KS_Ate_Here
When it comes to London institutions, you don't get much more iconic that Tayyabs. Long a fixture of the city's restaurant scene, they have been feeding East Londoners and Square Mile folk alike for decades and it only takes one visit to realise why; food here has achieved that glorious balance of affordable and delicious - the perfect recipe for success. <br/><br/>But what you come for isn't what you would expect. See at Tayyabs, curries are an afterthought and carbs are just wasted calories. Here, meat reigns supreme and the mixed grill is the ultimate ruler of them all. <br/><br/>A mountain of a dish comprising various shish kebabs, grilled meats and Tayyabs' signature lamb chops all served on a hot plate, it is every carnivores dream and makes a protein shake look like child's play. <br/><br/>Order it with a couple of naan (garlic and peshwari being mine of choice) and you've got all the makings for a top night out that won't break the bank. <br/><br/>Winner winner mixed grill dinner. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Also follow me on Twitter @annixontong and @wetrykai and on Instagram @annixontong.
Shilpa K
Really nice place. Authentic Indian cuisine. One of the best Indian restaurants in London. I especially liked the mango chutney they serve. Delicious lamb chops. Nice ambience. Expect long queue on Friday. I had to stand for almost 45 minutes.
Dharmik Prajapati
This is very popular place for north indian food though very limited choice for vegetarians. Strictly avoid in case you can't bare non - veg smells. <br/>After waiting for an hour we got our seats. In veg we had sag paneer and paneer tikka as starters. Both was average in taste. As dessert we ordered ras malai and that wasn't soft/fresh as expected. <br/>Mango lassi is something to try. <br/>May be this place is more popular as they allows to take liquor from outsides to have it with food served. Mainly i have seen people enjoying liquor and indian food (non-veg). <br/>For veggie there are far better place as per MHO.
Ron Dark
We wre here for a company party the other day and it was a good dining experience. it's one of the better pakistani cuisine restaurants in town. Their selction of roast meats like tandoori chicken and lamb chops are pretty impressive, must be the marinade. The lamb was tender, not easy to do as a lot of places get it chewy. Nice decor and probably a decent place to bring clients as it looks rather formal
Roe
TAYYABS ISNT ALL BAD BUT EVERYONE SAYS NEEDOO AND TAYABS ARE SIMILAR FOOD I CANT SAY THAT TRUE I LOBE NEEDOO GRILL ITS BETTER.. I WENT WITH MY FAMILY TO TAYYABS TO TASTE THE FOOD AFTER HEARING SO MANY REVIEWS OF HOW AMAZING IT IS .. BUT I TRIED IT FOR MY SELF AND IF I AM NOT WRONG I WOULD SAY THAT MY FAMILY DIDN'T LIKE IT TO .. WE ORDERED LIKE £90.00 WORTH FOOD AND IT WASN'T AS WE EXPECTED THE CURRIES WHERE TINNY AND THE LAMB CHOPS WHERE RUBBER <br/><br/>BUT THAT IS MY REVIEW EVERYONE MORE THEN WELCOME TO TRY IT BUT I PREFER NEEDOO ANY DAY
Florian Willi
Even though the food tasted good, I feel Tayyabs doesn't quite deserve the hype it gets. There are much better restaurants in the Whitechapel area. The prices, however, are extremely fair and the byob-concept is a pleaser. Nevertheless, the service is way too slow due to the massive crowds.
Charlie Elliott
Their signature lamb chops just cannot be ignored. They are juicy beyond compare and grilled to bring out a charcoal flavour along with chilli heat. We went for Karahi Gosht - a traditional Pakistani curry packed with garlic and masala that just nails exactly why Tayyabs has such a loyal following. We went for a saag aloo and dhal as our standard side dishes and two huge garlic naans. Far too much food for two people but this is one cuisine that I just cannot resist and my eyes are always bigger than my belly (but not once I've demolished it all). (I had mine delivered through Take Eat Easy)
Ahmed
A great traditional place and breath of fresh air. Away from all the expensive places tayyabs atmosphere is so energetic and has a great vibe. Food here is fantastic from the lamb chops to the kebabs it's all great here. <br/><br/>Highly recommended !
Gurupreet Khurana
Love the food ( everything is absolutely delicious)they serve, the best Indian you can have in London. Loved the Lassi. Can never get tired of this place!
Nina Nadia
I've always heard great things about the food at Tayyabs, but yesterday's dinner left me wanting a little more. <br/>The starters were great, we had their lamb chops which were great. Smoky, tender and packed full of flavour. So was the chicken tikka and meat samosa<br/>But the mains didn't do it for me. I went for their dry meat and tandoori paratha. The meat itself was a little cold and I wasn't blown over by the flavours. The portions were generous and I did enjoy the ghee butter used to cook the paratha. Balanced the heat and dough-e-ness really well. <br/><br/>Will I go back? probably. I know I won't be having the same mains. <br/>
Food And Drinks Noob
If you live in London, there is a low chance that you would have never heard of the famous Tayyabs, a Punjabi restaurant in East London that opened back in 1972 and has been popular ever since thanks to its affordable price and quality curry.
Travel For Food
Love.. love.. love it. Love the lamb chops... <br/>A bit difficult to find parking have gone.back more than 3 times at least. Limited options for vegetarians but if u love ur meat its the place to b.
Nicholas Boreg
Staff could do with some cheering up at this place. Honestly, we had a mediocre experience here. Im not one to be too fussy but the waiters were not helpful with giving suggestions and when i ordered my dish as non-spicy, i was in for a shock when it was in fact spicy. Maybe its me but i have also had much better food from places down the road. Wont be back in a hurry.
Supriti Paraskar
A nice warm cosy place ... A little crowded .. But eventually u realise how big and popular it is. My American friend of course loved the flavours ... We ordered lamb chops (the most recommended in here), a nihari... And a bhindi (okra)... Of which my favourite were the chops!<br/><br/>Definitely the flavours are worth a go... But the hunt for the best place is still on...
Peagleye
Let me start by saying that this is not my type of place...<br/>Location rating 0<br/>Decor rating 0<br/>Service rating 0<br/>Effort of waiter rating /.5<br/>Food rating 2.5?<br/>Lamb chops rating 5!<br/>Worth a visit every once ina while but make sure you don't have meetings afterwards because you'll come out smelling like a gigantic lamp chop!
Mariam Kaj
Used to come here quite a lot but find that the standards of their curries and grilled dishes have gone down the pan (pardon the pun). I ordered a buttered chicken curry and mixed grill. There was no real authentic flavour and all the different meats tasted very much the same. On a point of service, horrendous. The staff have no customer service skills at all. It is a very shame to see this establishment losing the standard of service they once had. I think that was the last time i would be visiting tayyabs.
Thierry
One of the best restaurant I've been to in London. Absolutely wonderful...It's quite busy so better to book. Their veggie meals are good too, we usually order them along with their wonderful lamb...
Sibel Canbaz
The best Indian in town! The food is quite delicious, very budget and the service is fast for an overcrowded restaurant . It is becoming very touristic either, so expect longer queues. Been there today, not changed even a little bit since last year. Suggest you to order some garlic naan for sure, meat biriyani and to neutralize the spicy flavor in your month try the mango lassi. You're welcomed to bring your alcohol, they only serve soft drinks.
Sherry
A regular haunt of mine whenever I visit London. <br/><br/>Love their lamb chops & mango lassi - the best I've had anywhere.<br/><br/>You have to book in advance otherwise there will be a long wait for a table...<br/><br/>It's not a place to chill out over dinner with friends - too noisy & as soon as you're done eating, they need the table back for the long queue of diners waiting. <br/>
Ernesto
Tive gosto de jantar neste restaurante e para agradável surpresa a comido foi estupenda bem como serviço. A diversidade de pratos existentes faz com que nova visita aconteça
Mouna Nataraj
The best ever lamb chops :-) everything we ordered was awesome n we have been visiting this place since then. Also try the Kheema... Its finger licking good...
Annie Hall
'The Lamb Chops,' he said. 'The best lamb chops ever.' Well, yes. They were... really, really, really good. I wouldn't usually go for Indian and order lamb chops. But at Tayyabs, you must. They're delicious. With some secret Indian ingredient, they are succulent and spicy and you just have to forget your Western manners and gnaw every bit of the meat off the bone.<br/><br/> <br/><br/>Located on Fieldgate Street in Whitechapel, this traditional Punjabi restaurant is a destination restaurant. Off the beaten track from tourists, the place is packed with businessmen, city boys and, most importantly, lots of 'locals' - Asian families. The staff are brusque and efficient, they have no time to be friendly and chatty, too busy dealing with hundreds of customers. After only a few minutes of queuing, we were seated and had ordered, and everything arrived as it was ready. <br/><br/> <br/><br/> A great range of starters. The absence of onion bhajis had me wondering how to compare and contrast with all my other favourite Indian restaurants, but this meant I got to try five different starters, and I could have kept eating them all night. Chicken Tikka, lamb chops (of course), paneer Tikka, Samosas and Pakoras. Some of the mains arrived before the pander, but we didn't mind, we were hungry. <br/><br/>The main course selection was relatively limited, consisting of karahi dishes, different meat versions of this traditional Punjabi cooking method, so chicken, chicken keema, lamb (gosht), and Dhaal. But somehow they were all distinctive and all tasted delicious. A range of sides, vegetable dishes and sizzling dishes also caused much head-turning and 'mmmm, wish we'd ordered that too.' I loved the dishes they were served on, black shallow Balti-type dishes. Luckily for them, they didn't fit in my handbag... <br/><br/>The food at Tayyabs is fresh and delicately spiced, and seems to be as authentic as any Indian food I've tried in London. You can tell it's a family run business, who care about the food, and are just focussing on getting their food out to their customers who are all clamouring to eat it. Bring your own alcohol (and openers!) if you wish, as Tayyabs serve only soft drinks and complimentary water by the bottle.
Shaazia
Tayyabs' food is delicious. I have been here a number of times and th e food us always great. Lamb chops and butter chicken are two things you must order as they taste absolutely delicious. Being a popular restaurant I do find that the service at Tayyabs is very slow. You ofter have to wait to get someone's attention and I have felt the need to rush and eat my food as the waiters continuously look as you as if to say - hurry up. Apart from the service the food is great and I would continue to go there time after time.
Mout92
Tayyabs was recommended to me by a friend for its special lamb chops and safe to say they didn't disappoint. Mango lassi is very refreshing and Peshwari naan is a must. Some reviews have stated the service is slow but we didn't experience such a problem. Atmosphere is also very good although can get quite busy on weekday nights but this isn't necessarily a problem. The curries on offer are not very broad but the main ones you'd expect in an Indian/Pakistani restaurant are on the menu. However, price wise it is excellent value for the quality of food at around £15-20 per person. Definitely recommend for good quality food at a good price.
Cameron Douglas
Had my birthday dinner there a couple months ago. Food was very good, as I expected. The special lamb chops were particularly tasty. However, service was, also kind of unsurprisingly, pretty bad. I had made a booking for 8:45 but, even after having arrived on time, was only seated at 9:20. The waiters also took their time when it came to taking orders. It was clear communication between the staff was non existent and they made absolutely no effort to be nice or even smile. I suppose a little slack has to be given as this multi storey machine of a restaurant was heaving with diners at the time. It's a miracle they manage to keep track of what's going on. I definitely recommend it if you havent been before, It's quite an experience. But if they don't improve the service I don't think I'll go back too often.
J Kim
For those in the know about the London food scene, it's not all about fish & chips and bangers & mash. Nay, it was actually chicken tikka masala that was declared Britain's national dish. Indian cuisine is oft enjoyed in London town and the Whitehall area is the place to go. After reaching out to a few local foodies and review sites, Tayyabs was highly recommended and we were not disappointed. The BYOB was bopping with the young crowd, dimly lit, bustling, yet somehow intimate. I appreciated that they brought out their branded water gratis. Perhaps they knew we'd need it for the curries to come.
Krishan Raj Gupta
Its a place where you should strictly focus on food. Tried this place after quiet of raving of indian food and reading lot of good reviews. Perhaps one of the best lamb chops in london. Mango lassi was quiet refreshing. The food was quiet good. Only downside is the service. The place is extremely crowded even on a weekday dinner. Also they dont serve tap water.
Triska
Loud, really loud and busy, but worth the wait and hassle because the food here is excellent. Famous for lamb chops, although the curries are also great.
Ankit Agarwal
Average food.. Limited menu.. The kebabs and the tikkas were chewy.. The curries disappointing. <br/><br/>What stood out - the naans, better than most Indian restaurants and the papad and the pickles. I hope there are much better Indian restaurants in the same price range in London. <br/><br/>Can avoid!!
American In London
In February 2005, when Jon and I visited London for the first time (as tourists), a reliable London source insisted we try New Tayyabs for great, cheap, "Indian" food. Over three years later, we're still hooked. (And we now know it's Punjabi food ). Thoug
Sourjya Chowdhury
Best Mughlai cuisine in London. Economical and ambience is nice. Lamb tikka is amazing. Must visit place if you're looking for Afghani/North Indian food.
Les McKeown
I went with a friend who was returning after 15 years, I had spectacular lamb curry, my friend has lamb Sag, sadly his was mostly gristle balls, he was not impressed, so don't order the sag
Foodie.007
Tandoori Roti (x6), Lamb Chops (x8), Seekh Kebab (x6), Chana (x1) & Kulfi (x4): £41 | After a long day, we decided to stop at Tayyabs to eat. The service was great, we were welcomed with smiles, seated and attended to throughout the meal. The roti was hot and fluffy as roti should be. The lamb chops were to die for! They were so succulent and juicy and easy to tear. The seekh kebabs were just as delicious, moist and flavoursome. The chana was tasty as well. It had the right amount of spice, not too hot and not too mild. I had the Pista Kulfi (Pistachio Ice-cream) and it tasted absolutely amazing. It was my first time having pistachio flavoured ice-cream and it's something I will definitely be trying again. Overall, Tayyabs was an excellent experience. Be sure to check it out if you're in Whitechapel! Foodie.007 x
Foodiespeaks (sagisim@gmail.com)
By far the best option to have lip smacking tandoori food and kebabs . Love their preparation the taste reminds you of food back home in a foreign land . <br/><br/>Mango lassi was a delight ! <br/><br/>Must visit if tandoori food is on your mind , do not expect a swanky fine dining place . Its a simple restaurant which does get crowded over the weekend , congested and stuffy too but once the food is on the table you tend to ignore the surroundings and enjoy the delicacies .
Samphire And Salsify
Posted on May 27, 2015 by SamphireAndSalsify Tayyabs is one of those Indian restaurants that everyone raves about, mainly for the lamb chops, so I thought it was time I popped down a side street off the Whitechapel Road (a rarity for me) to try it out. The place is staggeringly massive; there are dining rooms galore, all packed full with tables and punters. By 7:30pm the queue was huge. We were plonked next to two boisterous ladies and even though it’s BYOB, and they hadn’t, the words ‘pissed as farts’ sprang to mind. The food was all of a pretty decent standard; not the best you’ll find in London but for the price, it would be hard to find fault really. The paneer tikka (£3.30) was buttery and bouncy, the peshwari nan (£2.75) sweet from its coconut filling. Chicken tikka (£3.30) saw huge chunks of juicy chicken and the sheekh kebab (£4) was moist with bags of flavour. Karahi king prawn curry (£13) had a lip tingling heat coming through which made it really moreish. The lamb chops (£6.50), which arrived at the table sizzling and steaming (see my Vine here for proof), were particularly noteworthy. Cooked more well-done than medium-rare (all Indian lamb chops seem that way which is a shame), the flavour was spot on and the fat was super crispy. Be warned: they stain your fingers orange!
Mayannk Bharrgava
This place is the jems of indian cuisine, best dal and currys. Reservation is highly needed if it's a big gang.. Amazing place have a good dinner with friends
Asian Hawk
Tayyab’s is a Pakistani canteen style eatery that has been both famous and infamous for all the right and wrong reasons. <br/><br/>Traditionally, Tayyab’s has been a cheap eat; satisfying the meat cravings of carnivorous students, city workers and those on a budget with its famous richly flavoured and sizzling mixed grill platters of Tandoori Lamb<br/>Chops and Tandoori Chicken, Dry Meat dishes, buttery Nan Breads and its Mango<br/>Lassi. Office workers and Students, from the Royal London Hospital in particular, would flock there for a cheap curry in a hurry and Tayyab’s Bring Your Own alcohol policy meant that a cheap food and supermarket booze orgy would be guaranteed. Unfortunately, this also made Tayyab’s infamous for attracting unsavoury large groups of rowdy and/or drunk people. Together with its congested seating layout and abysmal waiter service, most evenings were bedlam; a case of sub-continental traffic havoc meets drunken lads on a night out. At least the food was cheap and tasted good. Did I mention cheap? However, over time, the<br/>prices have gone up and quality has gone done.<br/><br/>Tayyab’s still offers a great sizzling mixed grill that guarantees most diners will exclaim Ooh….Ahhh and Wow! The Lamb Chops and Tandoori Chicken are still very good, as are the Nan Breads and Mango Lassi (order a jug, as it only costs a little more). On the weekends, you can still order the Nihari, a Lamb Shank curry - slow cooked overnight, and the Haleem, a Shredded Meat and<br/>assorted Lentil slow cooked curry. Both are still good, just not as good as before. Tragically, the same cannot be said for the once quintessential ‘Dry Meat’ dish. This used to be excellent, but its deep, heady, multi-layered flavour has been surrendered to a simple fare to meet the mass demand. In truth, with the exception of the Dry Meat, Haleem and Nihari, Tayyab’s never really made good curries, ever. Its fame has predominantly always been the economical meat fest guaranteed by its sizzling mixed grill platters. Tayyab’s curries have generally<br/>always varied from below average to poor. I have always disliked their bland<br/>chicken curries and only ever went for the above dishes. I stopped going<br/>because my partner, who does not eat red meat, only ever enjoyed the Tandoori<br/>Chicken and did not eat anything else. That was it. The curries were poor and<br/>the Chicken Tikka was dry and generally tasteless. Sadly, along with inconsistent<br/>and overall falling standards, Tayyab’s still gets wrong all the things it did<br/>historically. On busy evenings, diners are herded in and out of the eatery like<br/>cattle. The congested table and chair configurations result in all the diners<br/>being in too close a proximity to each other and with very little personal<br/>space. This ensures that by the end of your meal, you will have learnt the life<br/>stories of all the people dining two tables down from you. Then there is the service.<br/>Based on my own experiences, 1 in every 5 waiters speaks some level of English,<br/>you will be ignored by at least one waiter and you have a 1 in 6 chance of<br/>being given someone else’s order. When the food was good and cheap, the ordeal<br/>was worthwhile for most. Now, however, there are plenty of neighbouring<br/>eateries all offering the same fare at the same or lower price. In truth, the preponderance of curry houses in the East-End are average at best.<br/><br/>If I had scored this eatery on the quality of its curries alone, I would have scored it an overall 2/5. However, the strange allure of<br/>its grilled food ensures that Tayyab’s scores a 3/5.<br/><br/>Asianhawk says; if you value your sanity, visit Tayyab’s in the early afternoon over the weekends. It is generally much quieter at these times and more suitable for children. Nevertheless, take some Paracetamol with<br/>you. Alternatively, head into the City or to the West-End, where there is a myriad of more sophisticated and amazing Indian eateries all offering a far better quality and more unique culinary experience for not much more money. At this moment, there are more Michelin Star Indian restaurants in London than there are Italian. Some of these also offer excellent value ‘Pre-Theatre’ and ‘Tasting’ menus.<br/>Halal.
Selina Newell
Great value and very good at what it does. Service and decor are a bit hit and miss but that is not why you are here.Grills at the start are the best bit so be sure not to miss. The breads are amazing too.The value can not be beaten. An establishment for a reason.
Priya Monga
This is one of the restaurants I miss dining at. How I used to love eating those peshawari naans, soft as cotton candy along with that big jar of mango lassi. I think it's a must visit if you are in London.
Ajay Sagar
I went at this place with my wife. What we really liked about it was that it is not a typical local Indian restaurant. This is a high style restaurant with elegant service. The menu has some unusual choices and it pays to be adventurous. The food met our high expectations and it's as good as the best Indian restaurants in London. Prices are fair and we'll be back soon.
Harry Jordan
My friends took me to this place for dinner. I like Indian food and this was an amazing place to visit. They have some really good dishes in their menu. I tried the Dahi Vada which is one of my favorites and it was really yummy. The veggies were also very nicely cooked with perfect spices. It was a great experience. The staff and the owner was so welcoming and helping. I am going back to this place again.
Ameet KKatyal
Craving for sub-continent food with Pakistani touch - Visit here!<br/><br/>Would recommend to just focus on food to walk out happy (everything else is basic - decor, staff, hygiene, crockery etc).<br/><br/>Try the kebabs (lamb and chicken), curries, naan and biryani. For the Sweet tooth - try the gulab jamun too!
Let Me Feed You
It was really good to catch up, and I was so excited to see them all that I think the food took second fiddle (a rare thing for me). Nonetheless, tayyabs is an excellent and cheap restaurant in East London serving up Punjabi cuisine (a spicy and flavoursome mix of Indian and Pakistani food).
Alexandra.devine
Ruined a night out. I don't understand the popularity of this terrible place - these crooks shouldn't be rewarded for their contemptuous treatment of customers. I came with friends, we were told there would be a 1/2 hour wait, and we were kept waiting more than TWO HOURS while the staff lied to us over and over again telling us a table would be ready any minute. We should have walked out, but because they kept telling us we were about to be seated we hung on. When we finally got a table THEY HAD THE NERVE to tell us to hurry up and order because the kitchen was closing, and hard-sell food and drink. And the food is nothing special. Lahore Kebab House nearby has similar food and doesn't treat people like crap.
Julie
Far from what I expected-cold tasteless fastfood with too much salt. Queued for 40 mins, sat down order and food was served in under 10 minutes. Horrible underlaying smell in the resturant-dirty toilets. Food wasn't expensive but why would it be-can't see the attraction-there really isn't any!
Nat-cook
Mmmm chops...... Tayyabs is crazy - been going here for 4 years, go in the day/ early evening if you don't want to be crowded whilst dining. The food is great especially the chops! maybe don't go here is you want a chilled out luxurious dining exoerience but if you want the best curry in the east end then do!
M.balettepape
The worst Indian restaurant ever. Dirty, crowdy, noisy. Moreover, even if you booked a table you need to wait at least 30mn before being seated and 1h more before being served. TO AVOID!!!
Asten
Lovely food, but what's with the attitude on the wait staff? Took 45 minutes and flagging down two different waiters to place our order and even then it was done so with a begrudging attitude. Not helped by the waiter speaking sarcastically at us in a different language and laughing when we asked what he meant?! Bad service ruined the experience.
Jakesolomon789
Overrated!. Overrated busy restaurant who only don't care about the customers. It's a come and go restaurant where lamb chops are fairly average (don't know what all the fuss is about). Better off heading to needos.
Sam Ali
One of the worst places ive ever eaten. I heard about it's service reputation but disregarded it as I took into account the food reviews which were encouraging. Totally disappointed and left feeling conned on the promise of good food. Im of pakistani decent and only eat in the most authentic curry restaurants. This place is a con I tell you compared to some places I have eaten. Will never go back. Way too hectic and full of loud students. Disgusting service and filthy floors, rude staff and rushed service. Food extremely poor I promise you. And to top it they dont really care! Crap experience. Hope they go downhill very soon so more people are not duped! Im shocked as to how people fall for this. They really must not have experienced the best in curry houses if they think this even touches the mark. Wish id listened to the reviews.
Halo
Seriously good food. Tayyabs is something else.<br/>Prior to going, my friend and I looked at a couple of reviews, and people said that the food was amazing, but the service wasn't great. And that pretty much sums it up. But the food makes up for the service, and if you're happy to keep yourself to yourself and enjoy your meal, then it's absolutely fine. <br/>We asked for a table downstairs as it was really crowded upstairs, and pretty noisy as well. Atlhough it was at least a 25 minute wait (on a Thursday night?!) it was worth it. <br/>The mango lassi is to die for. It's perfect for cooling down the subtle heat of the curries. The tandoori grills to start are great, and the mains are amazing; I had the Chicken Saag and my friend had the fish curry, and both were really tasty and enjoyable. You can tell that these are all family recipes. <br/>If you want a 'proper curry' unlike anything from your local, then Tayyabs is the place to go. It's really authentic and I would definitely go back.
ErnestReviews
Can't Miss Out on Specialities. The food is delicious and very fairly priced. The lamb chops are truly a revelation- smoky and spiced, whilst not being dry as many tandoori meats are. Considering this it is then ironic that the next best dish was the Dry Meat, not in fact dry but succulent, rich and sweet. Karachi chicken was superb, as were the free popadoms. <br/><br/>The peshwari naan was good too, and large enough to share. And the service was fast and of high quality- though we had to remind them of one dish, this was understandable considering the hectic environment. All in all, one of the best curries of my life. I'm sure you'd be hard pressed to find a better one in East London<br/><br/>Booking recommended, about £30 for two. <br/>BOYB <br/>Would return and wholeheartedly recommend to friends.
Ronald Louis
Thumbs Up for Tayyabs. Our first visit to this very popular restaurant was disappointing from the moment our waiter told us there was no water, except overpriced bottled water placed on our table. He didn't bother to mention that the restaurant allows BYOB. We ate the superb food in ignorance, and on the way out informed the friendly host. We tried again, and the second dinner was like a different restaurant.<br/>All the waiters smiled and had a great attitude. We were given a pitcher of water and glasses all around without asking. We came well prepared with all the beer we'd want with the meal. The food, as in the first visit, was superb. The meal was about £7 per person; about $11 at current rates, and that included a charge for the pompodom that is brought to every table without prompting.<br/>Tayyabs is very popular and therefore fairly loud, or "rowdy," so if you want a quieter dinner, you'll have to eat there early. After 18:30, you may have to wait for a table.<br/>Tayyabs lived up to its reputation, its Zagats rating, and the raves it's received in the wake of Brick Lane's decline. We hope its popularity doesn't go to its head, but it's been around since 1972, so maybe it will just age like a good friend.
Brotzeit
Bustling - was busy at 11:00 pm, good food, fast service. Recommended!
Shahelabeg
Good indian dishes. Would go again
D P
My friends and me visited Tayyabs on Friday 26 April. We were very impressed with the food and the service. Book in advance as you will have a long wait in the queue. Will definitely visit again. Regards DP
Ali
Very rude staff, taste less food, awful and noisy enviromenmt. Uncivilized and rude staff, bad food, noisy atmosphere. Will not go there ever again.
Sarah.robson
AWFUL service. This was the worst restaurant i've been to in my intire life. The food was below average. The waiters were very rude, non attentive and did not bring the food we asked for. <br/><br/>I would NEVER recommend going here unless you want fast food in a cattle market atomosphere.
Cass
Worth the Wait. I dream of their lamb chops often. Tayyabs is consistently good, consistenly craveable and worth every minute of the wait in line. The spices hit you RIGHT in the nose when you walk in. Everything is good but those lamb chops... It's also IMPOSSIBLE to break the bank here - you will gorge yourself and end up with a bill of 15 quid - really impressive, great value and so, so tasty.
Doesthebellyrulethemind
Not as good as the hype. Superb sizzling lamb chops, nice naan. That is where it ended. Our main curries were rubish.
Paul Mayson
Can somebody please bring this restaurant to Sydney?. Seriously, since returning to Australia just over a year ago, there are mainly two things that I miss: English Premier League football, and Tayyabs.
Andy Thompson
Chaotic restaurant but beautiful food. The friendly staff keep calm to serve some wonderful and good value, dishes
Spencerp
Pay more get more. We went to Tayyabs with a group of friends for a birthday. I don't think I have ever experienced such terrible service. We were barely acknowledged much of the time. The staff were rude and unfriendly. The place was packed but I cannot understand why. The food was ok but nothing special and I have certainly had better. The staff got the order wrong for one of our friends and were quite aggressive towards him: blaming him for the error. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? Combined with the ridged "you've got 1.5 hours to have your meal" it became obvious that Tayyabs are in it for the money and not the customer experience. Eating out with friends is supposed to be about the entire experience and we were made to feel so unwelcome that I would rather stay home. I will never go here again and will certainly never recommend it. It was really good value for money but I'd rather pay 10 or 15 pounds more and enjoy my meal.
Fifi
Worth the wait. Tayyabs was one of my favourite restaurants to eat at while living in London. Their signature sizzling lamb is delicious, as are their pakoras and vegetable curries. A great place to go to with large groups and worth a visit just to experience the waiter who can memorise 20 people's food and drink orders without writing them down. I highly recommend this restaurant.<br/>Food: 8.5 / 10<br/>Service: 8 / 10<br/>Ambience: 7 / 10
Tony B
Ain't what its used to be. This place used to be fab - now its just cashing in on its fame - refusing to place a jug of water and insisting that we use Tayyabs branded mineral water at £2.50 a bottle is just a rip-off. The starters were still pretty good the lambchops yum - however the mains were pretty mediocre and the portions are much reduced to what they used to be - they seem to to be more focused on turning tables then serving great food.<br/>The queues and shoddy service are no longer worth enduring as the food ain't what it used to be - shame.
TY
Very crowded and poor air conditioning. We went to Tayyabs with a group of 17 people with my colleagues, we picked this place because it was close to our work place. The food is ok if you want to try an Indian restaurant i had a vegetarian dish, and some rice also two pieces of vegetarian filled samosa and got to try some Nan breads. The whole thing cost 14 pounds each, which is OK but not so cheap considering we did not have drinks. The service was quick but i usually like my food a bit overheated i guess it felt like the food was a bit cold. But considering the number of people at the table the service was quick and efficient. One impressive thing was the waiter who took our order did not note anything so we were a bit suspicious whether he really gort the orders right and when he took al orders he repeated to us to confirm and he got everything right. At the end when we were paying one of the waiters was a bit nasty was like almost shouting that we need to be quick caouse other people are waiting and the table is already booked and so on. I was actually surprised how crowded the tayyabs was since we went there on a wensday night. One more thing if you go there try not to sitt on downstairs it is more noisy and smelly then upstairs.
Crystal
Average food, terrible service. The first time we went to Tayyabs it was great. The food was lovely and fresh, and the service was good. Last night however, our experience at Tayyabs was awful. <br/><br/>There were 10 of us eating and we had pre-booked a table the week before. When we arrived we had to wait for half an hour which we were fine with. We ordered our meals, then waited 30 minutes for the starters to come out. The naans came 10 minutes after they'd taken our starter plates. 6 of our dinners came 30 minutes after that, so the naans were cold. There was then another wait of 20 minutes for the next 3 dinners, and they insisted they had bought out the last dinner but hadn't. We then had to wait another 20 minutes for the last dinner, by which time everyone else had finished their meals. I had to ask for a plate, which never came so I ended up eating my curry off the naan bread plate. We asked for some money off of the bill, so they gave us the naan breads for free. We paid most of our bill in cash and wanted to put the remaining £11 on a card. We gave the cash over and theman on the till counted it very, very quickly and put it in his back pocket. He then tried to charge us £27 on the card! Was this a genuine mistake?! Overall, a totally crap experience. Good company on our table though!
Nate Hembree
Make a reservation. I really like the food here. Despite the filled to the brim feel (the restaurant is always full), the staff has been fairly responsive when we've visited. The mango lassi is excellent; highly recommended. Although normally I'm an advocate for garlic naan, the last time I had it I was a little dissapointed so I would suggest stick with the tandoori. Try and get a reservation, you can request one 24 hours in advance on their website.
NunheadNeil
Believe the hype and join the queue. Our supper club was 10 strong on Tuesday night when we arrived at Tayyabs around 7.30pm to find a queue of hungry punters stretching down the road. The lamb chops that I had been looking forward to sampling looked like they might have to wait for another occasion and talk turned to other establishments in the area that could possibly accommodate a large group at short notice. Fortunately we had the diminutive, but pretty scary, Priya in our party who marched to the head of the queue and had a quiet word with the staff in Hindi. Five minutes later we were all seated and cracking open the first of many Cobra beers.<br/><br/>The restaurant itself is big, bustling and very vibrant. There are a couple of large rooms upstairs and another one in the basement. A wonderful, pungent aroma of meat and spices hits you as soon as you walk through the front door; great for getting the taste buds salivating but be warned that you will be making a trip to the dry cleaners the next day.<br/><br/>After Priya's amazing success in getting us all in at the drop of a hat we decided that we would leave ourselves in her hands and let her order for the whole table. Popadoms and the usual accompaniments were first up; all very tasty but nothing to write home about. Things started to move up a gear with the arrival of plates laden with a section of nan breads which looked divine and tasted even better.<br/><br/>To start with we had the mixed grill which is highly recommended. The succulent chicken tikka came sporting a lovely char, the sheekh kababs were full of flavour and the lamb chops took this meal to whole new level. I was beginning to understand why there was such a big queue of hungry punters happy to wait for an hour to get a taste of this delicious cooking.<br/><br/>I'm struggling to remember everything that we had for the main courses but stand out dishes were the lamb chop curry, which was the special of the day, and the karhi keema. Despite our best efforts a couple of hours later we still had a mountain of food left which seemed a waste to leave uneaten; not a problem said our friendly waiter and few minutes later her returned with our food and nan bread beautifully package for us to take home.<br/><br/>As Tayyabs is a bring your own booze place and charges no corkage fee the bill for this amazing Pakistani Punjabi feast came to an incredibly reasonable £16 a head. A very small price to pay for what was one of my favourite meals this year.<br/><br/>I have one final top tip which I picked up from my good friend Mr Sudra; if you give the restaurant a call the day before you wish to eat you may find that you are able to book a table in advance.
HayleyMadhani
Tayyab doing delivery. Awesome.... Tayyabs doing delivery. I didnot believe it when my friend told me. Its really hard to make a reservation in Tayyabs restaurant in weekend. Now i can order by mysalivation.com.I found their service good and got food warm......
David Woodfield
DJW. Always a pleasure - great experience and fantastic food kept at a reasonable price despite huge popularity and what must be a temptation to cash in! Keep up the good standards and of course I will be back.
Julia
Not good. Full of tourists who do not know better. If you are from London, go to Tooting in South London where you can get a decent curry.
Ken K
The benchmark by which I judge all other curries!. Tayyabs is a tradition amongst our friends back in the UK & with good cause, we've been eating there for years. Perfect for that midweek catch-up or a quick curry before heading out. It's cheap, it's BYO... and the food is amazing!<br/><br/>You have to start with a mixed grill (I think it's actually a law or something), the chops and kebabs are out of this world! Aloo Meat ("...'allo meat!..." in thick London accent), Karahi Gosht & Mutter Keema are our other faves.<br/><br/>It's not the place to go if you want chamber music, formal wear & prompt seating at the exact time you booked; I've introduced many groups of friends over the years to Tayyabs' charms & at first the ever-present snaking queue & the elbow to elbow seating makes a lot of them wonder what I've brought them across town for. <br/><br/>But then after a few BYOs in the queue, you finally get seated, you have that first lamb chop & it all makes sense. Tayyabs is about good food & good company. No airs & graces, plain & simple. Definitely one of my favourite restaurants.
Omair Peracha
Love the lamb chops - I've travelled the world looking for better with no luck. Given the quality of food - price is very reasonable. Staff is all about speedy service here - so you can't linger
Alice Pretty
The fall of the King. If you are reading this and a white pretentious middle class hipster who had not bee to Tayyabs before 2000 then please do not read on. I guess you didn't even live in the east end before this time and rate you food on how cheap it is and 'authentic'.<br/><br/>Tayyabs was once a king and is now a truly disgusting place, I used to eat here twice a week with my friends in a local community restaurant, the service was cut throat, quick and efficent, you could literally turn up, que, order, eat, pay and leave in 30 mins if you wanted to. If you did not like this level of service, you had to be very strict and tell them to do starters firsts and then mains, they would comment back like an unusal combination. but when the food came it was darling. My compaints were it was inconsistent. rubbery dried out trandoor chicken one day and succulent the next, you do know that everything comes precooked and is only reheated to order.<br/><br/>plus try and get a fresh pop, my god the ordeal of gttng them to fry a new one that was not stale was not worth the culniary effort of the hassle.<br/><br/>The tikka fish was always dried out, although I loved the sheek and shami kebabs, and as for the vegetarian starters, take a good look at who actually orders pakora!<br/><br/>The curry is terrible now, it used to come in sizzling bowls, be very cheap and double the portion, on my last 6 visits before I decided the king has fallen, the bowls were cold, the portions tiny and swimming in ghee.<br/><br/>my gav manager had already walked out to needoo and the new manager was so rude when I complained I told him exactly what I thought and I would never come back he seemed tottally unconcerned despite the fact he knew me from the past and bought my company there for its funcitions occassionally. what an idiot to take such a loss over having another table free for a middle class hipster with a bottle of cobra.<br/><br/>the sizzling plates dont sizzle like they used to and the onions on top are raw instead of being cooked.<br/><br/>the amount of ghee you consume is NOT a pakistani tradtioion. The chops are lamp, not beer or RIBS as one indiot indicated previously.<br/><br/>The lassi is watere down with crushed ice.<br/><br/>the queing system is not worth it if you want to eat here get a take away.<br/><br/>quite possibly the worst restaurant where white people go to eat and have driven out the locals who ate here every day happily and did not know that new 'english' immigrants would take there seats and drive up prices and lower standards.
Marina Zadara
APPALLING!!! PHONE STOLEN BY WAITER!!!. My husband and I went to Tayyabs for a dinner with our friends (another couple) and our evening went wrong straight from the start. <br/><br/>Our waiter was clearly trying to get rid of us asap, he was in a shocking mood and we felt very unwelcome. He demanded that we ordered straight away and stood over our table with a face like thunder, while we were going through the menu. When food came, one of our curries was missing and it took them a long time to rectify that. They also tried to charge us for the wrong amount in the end.<br/><br/>It was all such a hassle! The atmosphere was horrible and they made us feel rushed and very unwelcome all the way through. <br/><br/>But worst of all, after we left, we realised that my husband's phone disappeared! There were about five waiters going back and forth past our table. In particular, there was one waiter, who rubbed very closely at my husband while cleaning away the plates. At the time we thought that he fancied him and laughed it off but, in reality, he was probably the one who stole the phone! There was nobody else, who came close enough to my husband throughout the whole evening and later when we went outside before the loss was discovered. We tried to ring the restaurant but, of course, we were told that they did not find anything and they were unwilling to help in any way.
Etejoie
I've Found No Equal. This is easily the best Pakistani restaurant I've been to. The seasonings and sauces are to die for. It's been a few years since I've been, but my expectations have been forever ruined by this place.
Hungrydave
Get there early!!!. You can stand around for hours here, its a deceptively large place and yet it's full by 6.30 most nights.<br/>This is good food at great prices and you can bring your own alcohol (make sure you do - all the local shops know you're going to need it and have ramped the prices right up accordingly.<br/><br/>The Lamb chops are to die for, all the food is really top knotch. Well worth the trip, its just a bit challenging logistically. Oh- you can book- thats a good idea.....
J
Overrated and Over Cooked Fare. Went Saturday night and honestly cant belive why it was so busy. The place is little more than a curried bar-b-que place. Sure the lamb chops looked nice but you dont serve them on the same dish as the curried fish ! Not a great mix of flavours.<br/><br/>The vegetables were overcooked and mushy, nan breads were on the small side and not particularly tasty. Everything was covered in Coriander probably to disguise the taste.<br/><br/>Would have been cheap except I ate less the half of what was served.<br/><br/>Been to much better local curry places.<br/><br/>Overall very disappointing and I have no idea why its so highly rated. Maybe it was an off day.
PeterNBiddle
To the reviewer who said "Bleugh.". WTF? are you insane? Okay, so the service sucks, the wait is horrible, the location a PITA. But the food is quite simply better than every other curry house in London. Tayyabs has stunning food. Go there for damn DAMN good food at crazy reasonable prices.
Smithy
Good food. Tayyabs does very good food, but be prepared to wait a bit for table. I love the mango lassi at tayyabs its worth a visit if u havent already been.
JY
Good cheap food!. Great food and a cheap price! Don't come here expecting a fancy restaurant and maitre d' to guide you to your seat. Instead, call ahead to reserve a table, bring your own beer, expect to wait even though you reserved, wear something you'd rather not have smelling of grilled meat and be ready to get your hands dirty gnawing on those lamb chops!! I also strongly recommend the dried meat and the pumpkin dish. You'll end up paying between £10 - £15 (depending on how ambitious you are!) and feeling well stuffed.
Lou
Good value for money!. If you find yourself fancying a curry in the East end, I would reccomend you definitely visit Tayyabs over any of the standard curry houses made for tourists on Brick Lane. I live in the East end so have visited a number of curry houses round the area in my time and have never been massively impressed. Tayyabs served gorgeous authentic Pakiistani food at good value for money. I had a vegi Okra curry which cost just £5.20 (meat dishes not much more), which with a side dish was plenty. <br/>The only criticism is that we were left to wait at the door fro a table for ages and weren't advised on waiting time. Service could improve- but appreciate that it was the end of the night.
Ahmer Hasan
The food was really good... The non veg items over the veg ones but the service was horrendous! Even after having reservation we had to wait for 20 mins! But easily the lowest point was when the head waiter (or he could have been te manager) refused to agree that a dish that we had re-ordered (because it was so good) was not the one they had actually delivered to the table... We had both the dishes side by side (the left over gravy from the first one) and even an idiot could see the different colour and taste the different gravy but the manager would not agree! He kept insisting the dish was something it was not! And we were a group of Indians and Pakistanis! Sort of calling us liar and fools he did everything to convince us. Finally he said that it seemed different because a different cook had made the second helping! Like we don't know a Jalfarezi from a Tikka Masala!
Tony Piper
Bleugh. No better than any of the other Curry Houses in the Aldgate East area - fatty and salty and conveyor-belt service. Not deserving of any award. Avoid.
Mikkel
Tuesday at 7pm was relatively quiet, according to the front of house, but we (2 of us) still had to queue, in spite of our booking. But it was worth it, although I wish I had known it was BYO. We were turned around in under an hour, but there was never going to be amy question of lingering, given the hordes waiting for their tables. Will definitely be going back.
Freddy Samuel
You have to try their lamb chops! But make sure you call a head to make a reso or you might wait a looooong time (but worth it)
Haroon Khan
Best Pakistani Food!. It's rare to find such fine Pakistani Panjabi food. Great food, great service. The mango lassi is divine.
Saurabh Verma
Places like Tayyabs are rare find. This is one of the best and honest everyday Indian, I've found anywhere in the world. If fine dining is ur after then go to Rasoi!
Terrence Gardener
What an excellent restaurant to visit. Excellent food and waiter service is had by all with very reasonable prices. I have been a few times now and will never tire of going there
Whatever
A must for all meat lovers. A real feast and not to be missed!
Charlie Pearce
Absolutely gorgeous food at excellent prices. Also BYOB. Be prepared to queue at peak times. But well worth the wait
Daniel Jerome
A great treat for the family! It's a must.
London Zef
The famous (in London) Tayyabs has been one of my curry mainstays for a few years now. But, it has been a while. The opportunity presented itself recently so I jumped at the chance. However, expectations can be a bitch and my memories of this place differed from my recent experience. There were issues with timing, the general state of cleanliness and the service received. The whole place seems to be covered in a film of grease, everywhere (I think a major clean is required) . With regards to the staff, it felt as if a large number of them were suffering from P.M.S. (not rude per se, just moody) . Altogether this very nearly forced me to give a 2 rating, but the mains, price and absence of a corkage charge pulled it all back. Next time I go (not any time soon) , I’l
Foodexpectations
Very good Punjabi food in a chaotic (in a fun way) setting. Large portions and quick service I had heard from Matt and Claire how much they love Tayyabs. We spent the afternoon at the Coffee Festival in Brick Lane, feeling very uncool and surrounded by hipsters (new reason to go shopping soon). Around 6pm, fully caffeinated (from the coffee and delicious chocolate samples at the festival), we were ready for some warm food. Tayyabs seemed like the perfect call to escape the rain and also, to take advantage of being around the Whitechapel area, which doesn’t happen often (another sign we are not cool enough). Texted our friends to get a suggestion of what to eat but were seated downstairs and had no cell phone service (we first thought upstairs was a better call but after 30 seconds of almost chocking from the fumes from the grill, we ran down the steps as fast as we could). After we finished and were leaving, we got our answer: go with a big group, wear clothes you can throw in the wash
Wrap Your Lips Around This
6/10 To describe the start of my evening at Nozomi as difficult would be something of an understatement. Long story short; we’re left waiting outside in the cold despite calling up to let the restaurant know that we have arrived for our 6:30pm reservation. With the doors still resolutely locked we resort to knocking, only to be sneered at by the gentleman who finally opens up. I don’t quite understand the logic behind being rude to your patrons (less so your reviewers), but maybe the super-rich like a little bitchiness with their sashimi . Maybe its just Knightsbridge. Once guests are inside, a man with a dubious pony tail and shiny suit will swoop in to start a clunky sales pitch with the question ‘who would like a free cocktail tonight’ . This uninvited proposition ends 15 minutes later with credit card details coerced into an app. The app is foisted onto unsuspecting customers at every table as soon as bums touch seats, before menus are even given. For somewhere so blindingly expensive, it’s both tacky and outrageous. Despite the lack of refinement, the kitchen has a few good moves. The special of spicy miso Chilean sea bass has every right to be called so; baked to a texture so silken and pearlescent that it almost smooths over the preceding events. An orange miso glazed duck breast is also good; it’s pinkness is swathed in a sticky teriyaki sauce with a wicked citrus edge. Another great combination is seen with seared, buttery soft foie gras and gloriously salty eel. I wouldn’t part with money for the wagyu ; our 150g fillet priced at £75 is intolerably overcooked and it’s grey flesh unpalatable. Lobster tempura is also poorly rendered; my dining partner correctly pronouncing the flaccid sacks as ‘lobster mc’nuggets’ – yours for £48. Although the kitchen is not without skill, there is definite room for improvement. If the owner can stop ill-mannered associates from negatively interacting with customers, train staff to be more fluent in the menu and cook premium
Alina Anghel
Overall the food was good with certain dishes better than others, while some were a bit disappointing. The grills were definitely the highlight of the meal so we were happy we got to satisfy our Sunday lunch cravings. Lamb chops & chicken thighs grills came to the table sizzling and were quite good. Definitely worth ordering if you dine here. Chicken tikka was ok but far from best. I`ve had quite a few amazing tikkas while travelling in Asia and in London and this one seemed a bit lacking in flavour. Karahi tarka dahl was lovely and really enjoyed it with the naan. Okra was unfortunately overcooked which was a bit of a disappointment for my partner as he previously had some really great okra here when he came before a few years ago and was really looking forward to it.
The City Lane
Just around the corner from Brick Lane, not more than a 10 minute walk away, on the other side of Whitechapel Road, are 3 of the best curry houses in London. Tayyabs, Lahore Kebab House, and Needoo Grill. They are separated from their Brick Lane counterparts by a few key things...
Walthamstowfoodies
Tayyab’s has been serving Punjabi food in a backstreet of Whitechapel, East London since 1972. The family-run business has grown from a small cafe to the current 3 floor mega restaurant. The queue for a table is as legendary as the lamb chops, but it’s easy to understand why – the quality of the food is so good, it’s cheap and it’s BYO alcoholic drinks. At this time of year that can only mean lots of office Xmas parties with a box of beers!
Love Food London
Tayyabs is one of those restaurants that you keep in your little black book. Maybe not the best place for a romantic date but for friends who want to shake off the January blues, have a few cheap beers and nurse a food baby that night, with new addiction to lamb chops – then this place is perfect.<br/>
Food And Drinks Noob
Tayyabs is a Punjabi restaurant in Whitechapel that has become one the best to go place in East London for Pakistani cuisine. It is a busy place in the evening due to its reputation and located just a few minutes walk from the city.
SexDrugsandBaconRolls
The currys were rich and tasty, full of delicious spices and tomatoes. The chicken was served on a hot grill and came out sizzling. The chunks were huge and were so succulent. The rice was served hot and was al dente which was perfect and the two sides we ordered would have served four of us.
Inher30s
Tayyabs, a short walk away from the usual hubbub of Brick Lane, has built itself a bit of a reputation as the best Indian food in London. The prospect of the much famed queues has always put me off though, however when our team at work organised an early 5:30pm dinner, we managed to get a large table and off we went. The place was largely deserted when we arrived, however it filled up at high speed. Clearly those in the know know to get here early. Tayyabs is famously BYO, contributing to a very low cost per head! Free poppadoms and a selection of chutneys to tide us over as we debated the menu! Exceptional chutneys – far cry from the usual and so far so good. After much debate, we opted for a large medley of food. The famous lamb chops had to be ordered and were everything they promised to be. The Kebabs, Tikkas and samosas were perfectly adequate but did not attract any special praise. In my view, they were a bit dry and just could not compare to the delectable lamb. W
Sonya Chan
...decent pakistani in whitechapel. tayyabs is questionably the most popular<br/>pakistani – or indian if you’re not being too particular – restaurant in london. after<br/>constant raves, have finally made my way there for some awesome tandoori bread<br/>as well as tandoori meats and curries. i didn’t necessarily find it more fantastic than<br/>my still-favourite masala zone chain, though the lamb was greatly praised and I<br/>don’t eat lamb, so that could be why.
TheFoodaholic
Tayyabs Indian in Whitechapel has to be one of the most talked about restaurants in London. First opening its doors back in 1972, this Punjabi creation has had queues spiralling out of its doors and down the road since anyone can remember. Thankfully you can now book and don't just have to turn up in the hope of a table. That said the place is so huge on the inside you'll never be waiting for long. It's like an Aladdin's cave inside - but without the treasures. There's seating upstairs, downstairs, round the corner - they've even got some next to the toilets. With so many people making their way through the doors of this institution every day, it's no wonder Tayyabs is looking a bit tired inside. There is however a silver lining to all of this grotty decor and quite frankly rude and cumbersome service - BYOB. For no extra charge you can bring as much alcohol as you like. Don't bring white wine because you won't get ice and don't expect wine glasses because a tumbler is as far as it goes. But when it comes to final bills, you won't get one much cheaper than here at Tayyabs. If I recall the meal came to around £18 a head for everything we wanted - and we didn't hold back. Vegetable samosas were packed to the brim with potato, chili and onion. A good crispy pastry, but on the whole a little too much oil made its way through it all. Good flavour but perhaps a little extra draining before it arrives wouldn't go a miss. One of the best things we ate here was the Karahi tarka dahl. Soft lentils in a rich, nutty sauce made up of vibrant turmeric, garlic, chili and who knows what else. How they managed to get such a depth of flavour, but with a lingering smokiness to it all was beyond me. Perhaps it was the butter which was bubbling away during cooking or just the expert blending of spices I'll never know - what I can tell you is if you come to Tayyabs and think it's only about the meat, your wrong. It's also about the dahl. I don't think I've ever seen any good photos of th
Jonathan.p.garrett
Tayyabs has an almost mythical status in London. "Should have gone to Tayyabs" is a well-known refrain to people who make the frequent mistake of having a curry on Brick Lane. I always do it when slightly worse for wear out east on a weekend. I stumble from "London's best curry house 2008" to "London's best curry house 2009", entering full of promise and cumin-inspired excitement and leaving wondering if Craig Charles awarded the restaurants their dubious titles.
Fifi
Tayyabs is without doubt one of the most fabulous curry restaurants I have ever been to and trust me, I have been to a few. Two friends who love curry as much as I do took me there last year, which was terrific as I had been reading about it on a number of food review websites. Here is one for you to read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/sep/07/top10.restaurants Since then, we have taken friends and family to Tayyabs on several occasions (I should definitely be on commission by now) and every time it has been just brilliant. It is located between Whitechapel and Aldgate East tube stations in East London and is a huge restaurant which takes up two levels. It is so cheap and is always absolutely packed Monday to Sunday, from lunchtime through to midnight. It does not serve alcohol, however you can bring your own along. My husband and I went there for dinner this week and had a feast for only £22 which was superb. The photo quality is not great due to the lighting in the restaurant
Piggyeatalot
The lamb chops come on a sizzling hot plate and is both spectacular to watch and hear. The aroma and flavours of the lamb chops pack a punch, yet are not overpowering, and the texture is as tender as it gets, expectantly the meat comes right off the bone.
J
It is not easy to find as it is located in a back street in Whitechapel but to seek out this cheap eat reaturant is most definitely worth it. This restaurant has existed for years and has been churning out well conceived and authentic Punjabi offerings and all at an reasonable price, part of the reason why it is immensely popular.
Vi Vian Woo
Probably they are busy but the service was brusque. I would return but definitely make sure that I want to be seated on the ground floor level.
Tulsi
Their trump card is their lamb chops - dry rubbed with spices and grilled to perfection, were a shade better than Lahore, which were good but seemed more thinner and leaner. On the rest of the grilled food, I'd say they are both equal, you can't go wrong ordering a mixed grill platter of delicately spiced sheesh kebabs, the infamous lamb chops and fail safe chicken kebabs.
The Picky Glutton
Classic cheap curry consumed cheerfully
NC
Typically when a dish is written and written about like the Tayyabs Lamb Chops they end up being underwhelming, this is not the case with the Tayyabs Lamb Chops, they are as delicious as everyone says they are. An amazing charcol flavour and oh so tender. The wednesday special of Shami Kebab was another story, these little lamb rissoles had the consisteny of baby vomit and tasted what I can only assume is very similar. Never again. Thankfully the above was the only a disappointing dish.
Dinnerathon.
There are some restaurants I have been going to for such a long time and which are so well known that I never get round to writing about them. What could I possibly say that has not already been said about such institutions as Brindisa, for example. Tayyabs is one of those places.
Monchichi
Like all good menus, New Tayyab's menu is small (about 2 pages long), descriptive (i.e. allo = potato) and laminated.
Wingz
My first impression of Pakistani cuisine was pleasant, but people simply won't shut up about Tayyabs. So a visit to the much loved restaurant is inevitable. It was 3pm on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Thankfully there were no queues, but the joint was still 90% packed plus the odd few waiting for their takeaway orders. Despite the air of laziness filling the entire London on yet another gloomy Sunday (which started off super sunny), the atmosphere was lively in Tayyabs; plates of sizzling grills flying out from the kitchen, staff speedily manoeuvring around the tables and each other, and patrons chatting away over plates
Melbourniangirl
I was thrilled to head to Tyabbs , a favorite restaurant of mine, that serves Pakistani fare in the back streets of Whitechapel.
A Roscoe
...everybody in the know knows that the best place for Indian food is Tayyabs. And I mean everybody. Located down a grimy sidestreet in Whitechapel, this Punjabi hotspot, first opened in 1972, may be one of the worst kept secrets in London. The famed queues at the weekend (and most weeknights, too) spill ou
The Food Connoisseur
It was one of those nights, late October/November last year; the rain chuckled down onto my face as soon as I got out of Whitechapel station. The market along the road was still open, and all sorts of characters wondered around. I lived in East London for most of my life; Whitechapel is all too familiar to me. <br/><br/>The destination was Tayyabs, a family run Punjabi restaurant since 1972. It’s not a very easy place to look for hidden in the backstreets of East London; even I was scared walking around by myself in the dark. I had to make a trip to Tesco beforehand, as Tayyab allows you to BYOB, selecting red wine for our feast.<br/><br/> After 15 mins later I finally made it to Tayyabs, my friend’s boyfriend already arrived. We waited for the rest of the party to arrived and was rushed to our seats. I ordered a jug of mango lassi, a must to wash down the spicy curries. As soon as the rest arrived we ordered our curries and nan bread, plus those infamous lamb chops. We had 3 curries between the 8
Paul Hart
The tikka and chops are on the table within seconds of our order being taken. They must be constantly cooking meat in the kitchen, just firing it out to keep up with the demand from the front of house.
Theskinnybib
this lassi in my hand was probably the most delicious of its kind. Fresh, not very thick and just sweetened to make my mouth water.
Come Con Ella
most londoners i have met think tayyab's when they think pakistani food. as a pakistani who has spent almost four and a half years in london i felt i must get onto the bandwagon of tayyab-ites and see for myself. one very chilly early winter evening found
Andy Hayler
Tayyab seems to be an East London institution as much as a restaurant. It has expanded out of its original Whitechapel premises into what was the pub next door, and yet still the tables are filled. On this hot August weekday there was a long (and I mean l
Odo
Tayyabs is definitely one of the best places to eat in London.
HungryinLondon
Tayyabs is a real London institution as it is the case for few other cheap ethnic haunts. Not far from Whitechapel Tube Station, this inconspicouus restaurant is tucked away in a little backstreet. That said, Tayyabs would be inconspicuous, if it wasn't for the hordes of people patiently waiting in front for their share of Punjabi Pakistani food. Tayyabs was founded more than 30 years ago and has been growing from a local cafe to one of the places you have to visit in London before you die (or before you leave, which some people might argue is the same). It does not have an alcohol license and what adds to its incredible value is there is no corkage charge for bringing a bottle or two. Finally it was my time to pay Tayyabs a visit. When you are disorganised enough to go on a Saturday evening like yours truly, be prepared to queue at least 30 minutes. Even though the turnover is high, there are a lot of people queuing too… As soon as we were seated we got serv
Grumbling Gourmet
Mention Brick Lane to most Londoners and you'll get a variety of references to grubbily ubiquitous East End hipsters selling secondhand tat, a mention of the various markets and boutiques that dot the area and a bewildering level of advice about the curry houses, dive bars and beigel bakeries that glitter the forcibly pedestrianised length. I, reader, am no different, and certainly more opinionated than most.
Mzungu
I do not know what has happened to Tayyabs, maybe it was just a one off or maybe this is how a stalwart has lost its magic and sadly gone downhill. I must be the only person in London who has never actually had to queue up to get a table here. As we entered the restaurant the warmth met our poor freezing bodies and I was content to stand under the heater for a while. Sadly this wasn’t to be as we were shown our table more
Thelondonfoodie
Sensational grilled meats, wonderful Karahi curries and vegetables at very reasonable prices. I cannot wait to return. Highly recommended.
Suzie
Service wise, not too up to standard but guess its expected with the level of businesses. Customers queueing, people ordering, eating… etc so there bound to be some side effect. Nevertheless, the pricing is reasonable, approximately GBP6-7 per curry, star
Tehbus
The time had finally come. After a while waiting to go and after reading numerous food blogs about how great it was, the day had finally arrived. I finally made it to Tayyabs. Tayyab's is a Pakistani restaurant located just east of Aldgate, at the bottom
TastyChomps.com Orlando Food
Founded in 1972, Tayyab’s is a family owned and run business in Whitechapel serving the finest in Punjabi cuisine. The food comes from the Punjab state in Northern India and Pakistan, and many of the dishes at Tayyab’s have a Pakistani flair to them – characterized by less saucy curries and more dry spices.<br/><br/>Just a few short blocks from the Tube station for Whitechapel (which may seem to be longer than normal in the rain), Tayyabs is off a rather unassuming street filled with kabob shops and other fast to go spots for the working man in this mostly South Asian neighborhood.
Gourmet Chick
Tayyabs is so hot right now. The queue is longer than the queue that you will face to get into even the fussiest bar or nightclub in town. Maybe it is because Tayyabs beat all the expensive places to Indian restaurant of the year (although technically it
Hollowlegs
2008 passed by really quite quickly. A lot has happened for me; this blog was born, for a start. Relationships ended, new ones discoveries were made, and new friendships (some through this blog) were made. One such discovery was New Tayyabs . There are lo
World Foodie Guide
Fellow food bloggers rave about this Pakistani Punjabi restaurant in Whitechapel, which has been around for over 30 years. So I finally decided to drag myself over to East London, in fact twice in the last month, to see what all the fuss was a
Ben Maritz
This is the best restaurant we have yet been to in London. It's is written up in literally every guidebook; which given the competition is not really that much of a feat -- what is startling is that despite the attention, it is still turning out terrific
Oliver Thring
Surely among the happiest legacies of Britain’s dodgy colonial past are the new tastes it offered: of coffee, chocolate and tomatoes: of sugar, spice, and all those nice things. India, which eventually symbolised the Empire, doubtless gave more ingredient
Kang L.
I did it, I finally did it. I went to Tayyabs for the very first time and you already know what my response is going to be like, in fact, you’ve read all the other all too positive reviews floating about. Drop whatever you were doing and prepare to suspen
Robin Clark
I was first introduced to Tayyabs by a Bengali friend and it seemed to me, that if a curry house was so enthusiastically recommended by someone of Bengali origin, it had to be great. Last night me and some colleagues
Kristainlondon
I don't know why I haven't written about Tayyabs sooner. Tayyabs was one of the first restaurants I ever went to back when I first moved over in 2004. My friend Rutton swears by their food, as do many people out there on the Internet. It's kinda crazy how
Food Snob
In retrospect, I could not have made a better choice of restaurant for my premier review than New Tayyabs. It successfully showcases the idea and ideals of my Food Snob i.e.
Cheese And Biscuits
I'm always rather wary of writing about "ethnic" foods - not being able to provide any particular insight into the style of cooking or a bunch of ingredients I've never heard of, I'm worried I might end up coming across as even more of an amateur than usu
Su-Lin
Last Thursday, a whole gaggle of London food bloggers met for a feast at Tayyabs, that bastion of Pakistani food in Whitechapel. Chris of Cheese and Biscuits and Helen of Food Stories were responsible for the meetup, the booking and the little (actually q
Sanchi Arora
The ambiance is extremely noisy and the food is pretty okay. I found the food to be too oily and not spicy enough as Indian food should be but the tandoori dishes were great.
Amna Mansoor
I have visited this place on this weekend for my friend’s birthday celebration. It was a peaceful and well decorated restaurant. The waiters were very attentive. Each dish has its own taste. The starters were lovely but we definitely ordered way too much food, the cocktails are a must and taste Devine! I would call the prices average.
Carla
As usual I always judge an Indian restaurant on the veggie food it serves, and the veggie options here are very good. And that's before we start talking about the meat, which is excellent. <br/><br/>Carnivores love this place. Huge plates of meat come out from the kitchen every few minutes and it tastes as good as it looks. If you're sitting near the kitchen just make sure to shield your eyes as they carry the meat past - it really starts to hurt!<br/><br/>It's lively and buzzy on a Saturday night but my favourite meal here was with a group of friends for Sunday lunch. We shared most the veggie dishes on the menu, especially the pumpkin, okra and chickpeas. The mango lassi helped things along nicely.
SherryStyles
Visited here few times both with friends and family all visits service was slow & very bad. Had to wait in queue for ages before we got seated & the seating & tables were positioned so close to one another it was so uncomfortable. The food on the other hand was delicious, we ordered the kebab platter, Garlic Naan, Rice, Lamb Biryani & a Lamb Curry. The Meat was spicy , moist & flavoursome. All in all would have been better & faster to probably order a takeaway.
Steeve Mee
Again, I don't understand all the great reviews from this place. It's an over crowded hectic beer hall where people can bring their own alchohol, and they do, in large quantaties! Many people queue up for ages and don't even get a seat. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Hectic, chaotic filled with drunks who don't look like they'd know a curry from a bolognaise. It's definitely somewhere not to take children or family!<br/>
Keith Lindley
This is an extremely popular curry house. Convenient for medics from the RLH and generally very popular. Service is very good but the food rather sadly is a shadow of its former self. Naans are soggy, pickles watery and kebabs on the dry side, apart from the fish. Mains are extremely greasy (well the chicken at least) and the paneer curry pointless!<br/>There are better places to East in the East End - most within 50 yards. Whilst it wasn't expensive I think it was McDonalds league - best avoided. Can't imagine why it is so popular ?<br/>K & J <br/>
Karishma Pais (Kim)
Tayyabs is an extremely popular "Indian" restaurant in London. It serves more Sindhi / Pakistani kind of food. Friends who have been here before, recommend the kebabs over the curries.<br/><br/>Their lamb chops were quite good as were the seekh kebabs. Husband and friends said that the prawns were good too. The chicken tikka though was dry and the paneer tikka rubbery. Kheema was a nice spicy gravy that went great with the rotis. The biryani was tasty, but I was quite put off with the addition of peas and other veggies in a mutton biryani.<br/><br/>Tayyabs is great VFM, but not a "return to" on my list.
Jeson Chelleth
Great tasting food and very authentic. I don't understand why the Indian cuisine tag though. I think they have more Pakistani roots and its something to be really proud off. I simply love that style of cooking. Coming from Mumbai, it reminds me of Ramzan time, when we used to go around Mohammed Ali street eating all we could... :)<br/><br/>Now, I've been there a few times and the service experience is totally mixed. During quieter times, there wasn't any issues. BUT when it was busy, it was a nightmare. The tables were jammed packed, with hardly any place to move my arms. The last time we went, they completely messed our orders up, and we ended up waiting for more than an hour between the starters and the main course.<br/><br/>The other main issue being that it is very difficult to find parking, and mostly you have to park far and walk. <br/><br/>Hence the lower overall score... Else, food is great...
TheFoodaholic
Tayyabs Indian in Whitechapel has to be one of the most talked about restaurants in London. First opening its doors back in 1972, this Punjabi creation has had queues spiralling out of its doors and down the road since anyone can remember. Thankfully you can now book and don't just have to turn up in the hope of a table. That said the place is so huge on the inside you'll never be waiting for long. It's like an Aladdin's cave inside - but without the treasures. There's seating upstairs, downstairs, round the corner - they've even got some next to the toilets. With so many people making their way through the doors of this institution every day, it's no wonder Tayyabs is looking a bit tired inside.<br/><br/>There is however a silver lining to all of this grotty decor and quite frankly rude and cumbersome service - BYOB. For no extra charge you can bring as much alcohol as you like. Don't bring white wine because you won't get ice and don't expect wine glasses because a tumbler is as far as it goes. But when it comes to final bills, you won't get one much cheaper than here at Tayyabs. If I recall the meal came to around £18 a head for everything we wanted - and we didn't hold back. Vegetable samosas were packed to the brim with potato, chili and onion. A good crispy pastry, but on the whole a little too much oil made its way through it all. Good flavour but perhaps a little extra draining before it arrives wouldn't go a miss.<br/><br/>One of the best things we ate here was the Karahi tarka dahl. Soft lentils in a rich, nutty sauce made up of vibrant turmeric, garlic, chili and who knows what else. How they managed to get such a depth of flavour, but with a lingering smokiness to it all was beyond me. Perhaps it was the butter which was bubbling away during cooking or just the expert blending of spices I'll never know - what I can tell you is if you come to Tayyabs and think it's only about the meat, your wrong. It's also about the dahl.<br/><br/>I don't think I've ever seen any good photos of the food here at Tayyabs, and mine are no exception. After waiting quite a while for our food to arrive it all suddenly appeared sizzling in iron. Naans, were actually quite good (especially the peshwari) but that wasn't before they first arrived on a neighbouring table, who started to take a nibble and then the waiters rudely telling them off. Not entirely sure how they were supposed to know they got an incorrect order. Especially given the amount of alcohol everyone is consuming in this place - me included. The thing we all really came here to try though was the much hyped about lamb chops. They hype is unfortunately so big now that it only means for slight disappointment. We were expecting them to be sensational but instead they were just good. Quality of the meat is questionable - more mutton and quite strong in flavour. I suspect this is why the chops are always cooked well done and never a tender medium rare. The spices that covered them on the other hand were exceptional and couldn't be faulted. Chicken tikka was again nice but I've had better elsewhere.<br/><br/>Between the three of us we managed a bottle of lukewarm Champagne, three bottles of red, and dessert wine - minus any dessert. We left stumbling out, but we also left with lingering traces of oil stuck in the corners of our mouth from this next dish. Chicken Karahi, a slow cooked dish with morsels of moist chicken, a good hit of ginger, garlic and again an array of spices which I'll never know the secret too. The flavour and meat in this dish were stunning but the oil I found was just too much. A good layer of ghee or light lashing of oil on the top of any Indian dish is perfectly fine, if not expected - but when there is this much it becomes a little questionable. This is artery clogging stuff.<br/><br/>If anything here was made to go with a naan or roti then it's this keema dish. I'd actually meant to order the classic ground lamb kind but somehow that got lost in translation and I got a chicken variant which turned out to be a fantastic choice. This time oil was certainly not the focus of the dish and its smoky deep flavour and good hit of chili seemed to me perhaps what Tayyabs do best. I'm sure some of you will send me hate mail for saying this, but perhaps it's not all about the grills here?<br/><br/>Tayyabs is still, one of the most talked about restaurant in London, even after 30 years - and it seems to always be about those lamb chops. The question I want to ask, is why? There are so many Indian restaurant in London who use better quality meat and can cook such it to such a fine medium rare, it makes me wonder just what are Tayyabs doing right? Well for one, some of the curry (sorry for using that word) dishes have such a depth of flavour it's hard to match them on that. Pricing is incredibly cheap and quite frankly I think a big part of its popularity has a lot to do with the BYOB. Tayyabs ultimately serve some good food, but its service, dirty restaurant and the need to burn you're clothes after just doesn't seem attractive. If you simply just want to catch up with friends, spend little money, get incredibly drunk and gnaw on meat for an evening, then look no further - Tayyabs is your answer
Sophia R
I went to Tayyabs with the fussiest friend I possess so my expectations were high! And were they met?....errrrr yessss! Who wouldn't want their mixed grill within five minutes of ordering it. Personally I would say the starters are farrr better then the mains. I had sheesh kebabs,wings and chops with fresh soft roti which satisfied my taste buds...if you want good food, enjoy loud hustle and bustle and aren't afraid of the challenge of getting the waiters attention then Give it a go! Anddddd standard warning you will smell of smokey grill when u come out!
Abhishek Kumar
Went on the new year eve. Mango lassi was too sweet (although it's their speciality) and the restaurant was too crowded but the food is and will always be awesome.
Mircea Lazăr
Tayyabs is justifiably popular - despite the hectic atmosphere and the relatively poor service, the food is amazing. <br/><br/>I usually start with a mixed grill or with the chicken tikka and the grilled lamb chops. They arrive on a sizzling hot tray and the air around fills with the aroma and spice (not great for clothes/long hair though!). Then a nice curry such as the chicken keema karahi, or the dry meat (very flavourfull lamb). No meal is complete without their luscious pistachio kulfi on a stick.
Danny Lalani
Excellent Pakistani Eatery, a casual local curry house for the students of Queen Mary. <br/><br/>Tayyabs always hits the spot it reminds me so much of home cooking and as a student living away from my family I would go nowhere else. <br/>The grilled food is incredible, the lamb chops, Chicken Tikka and Kebabs and some of the curry's give an authentic taste. It is a lot better than the watered down curries one would get in central London. The naan bread taste fresh and crispy on the outside and sweet and soft on the inside. <br/><br/>The staff are nice and helpful and the setting is extremely casual. Really is an experience not to be missed.
Vi Vian Woo
Alright, most people know Tayyabs. A copious amount of first rate reviews. No wonder Tayyabs is an award winning eaterie beating even some of the Michelin restaurants. Tayyabs, a blend of Punjabi-Pakistani cuisine, thrives on stupendous food, unfussy and unposhy. No nit-picking with granishes. No fancy cuts of vegetables.<br/><br/>Inside Tayyabs, it has three separate dining area on ground entrance and a basement floor. Brightly lit upstairs, decoration with vibrant colours is different to the atmosphere in the basement. The basement is dimly lit with difficulty to look at the menu and loud blasting music that you have to shout to the person across the table on already very narrow and small tables.<br/><br/>It seems like it is impossible to get a booking in Tayyabs. Especially when we have a crowd of nine people or maybe because we had a crowd of nine.<br/>Tayyabs do not serve alcohol, you can bring your own and they dont have a corkage charge either (because they do not havea corkscrew). You also might want to take note that Tayyabs close during the ramadhan period.<br/><br/>Spicy popadums (GBP 0.60) with variety of sauces - was a great pre-starter. These were they immediately put on the tables. Even before the menus arrived! These popadoms were served with raw onion, tomato and cucumber salad with three chutneys, tomato and red chilli (spicy), mango chutney (leans towards sweet but has a hint of spicy) and a mint and yoghurt (non-spicy). The popadums were light and delicious. Not at all oily.<br/><br/>mango lassi and the white saltish lassi (I cannot remember what the white was called) - both the lassis were thick and creamy, tasted very good, very filling. If you are apprehensive about the spicyness of the food, it is a good idea to opt for one of these drinks. The mango lassi can be very filling. Therefore, my advice is to go slow on the drink, if you can resist yourselves. The saltish yoghurt, has a touch of cumin. In fact, it was on the verge of salty for us. Order a jug (GBP 6.00) if you were going to order two or more glasses (GBP 2.50).<br/><br/>For starters, Tayyabs are known for their grilled meats. Both meats came on a sizzling plate. Still smoky when it arrived on the table beause it must have travelled a distance from the kitchen to the basement floor on our table.Lamp chops (4 pieces - GBP 6.20) - the marinate is flavoursome. Not as meaty as I thought it would be. There is no need for sauce because of the thick layer of marinate coated on the meat.<br/><br/>Chicken tikka (5 pieces GBP 3.20) - the chicken was on the dry side. but you would expect that from a chicken breast. My least favourite.<br/>After the starters, there was not a long wait until the main arrived.<br/>Peshwari naan (GBP 2.50 each) - darker on the surface, topped with sesame seeds. Slightly messy as the dessicated coconut went everywhere when we tried to separate into smaller pieces.<br/><br/>Tandoori naan (GBP 0.95 each) - called a tandoori so it does not sound normal, I guess. But, it is just a regular naan. Thick and doughy.<br/><br/>Pilau rice (GBP 2.90 a portion) - the portion size is generous for one.<br/><br/>All the main courses that we had came in a small rabdi kadai look alike. Shaped like a small wok it rests on a rectangular wooden block. The kadai was quite shallow and wide. Not much of a main course. I would recommend to have two dishes per person. All their dishes just have garnishes of coriander and fresh chopped tomatoes. Sauce all look tomatoes-eish, with quite a compelling taste of ghee.<br/><br/>Saag aloo (GBP 5.50) - potato with spinach. Though on the spicy side, you can still taste the spinach. Not much potato in the dish. Just few chunks of small potato cubes.<br/><br/>Here, they all look quite similar. It actually helped to identify which is which because the waiter told us what they were before he puts it down. Helps but there is actually no way of telling it unless you are with someone who knows or remembered what they have ordered.<br/>As a first timer and ignorant to the punjabi-pakistani cuisine, these looked the same to me.<br/><br/>karahi mixed vegetables GBP 5.40<br/><br/>tinda masala GBP 5.60<br/><br/>karahi fish GBP 7.50 - chef's speciality. it was a small portion even if it is just for one. Enjoyed the delicate white fish. Not too spicy.<br/><br/>karahi bindhi GBP 5.60 - the okra is sliced into smaller sizes. The okras tasted slightly young to me. They are well cooked without being too slimy.<br/><br/>kulfi GBP 2.95<br/><br/>Probably they are busy but the service was brusque. I would return but definitely make sure that I want to be seated on the ground floor level.
Barbitchka
Perfect place for pre-party dinner. Make sure to be patient with service and do not get offended in any case. Food is fantastic. Group dining makes it easier to taste more dishes and nicely split the bill. You must reserve in advance. Place is always packed! The fact you can bring your own alcohol makes it even more enjoyable.
Siobhan Brunwin
This place is one of the reasons why I think London has the best, most diverse food scene in the world. Tayabbs is an east London institution, firstly it's huge everytime I have been here I've visited I've sat in a different cavernous room. Secondly it's so busy & loud, you literally have to shout to hear each other. Thirdly the atmosphere & food is brilliant. Tayabbs is renowned for their lamb chops, and they live up to expectations - spicy, juicy & tender I could have eaten plates of them! Onto the mains... these curries are authentic - no gloppy, stodgy sauces with heavy cream no these are fresh, light & a lot more spicy then usual. The nans also have to get a special mention - make sure you order one. The service here is pretty rubbish, you will struggle to hear your fellow dinner campions, it might take a while to order but this place is an experience not to be missed plus it's bring your own booze!
Tejasvi A
Nice ambience and the staff was servicing well despite the crowd. <br/>The non veg platter had good to taste chicken tikka, lamb kebabs. Rightly marinated to reach nearby perfection. <br/>Nihaari and garlic naan tasted excellent. The nihaari tastes well after the dish cools is my expirence. The meat was so moist, delicate and strongly spiced. Good on the taste buds.<br/>Ended with a jug of lassi to drain the spice within the system:-D
Gracie Cox
I recently tried this Indian place and was quite impressed with it. The food was excellent, perfectly cooked and had amazing flavours in it. The service was pretty quick and efficient and the staff was well-behaved as well. Along with this, the customers can bring their own alcohol which is quite amazing. I would love to visit this place again.
Adam Higgins
I visited this restaurant to have good curry. We ordered the food, and it was absolutely delicious. All the dishes we ordered were extremely delectable and mouth-watering, as well as well prepared. The breads were also a delight. The only thing this place lags to a great extent is the service. The service is extremely slow here, and the staff is a bit rude and inhospitable. If they sort out this aspect, the place is a recommendation.
Logan Kemp
The place offers Indian and Pakistani cuisine. The food here is extremely delightful. Every dish we ordered was delicious and appetizing and cooked to perfection. The meats were also cooked very well. The burnt onions on top of every dish as garnish, was something I did not like though. The atmosphere is loud, and the place is usually packed with people. Would surely recommend it.
Harry Fletcher
I had a wonderful experience dining at this place. The menu offers an extensive list of dishes. The food is delicious and absolutely delightful. The prices are also not very high and completely justify the quality of food. I would definitely recommend this place and would return for another great culinary experience.
Reuben Morrison
Lovely place to have some delectable meat, but you had to wait over an hour to get a table till recently, when the place started taking bookings. The food here is wonderful, and tastes great, the meat so tender and juicy, you leave feeling happy. However, to avoid the queue, you could try having lunch here on Sunday afternoon instead.
Adam Hayes
After coming to this restaurant i can proudly say, the best punjabi cuisine is cooked in this country! The place entices you straight from the aroma and fragrance of spices coming right out of door. The food is as delicious. Ordered Lamb dish and mango lassi and other dishes other times. The food is so DELIGHTFUL. The place is always bustling with people. Much worth. A must try.
Maya Goddard
I have to say that I loved this place. It was economical and tasted exceptionally amazing. We arrived in the early evening, and were fortunately able to escape the queue. It is also advisable to make reservations beforehand. The service was quite sluggish, and they gave us the wrong appetizers. But aside from this one oversight, the food was delicious and priced very reasonably. The lamb chops were ravishing, and the king prawns were even better. We topped our meal with a mango lassi, and left with a massive smile on our face.
Leon Bates
If you can get in this place then you are going to have a time of your life. The food is cooked perfectly here, The atmosphere is very lively. This is not a place for a romantic meal but sure this is a place where you can have a good time with your friends. <br/>The curry are amazing here and according to me you sure should give this place a visit.
Prateek Dua
The long wait in the queue, the noisy space and the concept of BYOB, may seem very drab however, trust me when I say it is worth it all! The delicious lamb chop is the big winner! This beautiful Indian restaurant proves to be your best option for good, authentic food. Located near our apartment, this restaurant was a wicked experience!
Callum Johnston
If you are going for a date then I would say a big NO for this place. This place does not really possess an intimate and passionate environment for a date. This place is more of chilling out place. There were quite alot of dishes we had ordered and they turned out to be average. Due to the space crunch, you might just feel a bit claustrophobic in there. Otherwise the staff is decent and the service is fine.
Zachary Rees
I had dropped in at this place after consulting a lot of reviews to enjoy the best the city could offer of Indian cuisine. It was definitely one of the best parts of the trip.<br/>I recommend pre booking a table at the place as it can get a lot crowded.The service thereof was pretty cordial and fast. The atmosphere is pretty energetic here and the food amazing.<br/>The staff was informed enough to advise me about my order,so that i was able to just about finish my meal.The food although was not totally amazing, probably due to my high expectations, it was even slightly over cooked.<br/>Good time!
Jamie Williamson
It was after going through the reviews of this place that I and my partner decided to go and check this place out. On getting a booking done, we went to this place and fortunately we found tables available. The staff, I would say is not really attentive as they weren't attentive and pleasant at all. It was merely an average experience.
Reuben Patterson
The place offers authentic Pakistani cuisine. I have always had a wonderful experience dining at this place. The menu offers an extensive list of food dishes. The food is delicious and absolutely delightful. All the dishes are cooked to perfection and are well-presented. The service is prompt, but the restaurant is usually packed with people and thus the service might seem a bit rushed. The staff is friendly and attentive. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.
Radhika Badami
After hearing good reviews about this place, I was certain I had to try out out even if I had to wait in a long queue to get through to give my order. Not long after waiting in the queue, we were seated on our table and served with a quick service. The food was filling and wholesome while also being delicious. <br/><br/>Its a good option in its league and definitely serves a value for money meal.
Olivia Macdonald
The food is amazingly lovely here , it is full of flavors and pretty much authentic too. The prices are also not that high so you need not worry how much you are ordering. <br/>The atmosphere was kind of rushy and everyone there was in a bit of hurry. <br/>You can bring your own booze there so that will take down little amount from your total bill. <br/>The service rather was not up to the mark and the management was also not good.<br/>So I am in a dilemma whether to give this place another visit or not.
Sahil Dara
I have been a regular customer to this restaurant and never before than this time was I ever disappointed with the service or the food. However, this time round, I was taken aback and shocked with the overall experience. <br/>From shoddy service to hard meat chops, everything about this place started getting to me. <br/><br/>My expectations from this restaurant were not met and I will never be going back here.
Aaron Burns
The restaurant is suitable for a quick bite rather than an elaborate lunch. The lamb chop was tender and delicious. the prices are very reasonable. The service is decent and the portions are generous. The ambiance is decent. Come here if you are hungry and need a quick fix. I am a regular here too.
Skye Lloyd
If you love having Indian cuisines specially the Punjabi ones then you must come to this amazing place. I had lamb chops here and they were the best I ever had , it was full of flavors. You might have to wait in the queue if you are planning to visit here just because people love coming here. <br/>The staff is very friendly and they are always happy to help you.
Theo Simmons
This place had an old world charm to it and it is very old school in entirety. The food is pretty average and nothing special in the least. The people there also appeared to be a bit strange and were snobs. The service in my opinion, did not exist at all!
Shyam Cherian
The place has some authentic Punjabi food but the service is sub par as the reviews rightly pointed out. The food however, is worth going for and attracts a lot of crowd. We had to wait a long time to get seated. The service won't be much of an issue if you want to have a quiet meal.
Akshay Gaba
I had a terrible meal here. It was so disappointing. This place does not serve authentic food at all, and is a farce. It is always full of loud and annoying student and appears to be too busy. The service here is awful and revolting. The staff is so rude and the place is very dirty.,
Jay Dutt
I have been visiting this restaurant for the last 4 years and this place has never disappointed me till date. I usually have the chops they are pretty good. If you are planning to visit this restaurant, then try to go during early evening as it becomes really crowded later on. Also, don't forget to try their curry which is pretty good as well as reasonably priced.
Martha Foster
This place is a family run business and has expanded drastically over the years, to a three floor huge restaurant. The food here is extremely popular and the queue for the table is always long. The lamb chops here are rather famous. The quality of the food is very exceptional and it is very easy on the pocket.
Zoe Kirk
This restaurant has a very nice and quirky setting, that gives an atmosphere of chaos. They serve excellent Punjabi cuisines, with a very efficient service and generously huge portions. We had heard about this place from our friends, and decided to try it out after an exhausting and futile day of shopping. I especially recommend the Tayyabs, they are truly delicious.
Jackson Wade
This place was one my list of top favourites for the longest time in history. Getting a chance of visiting it recently, hence, was something that I did not want to miss out on. Grabbing the opportunity I entered the place with high expectations. Expectations which would match up to (if not outdo) the standards set from all the previous times. <br/>I was dismayed to realise that the essence of perfection this place held earlier was lost somewhere in the way it was commercialised.<br/>The general state of the restaurant was very disappointing.
Daisy Kent
This is a family owned Punjabi restaurant serving authentic food from the state in India. The food has some Pakistani influence too, the curries are a little less spicy and tend to have more dry spices . A must visit if you are a fan of Punjabi food.
Manish Dani
The food here was poor. The salt content was horrifying as was the smallness of the portions. The service was pathetic. The staff was seen hollering at a nearby customer picking the menu from a table empty next to him. They had no etiquette and should most certainly not be serving in a restaurant. <br/>I will never go back again.
Joel Noble
This place was not up to the standards i expected it to be based on the popular opinion which is majorly wonderful! In fact i think the place is highly hyped and lack the service to match it.<br/>The food on offer is less than satisfactory. May be i did not come on their best day.
Albert O'connor
This was a very bad experience with an Indian restaurant. the place was unhygienic, and cramped. It was extremely noisy too,more than you would want at a restaurant. The worst part is that you have to wait for a long time find a place, and even longer for the food to arrive. Avoid if you can.
Maria Campbell
We were pretty happy with this restaurant and were impressed when we found out that the place met our pretty high expectations.Our advance reservation made sure we were seated in the upstairs area and completely avoided the long queue outside. The ambiance is buzzing and the service fast. The food served to us was innovative yet uncomplicated. We had no complaints overall.
Rosie Harrison
The food is not as good as expected with all the hype about this place. The staff too is rude and the place too chaotic. The staff however must be applauded for handling the large crowd. The poor food and service however, mean that I won't be going back here.
Raman Kumar
Amazing place for Asian food, specially if you are from Delhi. Even vegetarian food taste excellent. easy and very approachable from East London.
Maryam Ansari
The reason I'v given this place a 5 is because I'm Pakistani, and all of the food I've found from back home in London is tailored to European tastes. Cut back the spice, make it blander and suitable for all. But I feel like that defeats the purpose of having international cuisine in a city. The point is for people to be able to experience the real deal in their own city. Tayyabs is the best Pakistani/Indian restaurant in all of London. <br/><br/>There is always a queue, but there's a very fast turnover so if you're not a big party, you won't usually have to wait for more than 15mins. You get served immediately, and their lamb chops are to die for. Everything else on their menu is great, but do have those and chicken karhai, and daal. If however you want to be waited on at all times and paid attention to, this isn't the place for you. Like most restaurants back home, your purpose there is the food, and that they definitely deliver.
Sarah Guershon
I’ve only been to Tayaabs once, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go back every day if I could. Maybe I loved it because I was there with a group of my favourite girlfriends, maybe it was because I felt so incredibly smug walking passed the ginormous queue to our pre-booked table, or maybe it was because the food was just so damn good. <br/><br/>This place is a local institution but its reach has now spread far and wide thanks to the reasonable prices, delicious food and lovely waiters who, by the way, are rushed off their feet for at least five hours a night.<br/><br/>One of our party had been frequenting Tayaabs for years on the recommendation of her curry-loving father and so she was in charge of ordering. I can’t remember all the dishes (our greedy eyes certainly took over there), but I do remember we shared a mixed meat grill that I could have happily devoured single-handedly. The dishes are all so deliciously rich, it felt like an awful lot of love had gone into them. <br/><br/>This is not some kind of conveyer belt curry establishment, but a family-run restaurant that has been founded on a passion for food and flavour. Long may it continue.
Dips
The aromas coming from the kitchen were amazing.<br/><br/>Servive is really fast our food arrived within approx 7 minutes of ordering!<br/><br/> Tandoori chicken, keema naan, paneer tikka, lamp chops and mango lassi. <br/>Lamp chops are the most popular dish at Tayyabs and let me tell you they are outstanding juicy succulent meat bursting with flavour and their mango lassi are out of the world<br/><br/>Only downside i would say is that sometimes you do feel rushed like they were trying to turn tables over. Place is extremely busy and noisy so not recommended for those looking for a queit lunch/dinner.<br/><br/>Final thoughts?? Food is delicious, prices are competitive at approx 15 pounds per head , come prepared to wait for a long time, but it’s definitely worth it! We will definitely be returning.
Narmina Jusifova
The service at Tayyabs is exceptional as the food comes within minutes and the portions are massive. It doesn't serve alcohol, but you can bring your own and they are happy to serve it for you. The food is quite spicy and captures the actual flavours of the Pakistani/Indian cuisine. I would recommend their lamb chops, which are also one of the most popular items on their menu. Be aware of the inevitable queues, but they are fast in their turnover and you will be seated in max 20 min.
Olufikayo Adeola
A long running family owned restaurant that serves some if the best Pakistani food in London. The beauty of their menu is it's simplicity there's hardly more than 6 or 7 options to choose from but luckily everything is good. I'm particularly fond of the whole menu but the dry meat seems to stand out for me. Some of the dishes are very spicy especially the jalfrezi so if in doubt ask the staff. <br/>There's no alcohol but its byob so take advantage. Also makes sure you reserve in advance this place is extremely popular.
Mack Rutherby
Tayyabs notorious for providing East London with the finest in Pakistani cuisine. It is BYOB, the atmosphere is elegant and simple. The curries you will notice have less sauce than its western/indian counterpart but by no mean does this mean less flavour. <br/><br/>The stand out dish here? Tandoori lamb chops, cooked quickly in the tandoor and lightly spiced the ribs has a flavourful char to the outside moving along the scale from black to red/pink as you near the bone. They are accompanied by some dipping sauces, personally the yoghurt and mint suits this perfectly. <br/><br/>Lovely restaurant always busy and a big hit with the locals and anyone descended from the old empire. Good food and don't forget to bring some beer or wine with you.
Saad Habib
This is a very popular joint for Indian/Pakistani food lovers, almost an institution, maybe I took it a bit too far there. <br/><br/>One just never walks into Tayyabs, you call first to reserve unless, you prefer queuing for an hour and pray it doesnt rain while you stand outside. The hazards inside come with waiters rushing around ready to bulldoze you if you are in their way, then there is the smell. Always plan your laundry/hair day after the trip to Tayyabs. <br/><br/>With all the negativity and bad slow service out of the way...these are the best bits.<br/><br/>- one of the best tandoori lamb chops in town.<br/><br/>- they dont serve beer to wash down the spices but they dont mind if you take a few beer or wine with you. <br/><br/>- Its decent value for the buck and you get to walk away full to the brim<br/><br/>Its a must have experience in Whitechapel.
Alexandra Sims
You might think that Indian cuisine is not the food of choice for someone with a wobbly stomach after a night out and you would be right. I am, however, glad that my friends dragged me here because Tayyabs food had a surprisingly nursing quality. <br/><br/>Now, maybe it was the hangover holding down my expectations or perhaps it was my initial lacklustre attitude but whatever the reason I enjoyed the turmoil and molten temperature meats, and the prospect of bring your own booze both excited and repulsed me.<br/><br/>My wonderful remedy was composed of lamb chops, Peshwari naan, saag and poppadoms with a selection of dips.
Kriti Sanket Jain
Not sure why people recommend Tayyabs- maybe just because of cheap prices! Visited it as it was highly recommended if you live in london but had a poor experience. <br/><br/>Highly over crowded place as they try to put in as many people as they can which makes it chaotic and uncomfortable to eat with a tiny table and people sitting in a row and sharing the tables as if all are there for a get together!<br/><br/>So less options on the menu card and uninspiring taste of curries though the naans were freshly made. The chutneys placed on the table tastes good but looks like they refill the bowls every time without cleaning the utensil! The quantity served per plate is also less.<br/><br/>The service is awful. The waiters just don't bother to listen to you rather busy talking among themselves. Felt completely unwelcomed!!!!
Lauren Hunter
Having tried a few Indian restaurants, both good and bad, in the nearby Brick Lane I had heard a lot of good things about Tayyabs. As it's so popular I knew it was a busy place with queues outside quite a common occurrence but I got a booking for two people at 9pm on a Friday night so I was pretty excited! Maybe my high expectations were part of the problem.<br/><br/>We turned up just before 9 and as many other reviews have mentioned it's a bit of a tangled mess of people when you walk in, with a queue for walk ins and a seating area for those with bookings. As it was our first visit we asked a waiter where we should go however he directed us to the wrong area. Finally we ended up in the seating area and told we will be seated shortly. We then noticed a few couples who arrived a lot later than us chasing (literally!) the waiter and getting seated straight away. Apparently this is how you get your table, so at 9.40 we tried this tactic and we finally get seated!<br/><br/>The restaurant is BYOB which my bank account and I are a fan of, there's a Tesco two minutes away if you forget to stock up beforehand. Our waiter brought over poppadoms, dips and salad almost immediately to get us going and for starters we ordered the vegetarian pakora. It was spicy, little crunchy and a decent sized portion. I would have liked an additional sauce for the pakora not just the dip you use for the poppadoms as they don't really work with it.<br/><br/>For mains we ordered Chana, Tinda Masala and Garlic Naan. For those wondering about rice, I tend to chose either bread or rice with Indian food as having both is just a bloatfest afterwards. Quick word of warning, the food is served very quickly so you may only get a few minutes between starters and mains.The Chana is a dish of chickpeas in a spicy, tangy sauce and went great with the garlic naan which is probably one of the best naan's I've tried. My fellow diner who has only been to 2 or 3 Indian restaurants really enjoyed the Tinda Masala which is essentially a butternut squash curry.<br/><br/>Overall the food was nice and enjoyable but nothing more and certainly not worth the hassle. Due to the pretty shoddy service and organisation the food really needs to be outstanding for me to look beyond that but unfortunately it wasn't which is a shame as I really wanted this place to meet my expectations.
Abu Bul
Having read so many great things about Tayyabs, i was rather disappointed with my recent visit. To sum it all up, it seems as though it has become glorified with nothing much to offer than a typical curry. Service was mediocre, it felt as though we were being hurried to place our order, eat and then leave. I have been to many curry houses in the area and am sad to say, there are plenty better offerings in other restaurants in the area. Won't be back in a hurry.
Mai Vo
The food was great, it didn't take long to come and was extremely affordable. We booked in advance so avoided the crazy line that we passed on the way in and out. However, they charged us £2.5 for a bottle of water without telling us, and it was already on the table when we came in. While that itself is okay, they gave us a second bottle of water without asking and charged us for both. But all in all a great restaurant with good food.
Sanjay
This famous restaurant serves fantastic mixed grills - the tandoori lamb chops are worth the wait. There is a buzzing atmosphere and even on a Sunday lunchtime it was full to the brim. Portions are mighty and strong flavours rule the dishes. Service is lackadaisical at best; long waits and unwilling staff let the experience down. I think the reputation it enjoys has lent itself to inflated prices and basic service but it is worth the experience overall for the lamb chops alone.
Shahala Aktar
Sad to say but this was a huge disappointment, queues were really long, food was ok, but not brilliant. Service in general wasn't too bad, however we had to walk from one end to another end of the restaurant just to pay by card. Overall too crowded and loud, not somewhere to go when hoping to spend quality time with friends. Thumbs up for the free poppadoms though.
Dripto Sarkar
This was also struck off my wish list last weekend! I've been coming to London for work since 2010 and every trip I've made, my Asian colleagues have asked me to try out Tayyab's for the kebabs, which everyone swore by! 4 years had passed, 4 summers with the length of 4 long winters, before I had the chance on one lovely British summer evening, to pop in for a much awaited meal..<br/><br/>The exterior was funkier than I expected. Looks like a club! Greenish Black walls with neon labels! But the interiors were JUST as I'd imagined. Busy, loud, the heavy aroma shrouds your being as you step in, the waiters act like waiting is the last thing on their minds, the place is in chaos...perfect! You know that this place means business. Frills can go for a hike!<br/><br/><br/>Enter the food. Dal Tadka, lamb chops, peshawari naan, garlic naan, paneer tikka.<br/><br/>You know what I liked best? The Daal. It is brilliant! A bit pricey at over 5 quid (hey I'm indian, and it's just lentils! I can feed a small village Daal with that money back in India!) but the flavour is just amazing! Spicy, rich, the flavour of caramelised onions, wonderful!<br/><br/>The lamb chops - expected a bit better to be frank with you, considering all I'd heard. Slightly short on salt, slightly tougher than ideal. But good.<br/><br/>The peshawari naan - very nice! Sweet as expected, fluffy! The way naan's supposed to be.<br/><br/>The garlic naan - where's the garlic? The waiter had to reconfirm that it was a garlic naan. I wasn't convinced. Didn't spot even a tiny bit.<br/><br/>Paneer Tikka - the less said the better. You know the saying "When in Rome.." Don't try it. Remember, you've come here for the meat.<br/><br/>My advice - Walk back home.
Kamal
I might sound a bit harsh with my critique of this place but I honestly do not know what the fuss is about. I still remember eating here when it was a dingy small takeaway and now it's a very busy bustling restaurant, with queues lining outside to get in which is good for them.<br/><br/>Their food is average, their signature mixed grills are no different from any other mixed grill you will have. There is nothing special about this place but city workers rave about this place like it's the best thing since sliced bread!! They obviously don't have a much varied palate.<br/><br/>The place is cramped and the servers feel as though they are on top of you due to the lack of space, which is part of their ambience. Some people like it, some not. I personally do not. The place is not child or buggy friendly but with how busy they are, they probably don't need to try to attract that crowd.<br/><br/>The food is not bad, it's just that it does not taste any different from any other half decent grilled food place. Price wise it is not overly priced which is a plus and serves halal food which is what I always look for. Their peshwari naan is the best naan I have tasted. <br/><br/>Their curries are not that great, I have tasted much better but I think people go their for the atmosphere and a busy place always attracts more people than a not so busy place.<br/><br/>Overall, an average eating experience.
Clara María Rincón
The food is ok but the staff is the most impolite staff i have ever seen in a restaurant... "give me the card" when you want to pay... "i take the plate" when they are going to take your empty plate... When my group of friend and I were still eating, they were cleaning and tidying up around us... I will avoid this restaurant as much as I can.
Ludovica Rabitti
I've been here twice, once with my Indians friends and they all said the food was good and authentic. Personally I didn't find it exceptional compared to other Indians around brick lane and the second time we went there they sat us downstairs and we got covered in the smokes coming from the grills. Worth a visit if you're in the zone.
Aishwarya Dahanukar
Totally worth smelling like a tandoor when you leave this place for the mouth watering (and dirt cheap!) kebabs. Not for the faint hearted in search of a calm cozy meal. This is Lahore style hectic served on a platter!
Nico Hoshi
This place is so popular . It's so hard to find, I had to actually use maps to locate this place . Located in one of the bylanes of whitechapel . Tayyab is a busy place . Lot of my non Asian friend love this place , but I have my reservations. I have had better indian /Pakistani food. I hate the ambience , for prices they charge there are more keen on people eating and leaving early . Kebabs are ok , chicken dishes are greasy . Biryani was kind of better than lot of places you get. I still don't think I am going back here again .
Alan Hanson
Best lamb chops in London
London Curry Blog
In short this place is ideal for large group to go before a night out or to celebrate a birthday. Its BYO which means fantastic value for an evening’s fun, and the lively vibe of the place puts you off on a good footing for the night ahead. <br/><br/>I’m always amazed by the size of the queue, I wouldn’t bother waiting, just book ahead, else head somewhere else.<br/><br/>The food is good, certainly not the best curry in London but of sufficient standard. There isn’t a huge menu so for simplicity get the mixed grill for the table then a couple of curries, naans and rice and just share them around.
Shake
This is an amazing place in London advice please please please book your table on weekends or be ready to queue up for agesss. The lamb dishes and mixed grills are yummyyyy but I wouldn't go for the dal's not that great. The service is a bit hurried but I don't blame them as honestly they tend to be packed. i prefer the downstairs bit rather than upstairs but that's just my preference. And the good point you can bring your own bottles of beers / wine which is always a + and you really do get value for food honestly I do find the place reasonable in terms of price.
Miso Hungry
Hands down the best lamb chops I've tried in London... been trying to find better but almost given up now. The chops here are large, tender and well spiced. At busy times you may have to wait a bit to be seated but its well worth it. The atmosphere is busy and hectic and full of BYOB revellers. Will be back here for sure. Miso satisfied!
Inher30s
Tayyabs, a short walk away from the usual hubbub of Brick Lane, has built itself a bit of a reputation as the best Indian food in London. The prospect of the much famed queues has always put me off though, however when our team at work organised an early 5:30pm dinner, we managed to get a large table and off we went.<br/><br/>The place was largely deserted when we arrived, however it filled up at high speed. Clearly those in the know know to get here early. Tayyabs is famously BYO, contributing to a very low cost per head!<br/><br/>Free poppadoms and a selection of chutneys to tide us over as we debated the menu! Exceptional chutneys - far cry from the usual and so far so good.<br/><br/>After much debate, we opted for a large medley of food. The famous lamb chops had to be ordered and were everything they promised to be. The Kebabs, Tikkas and samosas were perfectly adequate but did not attract any special praise. In my view, they were a bit dry and just could not compare to the delectable lamb.<br/><br/>We seriously over ordered on the rice, Naans and Parathas as everybody appeared to grow eyes larger than their stomachs. Other dishes included the Dry Meat, Karahi Lamb and Chicken, Tarka Dhal & Dhal Baigun (With Aubergine). I asked for Raita (Yoghurt with cucumber) which they happily threw in despite not featuring on the menu.<br/><br/>My favourites of the night were the Dry Meat and both Dhal’s – and that is high praise from a non-dhal lover. <br/><br/>This isn't really a place for a romantic night out – it’s a place to get together a large group of friends, some nice bottles of wine, make a lot of noise and prepare to eat an awful lot of very tasty food. It's not a place to linger and by the time we were ready to end our meal, we were only too painfully conscious of the very long line (which comes all the way into the restaurant and who essentially watch you finishing up!).<br/><br/>One gripe I did have is that our waiter repeatedly tried to convince us that we hadn't ordered enough food and we ended up then wasting a fair amount. Grrr.<br/><br/>We ended with a couple of Kulfi’s for the table – not what I’d expected and not a win. Skip the dessert and end on a high - Have some more lamb chops.
Kate W
Totally different Indian to the norm, especially seeing as it's so near to Brick Lane. Great for big groups but do book as the queues literally wind round the restaurant and out of the door, fairly limited menu but that's def not a bad thing-the simplicity means that the chef can really concentrate on doing things really really well. Their frozen ice lollies for dessert are very tasty too.
Aby King
Its difficult to find a restaurant which has such high volatility in ratings for factors other than food. Depending on the time and day you land here, your overall experience can scar you or fill you with delight. Thankfully we landed here on a Tuesday at 6 and was genuinely surprised to see the restaurant already buzzing. However by the time we left, possibly around half 7, there was a queue of 10 patrons at least! If a Tuesday can be that busy, I don't want to fathom a guess for weekends - online booking is available, and I think it should definitely be done.<br/><br/>Location is terrible, if you happen to walk from Whitechapel, you would feel unsafe walking this far. Too bad I didn't find a licensed shop on way so had to make do without beer. The restaurant I would closest compare to would be Lahore Kebab House. Compared to Lahore, the ambiance and seating here is a revelation. Tables may be a bit too close for comfort and the waiters are not the most polite you would encounter. However, for £15 a person, you cant expect the world.<br/><br/>Lamb chops seemed to be the most recommended but those at Lahore are far better. Lamb chops here were chewy and tasteless. On the other hand, kebabs were fantabulous and so was the tandoori chicken/ chicken tikka. We had ordered chops, tikka, tandoori chicken and kebabs for starters and all of it was piled on one small sizzling plate. By the time we managed to tuck into the tikkas, there were already cold. I guess, best would be to ask them to bring them separately or staggered - but given the service, I cant say what can be worse - waiting for half the starter or make do with a cold one!!<br/><br/>Starters was enough for the 2 of us and for mains we only ordered the lamb curry with naam. Naam was fantastic, infact we just feasted on the naams for a while without the lamb.<br/><br/>Food was good and coincidentally "non food" factors too didnt disappoint us, so I would unhesitatingly rate it a must visit.
Anjana Menon
Best kebabs I have had - EVER! The queue is worth it. Lamb chops are juicy and ensure you have a party in your mouth.
Young & Foodish
This is the best curry house outside of Brick Lane, probably beating most curry houses on Brick Lane too. Although there's always a long queue, it diminishes pretty quickly. My longest waiting time was around 20 minutes. <br/><br/>The food here is pretty authentically Indian and include lots of cool vegetarian choices. Anything with lamb or okra is lovely. The lassi's are also great for dessert. You're welcome to bring your own alcohol, another great reason to come to this restaurant!<br/><br/>The waiters are AMAZING, they can remember over 10 orders and recite it back to you straight after at the speed of light - I was very impressed by this small detail.<br/><br/>The closest tube stop is Whitechapel, a common hotspot for tour guides for the infamous East London Jack the Ripper tours. I highly recommend these as the stories and places you visit around this area are unforgettable.
The Food Connoisseur
It was one of those nights, late October/November last year; the rain chuckled down onto my face as soon as I got out of Whitechapel station. The market along the road was still open, and all sorts of characters wondered around.<br/><br/>I lived in East London for most of my life; Whitechapel is all too familiar to me. The destination was Tayyabs, a family run Punjabi restaurant since 1972.<br/><br/>It’s not a very easy place to look for hidden in the backstreets of East London; even I was scared walking around by myself in the dark. I had to make a trip to Tesco beforehand, as Tayyab allows you to BYOB, selecting red wine for our feast.<br/><br/>After 15 mins later I finally made it to Tayyabs, my friend’s boyfriend already arrived. We waited for the rest of the party to arrived and was rushed to our seats. I ordered a jug of mango lassi, a must to wash down the spicy curries.<br/><br/>As soon as the rest arrived we ordered our curries and nan bread, plus those infamous lamb chops.<br/><br/>We had 3 curries between the 8 of us and 6 portions of lamb chops, and a nan bread each. I have totally forgotten which curries we ordered, but I remember they were all delicious and mild. Nothing was too spicy and enjoyed dipping my nan bread into the curry.<br/><br/>The lamb chops comes on a hot sizzling plate and crackled as soon as it landed on table. We loved them so much we ordered so many.<br/><br/>The only bad thing about this place is the service, we try to grab the attention of a waiter, but they kept saying we had to wait for the one that took our orders. They really rushed our dining experience, and even cleared my friend’s plate which he was still eating from. 4 people cleared our table in a record breaking 2 mins.<br/><br/>Food is good, but down expect a 5 star customer service, they are busy they want people in and out quick time. Between the 8 of us the meal came up to around £15pp.<br/><br/>
Niharika Midha
OK so the starters (lamb chops, kebabs) are great but whether or not they are worth over a 30 minute ( in most cases) is up to you to decide. The curries are bland compared to home and lack flavor. <br/><br/>Beware, even the lamb chops can disappoint you sometimes too as they are overcooked and the meat is chewy, probably because they have tons of orders for that. But hey I am not paying to eat that, am I? <br/><br/>The staff is busy taking orders and pushing you out at the speed of light because they want to feed the queue outside as well (not entirely their fault) but I don’t think its worth queuing for, as I have had ten times better curries elsewhere and I am not even exaggerating.<br/><br/>The ambiance is pretty neat, especially on the top floor. Quite classy compared to below, and music and cooler of course. But it doesn’t excite me. I think this place is overrated.
Alya
Unfortunately Tayyabs is no longer a secret gem. Since its stellar reviews in Time Out and the like, this place is PACKED. As a result, the harried staff struggle to take orders and shoo you out at breakneck pace. The food is to die for but many times it's not worth the long wait and terrible service. <br/><br/>However, I've never ordered here to take away... Here's the secret :-) Order your food for the minute you will be there to pick it up as they will (almost) always have it ready on time. Depending on how long it takes you to get home, the curries and kebabs are usually fine as is and naans and rice can be wrapped up in foil and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Voila! No crummy wait staff and great food in the comfort of your home! I think I will be doing this from now on!
Halal Food Guy
When someone from overseas asks me wheres a good curry, i say Tayyabs. However i also add 2 things, expect poor service and a long wait.<br/><br/>This place is well known for long queues and even when you are having your meal you are rushed to Finnish and make way for a new party, if you are unfortunate enough to get a table near the door then expect people in the people to stand next to you.<br/><br/>Ironically, the last time i went was a sunday afternoon and we got a table stright away and the place was quiet!<br/><br/>With that said, the food here is good and good value. When going here theres one thing i ALWAYS order. The lamb chops. They are ER-MAZE-SING<br/><br/>The curries are tasty and good in size. Good pakistani food. The restaurant is also CLOSED during the whole month of the ramadan.<br/><br/>Service - 2.5<br/>Food - 4.5<br/>Atmosphere - 3.5<br/>Value - 4
Small Chop
A hidden away gem in East London. Any foodie would have come across this place even though its not hugely marketed. The queues at the entrance and the expansion of the venue over the years is testament to its popularity.<br/><br/>This place serves some of the nicest starters from the sun continent. Their lamb chops are amazing and their mixed platter is a must!<br/><br/>Staff can be run off their feet, but are usually friendly. The main courses can sometimes be a bit oily, so I tend to stick to the dry cooked veg and non veg starters. This place is a must visit.
Edward L Pz
Warning I'm talking about a restaurant that only the real Londoners know.<br/>He has nothing to prove, simply just observe the long queue at the entrance we each restaurant.<br/>Delicious, dishes a little hot I admit. If the spices are not your thing go your way.<br/>I drank it the best mango lassi ever and again the food is to die for ... and really affordable.<br/>It is a bit out of the side of White Chapel, the Tayyabs wins.<br/>Avoid at weekends because it is packed but you can book.
Sarah Perles
Typical little indian restaurant.The Staff is really nice, and the food is soooo tasty. I recommend it definitely. The atmosphere is cool, and it smells good inside. You instantly want to eat!! Traditional spicy food, I personnally recommend the Chicken Tikka. One of my favorite dishes in this restaurant. Its hard to find chicken that it is not dry!! MMMMmmm YUMMY TIKKA!
Aditifoodlove
Great food and a cheap price! Not a very fancy restaurant but has decent decor seat. For non vegetarians the Karahi chicken is the best. If you are a vegetarian go for the Karahi Mixed Vegetables. I also strongly recommend the dried meat and the pumpkin dish for the non vegetarians You'll end up paying around £15 (depending on how ambitious you are!) and feeling well fed.
Sangee
Tayyabs has awesome vegetarian and non vegetarian kebabs. The curries are not one of the best I have has at other places. You can take your ow drinks and this works out economical.<br/><br/>The waiting time at this place is long and takes away the pleasure of a good dinner.The service is poor. This restaurant needs to sort their service soon.
Tushar Sial
Best place in london for Indian/Pakistani food. One of the best lamb chops in the city. <br/>Starting from kebabs to curries to nan/bread to lassi everything is delicious.<br/>Although the place has roughly 500 cover but still fills up very quickly. Please book in advance.<br/>The food is very reasonably priced, meal for 4 (eating more than required just because of the taste) ended up paying £50. You can carry your own drinks which is an advantage.<br/>The only downside is the service.<br/>Recommended.<br/>Do not go in suits, it smells of kebab for a long time :).
Prashant Gupta
Went to this place with some friends.They placed five of us at a small table that was literally squeezed in between two other tables. I felt like other people were having dinner with us!<br/>The queuing system is awful. We had our reservation done. It is an insanely busy place.<br/>The only thing to commend this restaurant is that the orders were served quickly.<br/>The quality of food was far below the standard of the better restaurants in the area.Food was very oily.You can choose the level of spiciness in most of the dishes.<br/>Highly over rated place.<br/>Would happily skip this.
Anil Bali
I had to visit this place since it has been recommended by a number of my Indian friends. The place is definitely not for the faint hearted or if you are used to being served with a lot of courtesy but food is yumm as was described by my friends.<br/>This place is definitely not for vegetarians and try to book a place early to avoid the waiting times.
Abus X
As one of the most talked about Indian restaurants in London, achieving many awards for its food, its understandable that the food is quite sumptuous. Be sure to order some lamb chops to accompany your meal as this is one of the finest side dishes. Whilst you may hear mixed reviews, I would definitely advise you see for yourself. The curry dishes are quite distinctive and tasteful. One drawback is the long waiting times, on some weekends it might be advisable to make a booking beforehand.
#TheFoodAvatar
Now why would I want to stand in a queue for 45 mins:<br/>1. To confront one of rudest staffs I have ever seen.<br/>2. To eat food that was cooked a couple of hours ago. Mind you, the kebabs do not taste the best if they are heated time and again.<br/>3. To be cramped into a very uncomfortable seating arrangement. <br/>Need I say more. I can imagine this place being very popular a long time ago, but times have certainly changed for Tayyabs. The surroundings are so shady, one of friends didn't want to take his iPhone out.<br/>The food is just OK and does not justify the long wait.
FoodieWoodie
The food was really nice, relatively inexpensive, and possibly one of the better curries I have had in a while. The menu is limited but everything we had was good - plate of mixed starters to share and then balti style bowls of food. The room was really lively and full with a long queue to get in if you hadn't booked.<br/><br/>Noise levels really high with a lot of it coming from the staff of whom there were many.<br/>The many staff didn't seem to have any ownership of a particular table and so service can be best described as poor - we had to constantly ask for Popadoms, <br/><br/>The food order was taken quickly and it then all turned up together i.e. starters and mains which actually worked fine except I am guessing it was just to speed our meal along.<br/><br/>Would I go back - yes because the food was excellent but the chaotic charmless service needs sorting out.
Shiv@nee
Would not recommend this restaurant to veggie lovers. The chicken tikka for starters is quite decent...other than that I did not like the main course that much.The food is very oily and you would feel very heavy after having the main course.<br/>The restaurant seems to be over crowded during weekends especially.
Maytrix
Tayyabs has a very strong following of regular visitors who go there for the Tikkas, Lamb Chops and Kebabs that Tayyabs is famous for - but unfortunately, my experience has not been all that great. The non vegetarian starters are quite good, but the main course doesn't really stack up after that. There is not much choice for vegetarians and the service is very rushed and staff can be pretty rude. Guests are allowed to get their own alcohol which is a great proposition. As a result, Guests get drunk and make a lot of noise. This place is only recommended for a chicken - lamb kebab binge - not really suitable for a quiet peaceful dinner.
Vivek Khare
When in Tayyabs, order the lamb chops. Period. <br/><br/>No matter which day of the week you land up here, you are bound to find a queue, although I never had to wait for more than 20 minutes. <br/><br/>Apart from the lamb chops, we also ordered chicken and paneer kebabs which were delicious again. Oh! the papads they serve are top-notch too. <br/><br/>I prefer their naan more than the tandooris, and chicken karahi was very well-made too.<br/><br/>Among the three of us, we paid 30 pounds. Tayyabs is a bring-your-own-booze restaurant, so it comes out cheap overall, you'll find a lot of places to pick up booze from between Tayyabs and Aldgate station.
Digpal Singh Rathore
tayyab is one of the most famous restaurent in east london, <br/>you will have to wait for sometime to get a table.<br/>its not as good as lahore kebab if you will compare with price and taste.<br/>I went there with my friends and i must say that it was not as we expected.<br/>food is ok, quantity is less and price is a bit higher than other indian restaurants around.<br/>Chicken tikka and karahi ghost is really good, and i loved it <br/>waiters are rude sometime, i had a bad experience there with waiters.
Fatema
This place has okay indian food but it's not very nice inside and the wait can be quite long. The staff are not particularly helpful nor are they nice which always ruins a restaurant experience for me. The only positive really is that it's cheap and has lots of options on the menu.
Charles Naud
I really don't understand why this Indian always has a queue to get in whilst it's nothing special, the waiters are often rude and Bricklane is a stone's throw away and has tens of curry houses.<br/><br/>Tayyabs is a large and popular Indian Punjabi restaurant in Whitechapel. It has two floors of large seating areas, a few dozens of waiters and a very large menu. Combined, these factors make a feel a little bit like a factory and I wonder how anyone would imagine the cuisine can be good.<br/><br/>Anyway, the food is quite oily, it hasn't got the healthiness of a good curry house. I've quite enjoyed their Mango Lassis though (a type of mango milk shake).
Claire Bradbury
I came here a few weeks ago in a group of about 20. We had booked a private room, but when we arrived we were told it was still occupied by the previous sitting. Instead, they put us on a long table upstairs which made it very difficult to talk to everyone; a shame given that this was the reason we had come out together. <br/><br/>Our waiter made me uneasy by not writing any of the order down, although he did remember most of it. I was a bit horrified when, in order to identify which naan was which once it came to the table, he touched every single one, despite having been cleaning tables and handling people's bills moments before. The rest of the meal was pleasant enough - the food was packed with flavour and the bill was reasonable. But I wouldn't be rushing back, there are better, more efficiently run places elsewhere.
Manasi Sardana
One of the very first Indian cuisine restaurant I visited when I came to London. I had mixed experience at this place. The starters are very good, I tried samosas which I really liked.<br/><br/>The main course was average and extremely greasy.... However the kebabs are a hit...i would recommend to go for starters and kebabs at tayyabs <br/><br/>Desserts were above average, kulfi is worth a try. Staff is not the most friendly and one of my friends was almost told off to mind his space by a waiter...
Food Over London
Tayaabs is brilliant, great food at even better value. I wish it was more of a 'secret' though as it's omnipresent queues at peak hours. It is the finest Punjabi cuisine you'll get in the city, even if Whitechapel is a bit out of the way.<br/>The grill 'starter' options of lamb chops, chicken and sheekh kebab are a must, especially those lamb chops, cooked to perfection with the right amount of spice. I don't think I've been a single time without having to order them, they are essential! Service is extremely efficient, they must go through a heck of a lot of covers in one night, and yet the food does not seem to suffer for it. Time again it's always the same fantastic quality, and for under £15 you'll be more than satisfied. Another thing that helps the bill out is it is BYOB, so make sure you do before coming here<br/>Only thing that detracts for me, is the use of 'meat' in their menu dishes, like the chana meat. I'm less enticed to order something without the knowledge of what it actually is, it might as well be called Chana suprise in this respect!
Jamie Peter Hall
This place is a must for any Londoner and any visiting. A real institution. Yes the cues will be halfway to Shoreditch at the weekends. Bear it. You will be smiling with joy when you finish. With so much to choose from, wild, fresh Indian flavours will keep you dreaming of this place for weeks... A good tip is to tag team the cueing (pop down to the pub on the corner)
Paola Valenza
Very interesting place.<br/><br/>Even though the venue is HUGE, whatever day you decide to go there, you will have to wait for a while.<br/>This is due to the fact that the restaurant is just amazing!<br/><br/>From the corner of the street you can smell the delicious spices, and when you will get your dish you will just know that it was absolutely worth waiting.<br/><br/>The restaurant is quite cheap: I can ensure that when you will get the bill you will be surprised.<br/><br/>I do not recommend any dish in particular, as I tried all of them, and they are all very good.
Anant
First the good things<br/>- extremely cheap food<br/>- can't think off anything else for now :-(<br/><br/>Downsides<br/>- rude staff<br/>-long waiting, no resemblance of any waiting lobby<br/>- main course lacked any flavour. Was just meat doused with oil and chilli.<br/><br/>Bottom line- don't go here if you hoping for good quality flavoursome Indian meal. This is authentic Pakistani, might appeal to some. Sadly not to me.<br/>
Chris V
Talk to anyone in London and sooner or later they will drop Tayyabs as a reference for great food. For the most part, it is deservedly so - the kebabs can be awesome and the lamb chops are incredible. However, to my taste it, the pickings get pretty thin after that. I never give up a chance to end up at Tayyabs, but not necessarily a fan of the place.
Rajit Wilfred
Tayyab's is one of best Indian restaurants I have been to in London. There is a lot of variety in the menu and everything from the starters to the dessert is delicious. In terms of pricing it is quite reasonable for those looking for a nice meal out. However something I dislike about it is the atmosphere. It gets extremely busy at peak times and you have people standing around tables waiting for a seat. This can be very unpleasant. Nonetheless, it's a must visit and I would recommend trying the mango lassi along with the vast choices of Indian desserts.
Rajat Sawhney
Best Grill Food in London. Full Stop.<br/>Must Try - Lamb chops.<br/>Prices are very reasonable.<br/><br/>Downsides - Long queues to get a table and below average service.<br/><br/>But the great food more than makes up for it.<br/><br/>Every food lover should at least give this a go.
Shantanu
The best Pakistani food in town - period !! Have been to Lahore Kebab House, etc, still love this place. Definitely worth the wait !!<br/><br/>Being a hard core Non-Veg, my favs obviously include the kebabs and curries, but the dang Dal Tadka is also to die for. Moreover, my hard core Veggie friends loved this place as much as me and swore by the Tinda masala also !<br/><br/>Remember, there is no bar, but you can BYOB !! Only reason for 4.5 and not 5, the long wait !
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