Oh Tayyabs, what has happened to you, eh? Another restaurant that has been hyped so much that it's gone to their heads. They don't have to give you great service. They can and will make you wait or seat you by the door. They really don't have produce great food. Because night after night, this place will be full and turning customers away. Your experience here will depend on the following; 1. What time you arrive. Get here earlier to avoid queues and get something resembling decent service 2. Where you're sat. If it's anywhere near the door then you'll be absorbed into the scrum of people trying to get in. If it's in one of the back rooms then you'll be out the way in relative peace. 3. How much you drink (directly related to 1. above). The queue itself is a destination. People will be drinking their BYO alcohol whilst waiting to get a table. The longer you wait, the more you drink before your food. After 5 beers in the queue the food is going to taste just like a Sainsbury microwave curry, isn't it? 4. How stressed the staff are. This also related to No 1 above. Get here early, or late, and you'll find your staff are happy to serve you. Between 7.30 and 10.30 they're robots screaming into walkie-talkies and throwing a plate of naan breads at you. I used to love Tayyabs. I've had a few great nights here. My most recent was a let down. read more

Coming from California, my bar for Indian food is set pretty high. I had heard about the food in White Chapel, and friends recommended Tayyabs. It was less than 5 min from the White Chapel station and was pretty easy to find. You can actually make a reservation online. Definitely do so since there will be a line. Food is substantially cheaper than what I'm used to.. - Chicken tikka: 5 large pieces of chicken breast on a sizzling plate for £3.40 - Seekh kabab: ground lamb, good seasoning, very tender, only £1.10 each - Garlic naan: super buttery. The edges were bubbly and had a good bite - like a Neapolitan pizza - Kahari mixed vegetables: probably the most disappointing - no distinct flavor and too oily - Lentils and lamb: the lamb was tender and without gaminess, and the lentil sauce was perfect for dipping naan Everything came with 3 house chutneys, raw vegetables (lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers), and house made papadams. Bonus: BYOB! Bring your own bottle (they have openers) with no corkage fee. For the two of us, the grand total was about £25 in the end, which is super reasonable since it would have definitely cost in California (plus tax and tip...). The food itself was solid, but to me, it wasn't significantly more outstanding than elsewhere. Warning: you will likely smell like sizzling plates / food when you walk out. read more

Been here twice and both times there was a queue of people waiting to be seated. We were lucky enough to only have to wait about 20 minutes to get seated. Seating is a bit cramped. The wait for the food was equally long, however the gosht, tikka, karahi, kebabs, curries and naan are very good (if you want extra spicy they will make it for you). The good: good Indian/Pakistani food efficient service Alcohol BYOB (Free corkage) Cheap Prices The bad: The ambience is lacking Wait is long They fill others waiting in line to seated in between tables so you could have your head close to someone's crotch or rear for much of your meal. Tip -come early and make a reservation. read more

What a great place for a dinner. I'm not a fan of going to Indian restaurants, but this is the consequence of the lack of great restaurant where I live. I went there with a reservation, it was great idea because it so busy. The menu is large and offer a huge choice and daily specials. I was surprised about the low prices, quantity served is large. Great value for the money. I tried the Biryani which was really good and a bit too spicy for me. This place is swarming after 6pm!! A lot of waiters are going in and out, so I would recommended not to be seated next to the kitchen. The kitchen is open, you can smell the food from the adjacent tables, another reason not to go approach the kitchen. Naan was delicious too, go for the garlic naan. Service is nice but sometimes hard to catch. Bill remain low! read more

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Hands down the best Pakistani food I've ever had. Yes, it's loud and crowded and in the out-of-most-people's-way neighborhood of Whitechapel. Yes, you will likely have to wait for a table in a long line, yes you will rub shoulders with your neighbours, and yes you will almost certainly smell like curry for days afterwards. No, you wont have intimate privacy at your table and no, they won't encourage you to linger for hours over your dinner, staring adoringly into your date's eyes and nursing a bottle of BYOB vino. But damn, the food is really, really tasty. If you go early to beat the crowds and are prepared to deal with the noise and the hustling waiters, you will reap the rewards of hot, spicy, perfectly seasoned Pakistani dishes that leave you wanting more even though you're too full to contemplate another mouthful. The biggest downsides: 1) it's a trek to get to Whitechapel, and 2) Tayyabs has ruined me for a lot of lesser Indian and Pakistani places throughout London which I would have otherwise naively enjoyed. read more

If you ever find yourself wondering Which Indian or Pakistani restaurant to try. Go no further than Tayyabs. We were seated in seconds and a given poppadom right away so we could munch while looking over the menu. Based on some over yelp recommendations, we ordered the lamb chops. (thank you for that). Amazing. We started with veg samosa and moved on to chicken tikka masala, kahari chicken keema, lamb kahari and Chana masala ( which might have been the best dish) rice and garlic naan. We ended the meal with a kulfi (which I've never had before - think of it as a spice-busting popsicle) Full bellies. Full smiles. read more

It is amazing food, just mouth watering and amazing. The naans are great with karahi chicken and some pulao rice. Chana chicken (chickpeas and chicken) are amazing... Only problem is it's always busy and crowded. Tables are too closely placed... And you can't really sit and enjoy your meal as they just want you to finish so the next customer from the queue could be seated... And that's bad. read more

It's not for everyone: It's cramped. It's a long wait. It's rushed. The staff could not be described as 'pleasant'. For some reason, that only made me like it more- it builds adrenaline. Once you get through the hectic atmosphere and actually arrive at your seat, you will be treated to an unbelievable mess of lamb, chicken, fish, naan, lassi, samosas, etc. I tried everything I could get my mitts on, and not one thing disappointed. I left feeling pregnant, confused, satisfied, and exhausted. Overall a great experience, but not ideal if you need a relaxed meal. read more

Oh dear, I feel like I'm going to write an obit for the Tayyab's I once knew and loved. I've been coming here for at least 7 years. Granted, it had been a while since my last visit but wow, what a miserable experience! To be fair, the food is still amazing. The lamb chops are still finger lickin' good. The table still falls silent once the food arrives - you can't get it in your mouth fast enough. But there were two major downfalls this time. We were there on a Monday night. It was not full. There was no queue out the door. There were empty tables. The service was its usual surly self but it seemed worse than usual. They couldn't be bothered to help us make space for the food that was coming out and instead was telling us, quite rudely, to move stuff around. Really? What's the freaking rush? But the worst was the bottle of water that they leave on the tables. You think it's free but it's actually £2.50. They won't bring you tap water. It's the bottled water or nothing. How cheap can you get that you won't even offer tap water? A completely disappointing experience and I'm not sure I'll be going back, despite the delicious food. They've become a victim of their own success!! read more

Good Indian restaurant with tasty food at reasonable prices. Good for (large) groups. A good thing is to order a few starters and large mains and share everything with some naan and rice. Service is Ok, read more

Food was excellent, the place was crazy busy though and the service was pretty bad. Maybe it was just because we were americans, or maybe they largely ignore most everyone (the table full of indians to our left arrived 10 minutes after us and was served and given food first however). The tables are a bit close together so be prepared to listen to random conversations from strangers. read more

Like other comments, I must say I wasn't really impressed with this restaurant, despite its reputation. Despite being good food and relatively low prices, the quality and quantity are not that amazing. Having to wait sometimes 1 hour like while moving like Tetris blocks between tables could be fun for a moment, but definitely not my definition of a cool night out. The service is not fantastic either, with sometimes rude waiters asking evry quickly for orders. I wouldn't mind that much were I in Lahore, but in London, paying London prices, you'd like a bit more consideration. Finally, one of the waiters once dropped some sauce from a plate onto my wife's coat. We played it cool, and tried to calm him down as he looked stressed. But despite insisting on giving us a discount, when we finally arrived at the cashier, who had heard of the story, no discount whatsoever. Being in a group, and desiring to get out asap we didn't make a fuss. And yet.... I've been told to go off peak as it's a different atmosphere. I hope it makes me change my mind... read more

We ordered our food. I leave to use the restroom for around 2 minutes. When I return to the table my chicken tikka masala & mango lassi arrive at the table. What the flip? I seriously had never experienced that quick of preparation which made me 1/2 skeptical (uhh pre-made much?) and 1/2 happy (i couldn't deny that i was super hungry). Did they get the wrong table? well...the verdict came in when I bit into that tasty chicken with a spicy kick to it and later took a cool sip of the sweet mango lassi. I never thought I was a fan of Indian food in the USA, but Tayyab has me sold. I LOVED IT & I LOVE TAYYAB! love, from an American yelper! read more

When I was waiting in line, I was convinced I'd come home and give this place one star. We were in a rush, they'd thrown us at the end of a very chaotic line, and no one had acknowledged our presence for over half an hour. Then they fed us, and somehow that one star multiplied into five. The restaurant is located on the street behind Whitechapel. It has a modern, bar-like feel to it that actually exceeded my expectations for the decor. The place is kind of like a madhouse, with the line winding around tables and waiters dashing all over the place, but the food was so good that I didn't even care that the door swung in my face every time someone opened it and waiters kept bumping into me every time they passed behind me. After the excruciating wait, everything went pretty smoothly. We ordered meat samosas, lamb chops, kahari chicken keema, rice, garlic naan, and mango lassi. All of it was amazing. Sure, it was greasy and the portions weren't that big, but the dishes were reasonably priced, well-spiced, and incredibly filling. The service was quick and, contrary to my expectations, surprisingly polite. I would absolutely come back here again. read more

If your dining partner is worried you might not get a seat at 4:30PM on a Monday afternoon, you know the place you are going is more than just a little popular. After bronzing myself in the afternoon, I was hankering for a snack and a chilled mango lassi. My buddy was feeling a little more than peckish, so we walked done whitechapel to have a bite. We got in without any issue, but the place was far from empty. First off, this place is so clean. Despite being a busy place, trying to fit as many bodies in as possible, the bathrooms were sparkling and we weren't forced to sit on the laps of our dining neighbours. We ordered the paneer tika, okra, and lamb chops. We split a jug of mango lassi. All for £21! The paneer was, well, lovely. Fresh soft, but with form. The stewed okra was spicy and was not over cooked. It was reminiscent of a Nigeria dish, but the hot spicy was nicely balanced with the fresh tomatoes and lemon. But lets not forget the reason we all go to Tayyabs, the lamb chops. So good, I picked them up like a cavewoman and nom nom nomed. Why not a 5? Lamb chops should be serve medium rare or rare, these were well-done. I think I read it in a religous text once... read more

It would seem that all has been written about Tayyabs, although I have no idea where the name derives from, including best chops and horrendous waiting in a long line. I have been a couple of times and phoned a day or two before and reserved a table and it worked a treat - no waiting in the line, can't work out how to spell cue, that ain't right, and excellent service with chops for a starter. Bon appetit read more

m.u.s.t. g.o. a.g.a.i.n! Phew. I finally made it into Tayyabs. Every other time, I've come so famished, that the wait really just put me off. Every other time, I've just decided to go to Lahore instead. This one time... no. I WAS DETERMINED to get into Tayyabs. Without a doubt, go early. We congregated outside the restaurant around 5, and it still was a 15 minute wait (granted there were 8 of us). The papadums were fresh and crispy and tasted like home... The dipping sauces were not too sweet nor sour nor spicy. Yum! I have to say, the place doesn't disappoint. Everything from the Chicken Tandoori (which is the most moist I've ever tasted Tandoori to be - even compared to some of the places in Singapore) to the famous Lamb Chops... The only thing that was a bit off the mark was the Chana Masala... But otherwise, everything I mean everything was good. Also - CHEAP. We stuffed with naan, rice and lots of curry and grilled meats all for a measly £12 a person. Unbelievable. Will I go back? YES! I mean, I gotta come here as many times as I've been to Lahore Kebab House just to atone for my sins (or abstinence really). Definitely good. Definitely worth the wait. read more

Where to start? Maybe by saying this was the best Indian food I've ever had. I just wish I hadn't eaten anything all day so I could have eaten more, it was just that good. Oh, before I forget its BYOB, so come prepared. J and I could smell the Indian food about a block away. We walked in and the place was PACKED and since it was a Monday night at 8:45, we figured that with all these people here that we must have walked into Indian food heaven and we were right. There was a "queue" of about 20 people. So we queued up with the rest of the folks, but for some reason after about 5 minutes the guy doing the seating quietly asked us how many we were and when we said 2 he gave us a subtle head nod to follow him to a table. Sure we were sharing a table for 4 with a couple of Greek guys, but that only helped in getting some tips on what to order and made for some good conversation. They also told us you can make reservations, which I would recommend. Ok, so now on to the food. While the samosas were good, I do regret wasting some stomach space on them, because the other stuff we order was absolutely outstanding. You have to get the lamb dishes, especially the lamb chops. We also order Lamb Karahi Ghost and Chana. I only wish we still had room for the Karahi Bindi (Okra). The If you're ever in London you have to get to this place for Indian food. One note of caution, don't wear anything you have recently had dry cleaned because you're going to come out of this place smelling like Indian food head to toe, but its well worth it. read more

I live on Brick Lane and have had my fair share of Curry, but Tayyabs is my favourite. For a start, it's not Indian, its Pakistani. The first give away of how good it was was the q that went on for miles. Since we had nothing else to do, we queued up. 90 Minutes later we were still standing, but at this point very curious. We were not disappointed. Though the place was jam packed, the staff never forgot about us and the food was delicious. The fact that its not full of white people flocking to try the famous east end curry houses was music to my ears. I would book in advance, but is definitely worth a go. read more

priceless advice: Go through brick lane and don't stop. You will be tempted by dozens of curry houses, none of which taste as good as they smell. Men will be standing outside, trying to lure you in. Don't do it. Hold out. You'll get to a little street called Fieldgate, walk down to 83. You'll walk in and there will be a line. Wait in it. It will be worth it. Order something. Anything. Everything. It will be tasty. And if you're anything like me, make sure to order the coconut naan, aubergines, and garbanzo masala dishes. read more

I ate in this restaurant this past Saturday night after it being hyped to death by friends of the lady I was taking out. Everyone raves about this place like it's the greatest restaurant in the World...I must be missing something? We arrived 30 minutes before the time of our booking, seeing a huge mass of people standing outside just right of the restaurant door I said to my date "lets have a couple of drinks in this bar before we head in". It wasn't a bar...it was a que of people for the restaurant. We walked inside and busy is not the word...if a fire marshall witnessed this the restaurant would have been closed down for the night. Walking inside I felt I had gone back in time to 14/4/89 to the Hillsborough football stadium. We were pinned up against a wall for an hour...30 minutes past our booking time. When we did finally get seated it was at a table in the walk way, so for the duration of the meal I had to lean forward slightly as there was a crowed of people standing in line behind me, having to make way for the serving staff. Service was fast and to the point, I have no complaint with this. Food came quickly, but was piping hot and fresh. Again, no complaint here. Taste was good, but no better than any other Indian I've been to, it simply was nothing special. Price is on par with any other Indian restaurant, about £35 for 2 people. I thought it strange all night that everyone in the que was drinking cans of beer. It was only when I sat down I noticed there is no drinks license so it is bring your own alcohol. I do not want to bring my own alcohol anywhere. A night out for me is relax, order a few at the bar, not stop off at an off license before the venue. On reflection now, EVERYONE in the restaurant was drunk. IMO the restaurant gets this busy and has this much hype because a. it is cheap and b. you can bring your own alcohol. So it's just being used by people on a night out as a feeding and drinking ground. Definitely not suitable as a quiet, romantic evening. Nothing special, far too chaotic, would not visit again. DOES NOT DESERVE THE 5 STAR RATINGS IT IS GETTING. read more

Tayyabs, I'm dissapointed. After the number of my fellow yelpers that have given 5 and 4 stars I expected much more of both the food and the service. With 2 starters, 3 curries and breads shared I feel like I got a decent sampling of the food on offer. To be fair I enjoyed the Karahi Bindi that Vicky ordered immensely, but the rest... meh And the service. Really??? I mean, I know it's not the States, but to roll your eyes at a customer when they ask for a new knife because the one in their setting is dirty?! Come on now. I'm hoping this was just a one-off bad experience. I will return to Tayyabs in the future, here's to hoping the experience is much improved. read more

3.5 stars at this point will do. Breakdown: Food = 4.5 stars. Pokora, lamb chops, lamb karahi, naan -- all spectacular, as everyone else says. -1 is for: 1) they ran out of popodams.. at LUNCH. WTF? You just opened. 2) the inconsistent/ occasionally offensive service, which confused me a bit. I had called them ahead of time to let them know I was running late. "sure, no problem, we will wait for you," they said. When I got there, they reminded me that my reservation was 30 minute ago. Yes, I know. I called. One server carrying food over knocked over a drink and spilled all over my co-worker. He didn't say sorry, he didn't even look at her, he just stepped back while another server came, admonished him not-so-subtley, and cleaned up the mess and replaced the drink. While the food did make me momentarily forget all the weird shit, it still affects the general experience/high expectations I held for the place. But I would still come back for what it offers, and hope that the service isn't as crap as it was today. read more

Came here last night after some London Yelp xmas party action. Even on a Tuesday at 10pm, it was packed. There was a line but it went quickly and since it's BYOB (with no corkage fee), we cracked open some beers while we waited on a table. We ordered the Tandoori chicken-ok, mixed veggie dish-good, lamb kabobs-great, another Lamb special-excellent, and the garlic naan was incredible. Order more than you think you'll want - it's thin and crispy but soft and chewy at the same time...don't ask, just order lots 'cause it's delicious. Prices are extremely reasonable (most dishes are 5-7 GBP) and easy to share. Service was good - our order came out in about 5 minutes, no joke - I recommend if you want some time to chill and enjoy those tasty Indian chips appetizer they bring out, you might want to wait a second or two before the feast arrives. Nice atmosphere - not too fancy but definitely has a nice vibe and sophistication to it...great place to take out of towners or go with friends over the Brick Lane Indian restaurant-food-court-carnival madness. read more

Not sure how this place got all this good reviews... We have been there for lunch. The waiter seated us on a table we had to share with another couple even though there were plenty of free tables. When we asked if we could move to one of the free tables he just said that they are reserved for larger groups. It took another 10 min before we got the menu to order. Even though there are almost as many waiters as customers, the service is very slow. We then ordered some kebab and a curry. I don't understand anyone can rave about the food there. The kebab was dry and overcooked. The curry was ok, but really nothing special. It was a bit bland and the sauces have clearly been watered down. The only good thing was the mango lassi. The prices are also higher then you would expect for restaurant in this area and especially for this quality of food. Our overall bill came to 40 for a lunch for 2 with nothing fancy on the table. I wouldn't go there again and certainly cannot recommend it. Not sure who is giving all these 4 and 5 stars here. To sum it up food is average at best, service is rubbish, prices are too high for the area and the restaurant itself is nothing special neither. read more

4 stars for the food. Just fantastic and so tasty! But the atmosphere and chaos is insanely exhausting. I remember coming here over 7 years ago and it was a lovely, airy place and now it feels too trendy for what it is, and the crowds are huge! I made a reservation and that doesn't even really matter it seems because everyone just queued up anyway. What saves this place is the food, excellent curries, the mango lassi jug was so good, and the desserts are to die for. Loved the rasmalai! Always worth a try, especially if it's your first time. read more

I had been here about a year ago and remember really enjoying it, but the most recent experience was really disappointing. My chicken tikka masala tasted nothing like it. In fact, my chicken tastes so dry that I stopped eating after one piece. Service was rather bad too. They had one of our orders wrong at first, and for another one of my friends, they didn't even remember her request to leave out the potatoes in her dish. Quite loud as well, given the crowd. Honestly, I'm not sure how this place could attract so many people. Rather disappointing experience overall. read more

Wow !!!!!!!! this was good. It was like your tounge having a booty call. Their Nan's were very tasty but a little too lathered with lard. Their tandoori's were very tasty. I would not go for the minced meat ( lamb ) as it was a bit too dry. On the other hand I would try the lady finger or their egg plant. This place is very much like Khan's in Bayswater but a bit nicer inside. I also liked the fact that they had lassi in jugs, which was kind of kewl. So you can drink up a lot after the spicy food. One more kewl thing is, you can bring your own drinks. To wrap this review, i thought they had friendly staff !!! Good location and great for dinner. read more

I had friends in town recently and we ventured to Tayyabs. I highly recommend booking a reservation as when you arrive you are greeted with masses of people in a very long queue. The restaurant is huge, so I don't imagine it took too long, but air on the side of caution. We started with popodoms and 3 sauces, which were all equally amazing, the yogurt sauce had a kick that was fantastic! We ordered the lamb, a chicken tikka masala, sag aloo, chick peas and loads of naan. Everything was better than the dish before. Tender meat, so much flavor, comes out very quickly and very hot. Its also BYOB so we brought loads of wine and fizz. This also helped cut down on price. It was just over a tenner per person to be stuffed full of food and walking out a bit tipsy.. you cannot beat it! All in all, I will be back again and again because it was so good! NOTE: There is a tesco right around the corner so dont worry about clinking bottles together on a tube ride. read more

This place is getting 4 stars - not just for the food but for the sheer value for money. It's only not getting 5 because one of our party was refused a glass of water whilst waiting in the queue - it was very hot in there and we had been standing for over 40 mins at this point. NOT impressed.... Anyway - we waited for over ONE HOUR for a table. A whole hour of being squished in a queue with waiters shimmying past, hands full of sizzling hot platters. A whole hour of standing there as the spice filled air made my eyes smart slightly and fatigue was starting to set in. When we finally got seated (in the less manic and less cramped downstairs section of the restaurant) we ordered quickly as we were sooo hungry. 3 of us polished of round of poppadums pakora chicken tikka LAMB CHOPS - omg the LAMB CHOPS. I have to say it twice. I am not even a huge lamb fan and they were AWESOME Khari Keema Another lamb dish (can't remember what it was called but think it might just have been called meat curry or something!) Chicken saag 3x mango desert things (frozen lassies on a stick) 2 rounds of rice 1 naan The bill ...... under £50 including tip!!! We bought our own wine and the corkage was free!! Fantastic value and definitely worth the wait!! read more

Tayyabs is an institution, that's for sure. The food - especially the lamb chops - is still incredibly delicious, and there are still long lines out the door, but I've taken away a star as I think the service has gone downhill. Yes, no one ever went to Tayyabs for service and ambience (let's face it, it's the Indian restaurant equivalent of the sadly lamented Wong Kei), but, still, there are certain standards, such as offering tap water - not charging for it - and trying not to injure your customers. On the latter, try your very best to gauge the direction from which the food will be served, and sit away from there. On a recent visit, I had sizzling bowls of food thrust right past my ear onto the table, causing me to jump in the process. There wasn't even a "careful, hot!" warning which came with it. I finally managed to save myself by piling up bowls and cutlery on my side of the table so that there was no more available space. That's right - I threw another friend at the table under the bus in order to save myself. So what? I will say one thing about the waitstaff though. They have incredible memories. Our waiter took our order (a table of six) without writing anything down and headed off to the next table (a table of ten) and took their orders before going to the kitchen. Nothing went awry with our orders, and, I believe, the other table got all of their food as well. It was a pretty amazing feat. read more

Hey Kids! Tayyabs now delivers!! http://helengraves.co.uk/2011/08/tayyabs-deliver-to-peckham/ While they did sort of yell at me for being late when my friend was holding the table for us... the rest was great! Definitely get a mango lassi to cut the heat. read more

Some of the best Punjabi food I've ever had the chance to injest. I stopped by for lunch and had no problem getting a table. I opted for some traditional curries, but the grilled meats seem to be the reason most frequent Tayyabs. There are a plethora of curry houses around Brick Lane, but, Tayyabs ranks among the best. read more

Aaaaah I so wanted to love this place, after reading all the great reviews, but damnnn I don't know, it just didn't live up to the hype. We arrived and got a table quite easily on a Thursday lunchtime and were quickly brought some salad to nibble on. Following from that, we waited for around 30 mins for someone to take our order and only after asking a few times, did we finally manage to order. I might add, it took a lot of staff members asking each other to take our order, which was a little strange. The food arrived and was fairly ok. The fish dish I got, had plenty of bones, which wasn't great. The saag aloo was amazing, super spicy and a great addition to the meal. My friend got chickpeas which were nice and a great side dish. The chicken tikka for me didn't live up to expectations. All in all, the meal was just average and I felt like the service could definitely be improved next time. However for £25 for two, it really wasn't a bad price and I'll be giving it another go one evening to see if I fair better. read more

I live in the US and every time I come to London I make a point to come here at least twice because it's just that good. Not even exaggerating when I say that I dream of Tayyabs on the regular. I've tried to find a comparable experience here in Boston but I just can't. All the meat is so tender and the flavors are just delicious. read more

I do love a bit of Tayyabs. For London it's super affordable but you do have to make the following compromises: 1. Most things taste the same (tasty nonetheless) 2. Portions are on the small side 3. You get rushed because of the high turn over 4. The sizzling plates will send everyone (no exceptions) into a coughing fit Hate to dwell on the bad points because I still heartily recommend it for a cheap and cheerful curry. Those lamb chops are delectable... read more

This is pretty much reached the point of beating a dead horse but I'm highly opinionated so I'm going to contribute to the endless reviews that has told you that this place is great. Tayyabs is... mental. I use the term endearingly, much in the same way Ron Weasley continuously refers to Hermione's antics as "mental." My coursemates and I, about 13 of us, decided to have dinner here for a final summer dinner before we all parted ways and when we arrived I was staggered by the amount of people on a WEDNESDAY EVENING. It was at dinner rush, our reservations were for 7:30 pm but thank god my classmates had gone here before or else I would not have known to reserve. So if there's anything that you should take away from this... if you want a guaranteed seat make a reservation. The decor was interesting, a bit chic and mod with neon lights. It has no kitschy Indian decor to dress up the atmosphere, it's almost like a night club. Overall, my first impression was chaos... but like an organized chaos. It seemed like all the servers, despite the massive amount of people crowding the doors, knew exactly what to do and where to go. Since it was such a busy night, we were left to peruse the menu with some poppadums and a trio of sauces for a generous amount of time. Eventually it took some serious flagging skills and a complete disregard for British propriety and subtlety to finally grab the waiters attention to let him know we were ready to order. But the most impressive part of the night was when the waiter came around to take our order. Among the 13 or 14 of our group, we all ordered a variety of starters, mains, and rice/naans. It was a hodge podge of a few starters, a myriad of mains, and different varieties of naans. The waiter remembered it all, no pad, no pencil. To our astonishment, he repeated the whole order verbatim without any missed dishes. My coursemates (who the majority of us have worked at least once in the service industry) gave him a well deserved and very awestruck round of applause. I know it may have been premature because the food hadn't arrived but damn... that takes some skill. I'm not going to speak much on the food. It was good and as it has been said repeatedly and several different ways the lamb chops were delicious; the dry meat was a bit more lack luster. But from what I gather Tayyabs is an institution in London, it's a place that everyone must try. The food is good and the atmosphere is thoroughly enjoyable. I don't know what it is but it could be the fact that very few restaurants are able to nurture a fun atmosphere without having their customers having to shell out more money for it; a part of it understands that dining in good company with good food is enough to make a night fantastic. read more

DID I HEAR BRING YOUR OWN BOOZE? So a friend and I buy a bottle of wine at tesco and bring it to tayabbs. I'm a big huge fan of curry and so i was super excited to try it here. I'm from the states so to me London = Indian curry. OH yeah BABY! We ordered lamb chops (mmm deliciious) Mango Lassi (very creamy maybe a bit too creamy? but yummy) Naan ( greasy??) But ok curry- (no sauce but sauteed potatoes?) but nonetheless good good good. Best part was that we drank the whole bottle and was happy with the price of all this food, super cheap which came out to about 15 bucks each (in dollars) in Cali, indian curry can go up to 20 pounds. This was def a plus for me. Will be back soon but earlier, the line was wayyyy toooo lonnnng. read more

Awesome Indian/Pakistani food in the heart of London. I am glad i made a reservation a week in advance or else it will be at least an hour wait. Food was finger licking good, spicy and full of flavors. We got the mixed grill meat platter (highly recommend it if you want to try everything), chicken tiki marsala, lamb curry, garlic naan, Peshwari naan, lamb chops, mango lassi popsicles, etc. Tip: Forget about your expensive cashmere or trench coat at home. Expect to smell like meat when you come out of the restaurant as the grill meat comes in a sizzling hot pan. Its so worth it tho. The waiter told us its cash only but they totally accepted our credit card. Not exactly sure why he told us that. Perhaps to avoid credit card transaction fees =P Just something to keep in mind. read more

I wanted to go to Tayyabs as I'd heard sooooo much about it from various sources. However I left feeling a bit underwhelmed. We got there and we were sat down fairly quickly which was good, in the middle of a line of tables for two people. The tables were very close together and I could literally rub elbows with the person next to me, so I felt a little boxed in. We opted for paneer tikka, chicken tikka, lamb chops,masala fish, baby chicken masala and a garlic naan and a Coke. Let's just say, we were hungry. The person who took our order didn't write any of it down. When the drinks arrived it was a Diet Coke, not a normal Coke, despite having specified normal Coke. After asking three different people, they changed the Coke over so that was slightly annoying. The paneer came first and I was excited about it as paneer is one of my favourite foods. However I was really disappointed. The paneer was rubbery and hard and bland. Paneer is not supposed to be like that, it's supposed to have a slight rubbery texture but this was hard - I found it difficult to cut through with my knife and fork! The chicken tikka and the lamb chops slightly redeemed Tayyabs. They were both delicately spiced and cooked really well. The meat was really succulent and tender. Really tasty. The masala fish was really not my thing. I didn't like it at all however my dinner companion did so it wasn't all bad. When the naan came, we looked at it but didn't realise until we tasted it and realised that it wasn't garlic naan. However the two of us just couldn't be bothered to send it back as the last time we tried to send the Coke back, they took forever. The baby chicken masala was very tender and cooked really well but I wasn't overly keen on the sauce - it was a bit bland. Maybe it just wasn't to my taste. Overall my opinion of Tayyabs wasn't great. I thought that the service was poor, the food was okay, not the best Indian I've had and I felt that the seating was quite intrusive. But I do understand why people like it, it's affordable, tasty(ish) Indian food where you can BYOB! read more

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