Tayyabs

Nice one

will visit again for dinner.

Rude waiters, awful food, terrible experience, waste of money and time

Visited with the family last night. Staff was unwelcoming and rude. Food was below average. Very noisy place. Would never go back again and would not recommend to anyone.

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.

Tayyabs is different to most Indian restaurants. For a start, it's got an android app when most curry houses opt for about 3 phone numbers instead. More importantly, it's Pakistani, specifically Punjabi. Pakistan is much like Britain in the way it has developed its cuisine, borrowing from other nations to create their own fusions and ideas. Although the menu may not look that different from your local takeaway, the differences are mostly tucked away in the kitchen and subtly into the food.

Having said that, you're unlikely to order lamb chops to start at most curry houses, as we did at Tayyabs. Apparently it's their signature dish, and it certainly sizzles cockily on the hotplate. But they were the Victoria Beckhams of lamb chops – nicely spiced but possibly anaemic. Two per person was definitely not enough; four might have just been an appetiser; and perhaps ten would make a main. It left my companion and me fighting over the poppadoms like dogs as we waited slightly too long for our mains.

Given this wait, perhaps it the best time to air my greatest gripe with Tayyabs – it's size. I like my curry houses small, intimate and usually on the verge of closure. I want the waiters to be delighted to see me, I want to dine almost alone and have them hover awkwardly just to the side because there is no one else to wait on. That's how I dine in north London. But Tayyabs is massive and heaving with customers. It feels a bit like a slightly shitty City bar, with tacky decor, harsh lighting and a lot of men in suits with gelled hair. In a similar vein, it also felt like a meat factory. The high turnover means the queue constantly moves, giving the impression of the diners being on a conveyor belt. You sit down, get fed and go out with the steady stream of other former-diners. The impersonal feel of this is exacerbated by the fact that it's so loud you can hardly hear yourself think, and this means the waiters have given up trying to talk. Instead, they mutely point at tables, mouth instructions at you and, more often than not, ignore your wildly waving arms and very British attempts at catching their eye. After all, we are only wallets on conveyor belts.

Luckily for them, the chefs in the open kitchens do seem to know what they are doing, even if the food suffers from being cooked in such high volume. My korahi chicken – a Pakistani dish cooked in great big saucepans from which it gets the dish takes name – was excellent. It differs from a north Indian curry because the meat is cooked in spices, and the sauce is added right at the end. This gives the meat much more texture and the slightly burnt spices really shine through. The addition of crispy onions to the top was a simple but clever addition for a nice dish.

Sadly the Wednesday special, a Mughlai Korma, was overcooked. The description, rather blandly, said the “rich sauce generously covers succulent pieces of meat”. I have two problems with this statement. First, if the best thing you can say about a dish is that there is enough sauce, the dish is on its way to disaster. Second, it came with virtually no sauce at all. It had been cooked dry and the main texture was oil and, although it was flavourful, some of the lamb was very tough indeed. I only really ordered this dish out of morbid curiosity at the terrible descriptor, and in a desperate attempt to make my dining experience in any way unique from the hundreds of other diners.

After this error, we decided not to cave in to curiosity again with the puddings, deliciously misspelt as “deserts”. We paid our extraordinarily low bill (kudos where it's due), which also kept the tip mercifully low, and squeezed our way past the salivating queues of people.

I have to say I was left wondering what all the fuss was about. There can't be many curry houses serving such unique curries, or indeed such a wide range, but the food wasn't actually that good, nor was the restaurant itself, and the staff certainly weren't. If you're stuck in Whitechapel and need a meal, you could do considerably worse (you could go to Brick Lane for starters), but as I waved goodbye to one of my dearest friends, who was disappearing abroad for a month, I couldn't help but think: “Shouldn't have gone to Tayyabs”.

I'm sorry but I've been 2 times now. Never again! The first time I went it was dreadful. The food does not depict good quality asian/indian food. The waiters are very rude. They seat you with instantly forcing poppadoms on you without having asked them for them. I ordered some curry dishes with naans on this visit. They were smuthered in vast amounts of ghee. Which is very bad for our health and distastes the dish itself. It was flavorless, lacking the spices that you'd expect. The never ending smoke of grills practically intoxicates you causing it difficult to breathe. To add to this so call experience and food whilst your eating the waiters anxiously stand by to take plates away from you that you'd be eating out of. How rude!!! I hadn't even finished my meal yet. They once seated practically want to push you out only to get someone else seated. I went away and hat severe stomach aches for the following day. A very disappointing experience considering the hype. I'm not even being harsh.

As a year a so went by, still had friends saying how good it is but instead they were all specifying the grills that were so nice. So being open to the fact that things can change for the better. Id promised myself to try the grill at some point and not to be over judgmental on one visit.

I went again today, not as busy as usual. Loud to say the least, which is down to its location. I went in. Had to wait for a table as usual. Rude waiters pushing by. Nothing new there. Finally we were seated. I thought lets go for the grills. Chops seemed very popular as did chicken tikka and paneer starters. So i ordered them as well as a few samosas as that was my safety bet. If all else failed. The food finally came. Truthfully it was tasteless. The lot of it. My partner thought the exact same. Seriously below even average. The samosas I couldn't get by more than a bite as they were that bad. Flavorless and just stuffed with a not so nice potato filling. The mint sauce was just water like. As before i was eating whilst one of my food plates was just taken with food on it without having asked and whilst I was still eating. SOOO RUDE and discourteous. Then to top it off the couple next to us went only to be seated by some that were waiting. The guy slid by knocking one of our food plates off the table with his rucksack. One of the waiters apologized to them and eventually cleaned it up. Not a word was said to us, no food was replaced. It was like we never existed. As they were too bothered about bringing the usual poppadoms out to the neighboring couple. I tell you I've been to very many places to eat in London ranging from normal daily quick business lunch and dinner type meals to very fine dinning. This restaurant has to be by far one of the worst managed restaurant and more importantly the worse type of Indian/Pakistani food it claims to produce. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and tried it again but the experience has put me off for good. I would not recommend this restaurant to someone who wants to try authentic good reasonably priced indian/pakistani food. Avoid it if you can. It is a waste of money!! The owners are only bothered about the money. Not the food or customers.

I went to Tayyabs, as my office is around the corner. We started up a ‘curry club’ where we would sample a different Indian restaurant once a month.

Tayyabs was up first and it was awful, I couldn't stand it. I heard it was outstanding and the food was amazing… When I arrived we were left waiting in the gangways until we could be seated, people constantly pushing passed us. We all nearly left… Finally when we sat down, we had to wait an age for menu's, which were manky looking.

Excuse me for being ignorant and English but the dishes offered on the menu – I had no clue what they were, as I am used to the usually offerings of Korma, Vindaloo etc.

When I asked a waiter to explain what some of the dishes were I was told ‘comes in tomato sauce’ Oh yum! not. The mixed grill was ok… It was just grilled meats… I tasted a few of the different dishes we all ordered and they all looked the same… Kind of tasted the same too.

I have no idea why people rave about this place, it looked dirty and over crowded, the food is nothing to write home about it, the waiters have no time for you and as others have stated you are most definitely rushed out of your seats.

Disappointing. I’m a very big fan of the Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine and was very excited when a friend told me she managed to book a table at Tayyabs (3 weeks in advance!). With high expectations I entered Tayyabs and was overwhelmed by masses of people queuing and trying to get the attention of the waiter. After around 20 minutes a waiter seated us in the downstairs area, which is very dark and less appealing than upstairs. You can find a very young and fashionable crowd at Tayyabs and you can bring your own booze. But we felt rushed during dinner, the meat was chewy and despite not ordering alcoholic drinks, we had quite a high bill at the end. I’m not coming back despite the hype around Tayyabs, or maybe BECAUSE of all the hype around it, the food does not fulfil the expectations.

I had heard and read alot about this place so knew what to expect. Yes, it is chaotic. I didnt get any cuttlery until 3 or 4 minutes after my food arrived! Yes, it is busy, and YES the food is fabulous. Food doesnt wait long on the hotplates here… straight off the grill and WHOOOSH, it arrives in a flurry of activity in front of your eyes. Fabulous naans like I've never tasted, and the lamb kebabs looked amazing… I dont even eat meat! The only downside for me is the location; it is a little difficult to get to from central London. Nevertheless, I recommend you go. It is quite an experience. Don't forget to BYO!

Went to Tayaabs for a lunch after a friend recommended. It is the most genuine Indian food I have had in London. The taste and aroma reminded me of the streets of Old Delhi. Incredibly tasty.

I have been eating here for years. I love bringing friends from out of town as they really enjoy the experience of getting a face full of spices as the hot grill plates go by, as well as being in a famous (but not in guidebooks) restaurant. Beware it's not a place to bring vegetarians!

I just rang them up today and I was told they no longer do bookings. It's first come, first served now. Which I hope will only improve on the wait. I don't really mind waiting for an hour for a table as it's all part of the experience for me. But if you go at lunchtime the wait is a lot shorter and the service is a lot more friendly. In the evenings they obviously have a huge amount of people to feed and there is a much more chaotic atmosphere. I always have really good service when I go there so I cannot comment on the others who have had a hard time. I use the waiting time in the queue to know exactly what I want when I sit down so there is no waiting to order. i have never been rushed off a table even when the place is packed and the queue is snaking around the restaurant like a middle class conga line. The service is fast and the food is excellent. It's a great place to go with friends as there is a real communal atmosphere. More so than in other curry houses.

The restaurant has expanded to include a basmment dining room as well. If you have a choice I would avoid this as the decor is like an essex nightclub in the 90's. Crazy lighting, loud techno music, which are not at all soothing. When I went recently, we had been waiting for an hour and 20 mins (typical on a Friday night) so we weren't going to quibble with our table.

My best advice is go with at least 3 people so one of you can always hold the place in the queue. Bring drinks to keep you going before and during dinner. Have a chilled out attitude and save some space for the kulfi ice cream or mango lassi as they are amazing but after all the lamb chops it might not be possible.

This place is seemingly famous for being famous. Its certainly not famous for it's food or service. It's now so busy you have to queue for a long time to be seated. They want you in and out and no care is given to much else. My pregnant friend asked for a jug of tap water and was told she couldn't have it because we were seated downstairs and tap water was only available upstairs. She is 8 months pregnant! I am pretty certain the law states that tap water can't be refused, especially to a pregnant woman. After A LOT of arguing with the waiters/manager she was given glass and told that only she could have it refilled – by going upstairs to receive it! The food was average at best – I tried their ‘signature’ dry lamb chops which were overcooked and grisly and not nice at all. The music would burst loudly and at times was more like a disco. Main dishes were served 15 minutes before the rice and breads. I am really disappointed in this place. I've had far better asian food up Brick Lane and FAR better service.