Zayna offers private dining in Marble Arch with a strong sense of personality, rooted in Pakistani and North Indian cooking and the food memories of founder Riz Dar. Raised in Punjab in a family passionate about food, Dar grew up around the spices, recipes and traditions that would later shape his own restaurant. After working in high-end restaurants in California, he moved to the UK and opened Zayna in 2008.
For private gatherings, the restaurant has two dedicated spaces: Ayla’s Room and Lily’s Room. Both offer a more intimate way to experience the menu, whether the occasion is a family celebration, dinner with friends or a smaller get-together where having a room to yourselves makes the evening feel more considered.
The interiors help set the tone. The private dining space feels warm and cocooning, with ochre walls, deep red banquette seating, rich cushions, soft candlelight and leafy planting. It is colourful and polished without feeling overly formal, which suits the generous, sharing-friendly style of the food.
The menu is full of dishes that work naturally for a group. Starters include potato and aubergine pakora, samosas with chickpeas, paapdi chaat finished with pomegranate, Lahori fried cod with tamarind sauce and tempura wild king prawns with chilli sauce. From the grill, there is kebab lajawab made with spiced lamb mince, murgh tikka, malai boti, lamb chops, tandoori salmon and wild king prawns. The mixed grill combines lamb chops, chicken tikka and kebabs, and all of Zayna’s grills are marinated for at least 24 hours.
For mains, choices include chicken karahi, butter chicken, palak gosht, baati gosht and jheenga bhaati, alongside biryanis made with chicken, lamb, prawns or vegetables. Vegetarian diners are well catered for too, with aloo gobi, baigan ka bharta, bhindi karahi, mutter paneer and dal makhani among the options.