Apadana Restaurant

One of excellent Persian restaurants you can try it at London. The menu is having a lot of food selection from appetizers to main dish till dessert. The atmosphere is good, the staff so so so kind, the service is so great really everything was more than expectation. Yes a far location from London center, but really it deserves a trial and live the experience. I strongly recommend the restaurant and take a try even it is faraway since you will definitely enjoy the food big time, I’m pretty sure about that

The food was below average , highly priced . Compared with other iranian restaurant this takes 3 out of 10 , the qema says with potatoes and when it arrived, there was like chips on top of it 😡 The dolma not dolma it’s ورق عنب بالزيت . The bread is hard and not as moist as it should be . The ppl though are nice . For me I would never return .

Really fabulous experience. The staff are so sweet. It’s like being at home! I loved the food. Everything was great! The tea and baklava were particularly amazing!

Apadana, located at 351 Kensington High Street, London, is a hidden gem of Persian cuisine in the heart of Kensington. Introduced by a friend who leads an Arabic music group, I was instantly captivated by both the food and the atmosphere. Ms. Bita, the attentive host, warmly guided me through the menu, full of familiar Persian dishes and exciting new options. The live music, performed by the incredibly talented Mr. Manouuch, added to the experience. His voice, capable of reviving any crowd, brought Persian, Indian, Arabic, and Armenian songs to life with a magical energy. I opted for the Persian Chicken Biryani, a fragrant dish rich with saffron and spices once reserved for royalty. The generous portions and reasonable prices made it even more delightful. The ambiance made me feel like royalty myself, and I can't wait to return with my family and friends to share this special spot. Kudos to Ms. Bita and her team—I'll definitely be back!!© Google = Ash-Cash and TripAdvisor = Ash and Karen

Apadana – A Hidden Gem in Kensington!
I’ve been coming to Apadana for nearly 10 years, and it’s always been one of my favorite spots in London. The food is consistently authentic and delicious, but what really makes it special are the people. Haydar and Bita, two of the staff members, always treat me like family. Their warmth and hospitality make each visit feel like coming home. If you’re looking for a place with incredible Persian food, a cozy atmosphere, and a team that truly cares about their customers, you’ve got to visit Apadana.

I had a wonderful time at this place with super friendly service and great food! We had freshly made bread with nice starters and the tenderness of the lamb was just amazing! I am really thankful for the experience!

The Apadana restaurant is a true gem with a fascinating history dating back to 1967. As a lover of authentic Persian cuisine, I was simply blown away by the quality and flavor of their dishes. The simplicity of their preparation truly allows the flavors to shine and makes each dish a true delight. The option to dine both indoors and outdoors adds to the charm of this place. An absolute must-visit for any foodie and lover of Persian cuisine!

Excellent restaurant, the food was fresh, very good customer service, nice welcoming atmosphere. This is the oldest Persian restaurant in London and definitely lives up to expectations.

Warning, the dishes come family style! They are enormous portions. The three of us each ordered a dish. We also ordered a hummus appetizer, that we got free for checking into Yelp. In addition to these, we ordered one basket of tradition bread, which is grilled pita. The service was thorough and friendly. The atmosphere an hour before closing was quiet. We chose to eat outside, because it was gorgeous out. I did get a video, but no photos of the food. Sorry. I forgot, because I am so tired.

Delicious lunch of minced lamb and tomato cucumber salad. The lamb plate was huge, easily all 3 of us could have eaten our lunch on that one plate. Nice little oasis out of the sun.

Not traditional. Its more iraqi now, less iran don't come if you want traditional persian food

I was walking around looking for a Thai restaurant that I liked previously. It did not open until 6pm so I continued walking around and stumbled on this restaurant and decided to try. Good choice. Very friendly staff. Huge portions and too much food if you order an appetizer. Come hungry. Started out with a lentil soup. Most excellent. I then had the stewed lamb with eggplant in a tomato sauce. Very very good. The lamb was mild, tender and not fatty. The flat bread is made to order in the restaurant. It was a little too crispy for me. Next door is an Iranian run store that carries Iranian caviars.

My husband has been coming here since he was a university student in London and the food is as outstanding as it was back in the 80's! We ordered their regular eggplant starter Mirza Ghassemi (my favourite) and in addition, they also brought us their special green eggplant on the house - it was superb with a lovely rich smokey flavour, so that has become my new favourite! Paired with freshly baked bread, it was the perfect starter. My husband had the Chenjeh & Koobideh which was lovely and tender served on a bed of fluffy saffron rice. My grilled seabass was equally wonderful, grilled to perfection. Simple, fresh and just how I like it. Apadana is our go-to for the best Persian food in town. Consistently good food with great service.

What an amazing place! Super cute and very friendly staff! Food was delicious! Found the place on yelp and decided to try it out and it was a great choice! If you happen to be near by, definitely stop in for some delicious food!

I enjoyed Apadana living in London and try to get there when I visit. Good, honest and unpretentious Persian food. One of the highlights is the clay oven in the window from which come enormous naans. Parking is a complete pain around there though.

I come here when I am in London. I love this restaurant and their food. The best Persian is here and I met the owner twice since I am from America in California and came more than a couple times to London and met the same guy his name was Haydar. I recommend people come here their kabobs are delicious and the people are very friendly. I would definitely come back.

Bad dining experience. Horrible waiter service, waitress is friendly. The table setting was wrong, knife was facing to the right. Napkin was stained. The O.J. was bought to me on my side plate by the waiter, is O.J suppose to put on the side place? The soup was salty. Main course came again was salty. Kebab was okay but the rest of the meat were tough. Only 2 persons in the restaurant, I receive zero to minimal service. The waiter was looking at the street all the time,leaving his butt facing me while I was having my meal. Look carefully when you receive the bill, it has optional service charge 10% added, if you think is not worth, you don't need to give it. I have been to Iran before, and I have some Iranian colleagues, definitely the waiter service and hospitality is far from what I expect. There are several persian restaurants along the street, please try another one.

I called the restaurant at 6pm to book a table for myself as I was staying in a hotel next door. The chap on the phone was happy to give me a table until he asked me how many people it was for. When I said it was for myself (I was in the area on business) his tone change and told me they were fully booked. I decided to walk past the place nonetheless and to my surprise there was only two other people eating. I went in and asked if there was a table free, and of course I was given one. Other than the crappy customer service, the food was very good and a bit pricey. There are plenty of Iranian restaurants in the area and I would suggest trying the others before this one purely because this was far from what I expect from Iranian hospitality (I am Iranian).

One of The Best Restaurants in London. This Amazing place was a walk across the Park from our School in London. As a child, I Loved their Food, and I still do. The last time we ate there was with both my Sons...We all Love their Food, Location, and Service. If you're into Authentic Persian Cuisine and Food that tastes "Home Made" Then you must eat at Apadana's. London, Great Britain. People are so nice and hospitable. Sending Love from Los Angeles California U.S.A. To Everyone in London, England United Kingdom. We Love you.

Very delicious fesenjoon and gheimeh! I am not sure where the owners are from though, they spoke Turkish and Arabic and Farsi with a thick accent. Food was great so I did not care. All good.

Delicious food and lovely staff. We had Khoresht Bademjan, Chenjeh & Koobideh kababs, and Tahdig with Khoresht Ghormeh Sabzi. All were made to perfection. Staff was really nice and friendly. We would go back to Apadana, if we ever visited London again.

Ive tried loads of Persian restaurants in London and this is by FAR the best around! Everything tastes so fresh and delicious - you can tell they use good ingredients and actually care about the food they cook. Its totally worth every penny. Definitely would say this is the best Persian restaurant in London, hands down, no questions about it. The spicy koobideh is delicious. Ive eaten here 3 days in a row! Its THAT good people.

Persian Cravings -- either watch a film starring the lovely Aylar Lie or eat some kebab? Food won out this time. Arrived at Apadana tired and hungry having just walked from Westfield to Notting Hill and back around through Holland Park (like you care about the specifics of my journey). The place was quite dead for a Friday night, and the lack of Iranian clientele was a bit worrying, but my hunger and an unyielding sense of adventure won out. I had the baghai polo which was lamb shanks with dill rice. Lamb was very tasty, as was the broth which accompanied it; unfortunately, the rice was probably the worst I've ever had at a persian restaurant. My wifes chicken kebab was good although a bit dry. Again, rice was so bad (esp. disappointing at a persian restaurant because iranians are among the best rice makers). Something about the meal wasn't all that satisfying -- the people were really friendly though their kids were running around wild. We had hummus and this aubergine yogurt dip to start with great naan, but the dips weren't all that great, esp. compared with Mohsen or (less so) Alounak. As a restaurant its OK but compared with other Persian places in the vicinity I'm not sure it is worth a visit.

Excellent food! So amazing and delicious! The staff was so friendly, and knowledgeable. Definitely try the lamb kebab plate! So many delicious flavors!

Wanted to get some good Persian food in London. This place did not disappoint. I ordered the lamb and koubidee. Very tasteful. Highly recommend

Absolutely loved this place, visited here one afternoon whilst on a trip to London and stayed for about 4 hours. My friend and I started with a massive mixed meze (£15) which came with this fanastic fresh baked lavash bread, baked in the open clay oven right as you walk in. Along with some wine this took us nearly and hour and half to eat. About half and hour after that we ordered the mains which were kobeida kebab, a sort of oversized single skewer of minced seasoned/spiced lamb baked over charcoal with a bed of rice and green side salad. Again perfect. You the sign of the best places are when you remember them they make you feel hungry. This place certainly will.

This is the childhood sweetheart! Love the starters and the non spicy Koobideh with naan. The hummus, salads etc are all delicious. Not that into their chicken dishes. Rice and bread are both fresh and delicious. The man working on the bread oven/kiln is a legend. He's getting a bit grumpy though but will have to forgive him, he has been making naan for an eternity! The kebabs are juicy and super delicious. The craving definitely kicks in frequently to make a trip to kensington for our staple Iranian fare! The service is fairly quick unless its an especially busy day because then you'll have to let the food do the talking and we are willing to do that for this place

The best Iranian restaurant in London and the best stuff Thank you for the good food

I Cant Believe this place only has one review! its full of people all the time! Its the place i miss the most in london! never had better persian food...omG there kabob? unbeatable, apa dana has spoiled me forever. i have been going since a child and whenever i go to London, its my first priority restaurant to visit! Delicious , juicy Kabobs, wonderful food i just cant say it enough! its SO GOOD! (go the next door stores too, they have wonderful exotic fruit!!!)

First visited this restaurant about 14 years ago. It was good then and even better now. Went with my family and we had hummus and freshly baked bread to start which was very good. Following this my wife and I had what would be widely recognised as a lamb shish and kofte kebab served with rice, sliced onion and tomato. The meat was cooked to perfection, tender and tasty, we both really enjoyed it. My son had a chicken shish served with the same thing, he is quite a fussy eater but he loved it. Needless to say we will be going back. Some would question the price, for what is essentially a kebeb normally priced at around £6 you pay double that. However when you consider you have an attentive waiter service in a relaxed atmosphere in Central London you won't feel that you have been overcharged.

Good and reasonably priced food but menu prices are not what they charge. If they do give you a bill check it and ask for a receipt..

Food was awful. I'm Persian and I know what was served should taste like!!! We went on a Saturday night and there was live music which was Way too loud to enjoy or carry a conversation. The selection of wine list was only a list of 4 wines, 2 of which they didnt have in stock. Finally service left a lot to be desired!!! There was no offering of fresh herbs. The basket of bread was "plunked" on our plate instead of the table and the "baker" who was making bread banging loudly behind us was competing with the singer and singing aloud!!! I do NOT recommend this place at all

My experience at this place has compelled me to write my first review. It was that special. I know this place from my childhood as the very first Persian restaurant in the UK. So it has history. Or meant to. OK arrived there with the 2 girls and my wife. Sat down, waited anything between 5-10 minutes before anyone even came to us. This is after asking the bread chap, twice!! Talking bread maker man, his prep area was full of dirty plates from other tables. So he just picked them all up, put underneath and carried on with the next bread order, as one does. Oh yeah, back to the service. Young chap came, didn't speak Persian. No worries. But didn't know the dishes and asked me to order everything off the numbers in the menu. He was new. Evidently. I mentioned that the kids were hungry so if he can bring the starters quick it will be great. After another 10 minutes, the bread arrived. Then had to ask for the starters to go with the bread. The new waiter then came to check the numbers. He was not sure if I ordered number 46 or 64. I joked about being dyslexic or such. and any ways, their menu only goes up to number 60!! The yoghurt portion was near microscopic. and the Sabzi came sans walnut. I mentioned it to the waiter and he siad, no it comes like this. I said but your menu says with walnuts. He went and came back with walnuts. The lobia polo was way off standard. My wife is Russian and hers is like 10 times better. my koobideh with bread was the worst I have ever tasted. I am sure the damn meat was off. It really tasted bad. Remember the ingredients of koobideh. lamb and onions! can't be the onions, or can it? By this time my 6 year old was getting super irate. As she did not like any of the special offerings. But she thought the toilet was pretty! Asked for the bill. I put my debit card on the tray and he said, we are the same company as 2 doors away,so you have to walk with your bill next door. Escorted me out to Asgar Agha standing outside who then took me inside his shop to his delightful wife to take my card. The Mrs was well moody, with her post revolution head scarf. I certainly wouldn't joke with her. All in all this experience makes mince meat (pun intended) out of Faulty Towers. Obviously owned, managed and run by a bunch of amateurs. The comedy was worth the 38 quid. For sure. Now I understand why that Gordon Ramsay gets so worked up. Shut the fucking place down and get on with your life and do something you may be good at, as you are rubbish in the restaurant business. K. Savage