Arabesque Restaurant

Recommended by a friend who is a local. Wonderful surprise!

A group of us sat in lovely cosy corner in the back of this brightly lit restaurant after afternoon theatre. I had the vegetarian mezze for one. They were kind enough to swap the stuffed vine leaf for squid which were the most edible part of the meal. The Tahbulah was almost inedible and more like seaweed. The Humus was sour. As I felt somewhat unsatisfied I bought a separate portion of Soujok (beef sausages) which was definitly not fresh or cooked in old oil. It was rancid. Other guests had plates of grill which they found mediocre.
I have eaten better middle eastern style food from greasy takeaways in London that are totally memorable by comparison, a Syrian take-away restaurant at the bottom of my street for instance.
Arabesque need to stick to fresh food with flavor. So much promise but I have eaten far, far better at half the price. Selling food that is not freshly prepared is unforgivable. Will not be visiting again which is such a shame because I go to the nearby theatre quite a lot.

The menu was very limited as they had no lamb available. I have enjoyed meze before at this restaurant but this time had a main meal which was just about adequate. We had booked a table for 9.15 which we thought was reasonable for Friday night and was a post theatre meal. However, we felt very uncomfortable as the staff were literally cleaning up around us and taking out rubbish, so felt the need to rush our meal. If the restaurant IS closing at ten I feel that they should not make post 9pm bookings.

We had an early booking and it was surprisingly quiet, however it filled up by the time we left. All good and not expensive. Parking relatively easy.

Great food, great value, especially for the area. Would definitely recommend!

Good food, good prices, pleasant environment, near the theatre!

Excellent and friendly service. Given lots of time to order and enjoy our meal. We had a great get together with friends in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

We arrived late at Arabesque, having informed them of traffic problems, and were seated immediately. There appeared to be only one waitress, and the restaurant was full. She was charming and efficient but there was no way she could cope with all the diners, most of whom were scheduled to go to the theatre next door. The food was so slow in arriving, that by the time we got it, we had about 7 minutes to eat.
The food was nice but we really couldn't enjoy it.
We were allowed to come back after the theatre to pay, and were given doggy bags and gratis baklava which was welcome.
I would recommend this restaurant, but only on the proviso that they hired more staff.

Good lunch and pre theatre dining. Tasty, varied dishes. Charming staff. Good value. Avoid the decaf cappuccino which is instant. They may do good Lebanese or Turkish coffee and of course tea.

Food, service, atmosphere excellent. Can't wait to return to try another dish.

Well cooked food, good service, pleasant atmosphere. NO LOUD MUSAC, hooray.

Highly recommended. Service was genuine, food was excellent (lots of it) and the prices were very fair, especially for London!

Really good variety of Middle Eastern dishes that combine for great meal. Excellent service.

Service and food were both great. Small family run restaurant which made it more special.

Saturday lunch pre theatre. Food so fresh & authentic. House wines good. Great value (& large portions!).

Friendly atmosphere, great service, huge portions and a good choice of dishes. A grilled spring chicken was overly salted but tasty. Divine nutty and not too sweet baklava-like pastries delivered before the bill.

As usual a very good meal and courteous and efficient service. Excellent value

Our first visit last Monday won't be our last. Delicious food, excellent service and very good prices - we had a pre-theatre meal, with grilled chicken cubes, various dips and salads and bread, followed by coffee which was served with small baklava. Service was very good and efficient, given that our waitress seemed to be the only one serving. Will definitely go back next time we are going to Hampstead Theatre.

Booked on line for 8 of us.
Must say, a real gem. The hostess was extremely attentive and helpful. We decided to get the large Mezze for all of us. Absolutely great food, really tasty and such good value for money.
Highly recommended!

We had a pre theatre meal and it was lovely; prompt, courteous service, food was delicious & location perfect.

A pre-theatre meal. Service very friendly. Food took a while to come and was ok. It's small, and certainly not quiet, but if a restaurant is quiet it usually means it isn't popular.

not much choice around Hampstead Theatre.We tried Arabesque out.Food was fine and a bit different.Good pre-theatre option.

Great Mediterranean food near our Marriott hotel by Swiss Cottage.

A handy place for a quick bite to eat near the Hampstead theatre , decent reasonably priced food

We booked a table here before watching a play at Hampstead Theatre. There was just one lady at the front of the house, but she was super efficient. When we told her we had a play to attend, she ensured that we were served quickly. Portions are huge and tasty. I would have definitely packed the leftovers, if we hadn't been going to the theater. The complimentary baklava at the end was fantastic.

We had been recommended to Arabesque for a pre-theatre meal and enjoyed a very tasty well cooked meal. A charming waitress looked after us and nothing was too much bother - excellent service.

Delicious food, vegetarian or meat-eater, lot of variety, options for big meals or smaller snacks, good value, nice friendly atmosphere, cosy, interesting decor. Have to go down winding stairs to loos which bit difficult.

Excellent food & lovely waitress. A large glass of good house red each, lamb superb. I didn't want rice or frites so was offered griddled veg instead. My friend had a side of aubergine for her lamb, I had harissa & yoghout. Pitta auto. Perfect pre theatre dinner. Or any day dinner! A pleasure & great value.

Good food at good prices, good and efficient service.

Delicious food, cute and cosy atmosphere, incredibly close to Hampstead theatre and Swiss Cottage tube, attentive service. Highly recommend

Food was fair and the mezze options pr a good pre-theatre bite.

House wine both red and white really not at all great - would give it a miss.

Few mins walk from the Hampstead Theatre so really useful for a pre theatre supper. Friendly, relaxed, helpful place. Smallish downstairs and cosy. More room upstairs. Interesting Lebanese food, with lots of choice, and we enjoyed it. We were there for a family get together before seeing a play, and we had a lovely time. Bill very reasonable for what we had.

Good meal but initial service very poor - had to go downstairs to order our meal.
Very tasty food with the exception of a very rubbery haloumi.

Excellent service, and tasty food (try the lentil soup!), with a nice range of options. Hospitable staff. Quiet -- good for a conversation.

Food was good, but there was only one person waiting on the whole restaurant, so it took 45 minutes after arriving before getting any food or drinks. The waitress didn't write our order down, and inevitably missed something, but figured it would take too long to get it by that point.

The first time I have ever walked out of a restaurant. Feeling the need to do so after waiting 25 minutes for our drinks/food order still not to be taken. The restaurant only had one member of staff working who was the host, order taker, barperson and waitress in a busy pre-theatre slot on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was near full!
We had chosen a table on the mezzanine level which was seemingly a huge mistake as the waitress was so busy attending tables on the ground floor she couldn't get up to attend to two tables on the mezzanine.

Put on more staff and you will have happier customers.

Unfortunately very low on flavour. Heavy batter on the squid and the prawn starter was in a gloopy tomato sauce of indeterminate flavour. Minced lamp kebab was greasy and flavourless.

Excellent service and food was delicious. It was a pre theatre dinner and we didn't feel rushed. Would recommend highly.

Went for the pre-Theatre menu. It was different to that on the WEB site but there was plenty of choice and the food was very good and delivered promptly. Very good choice of wine too including lots of Lebanese as well as more usual types.

A few minutes walk from Hampstead Theatre so excellent for pre-theatre dining. Delicious Middle Eastern food, good menu and friendly staff. Very good value.