The Halal Guys London

Yet another American restaurant chain has graced us with its presence in London, and this time I’m super excited because it’s one I’ve been wanting to try ever since I heard about them!

The Halal Guys was founded in 1990 by three friends – Mohammed, Abdelbaset and Ahmed, immigrants to the U.S. from Egypt. They initially launched as a hot dog cart in New York City, but fast forward almost 30 years and they have dozens of locations both in the U.S. but also around the world in locations including Indonesia, Philippines and South Korea. They have a mixture of restaurants and pop-up vans that sell food into the late hours of the night, and are notorious for having crazy queues.

We were invited to check out the food ahead of their Grand Launch on Saturday 30th March – where Adam Saleh will also be holding a Meet & Greet, so expect it to be super busy!

They’ve done a great job at securing a large-sized restaurant space with outdoor seating, which will hopefully make sure that you’re not queuing for too long! It’s pretty spacious inside, with a large serving counter opposite you once you enter, and seating dotted around the restaurant.

The restaurant is located a 3-5 min walk away from Leicester Square/Charing Cross Station.

The food

Their menu is simple (thank God!) – there’s 2 styles that you can choose to have your meal served as: (1) a platter, or (2) as a ‘sandwich’, better known in the U.K. as a wrap, LOL!

You then choose between 4 toppings: (1) Chicken, (2) Beef Gyro (3) a Combo of Chicken and Beef Gyro and (4) Falafel.

The staff said that the Combo Platter is their best seller in the U.S. and I can definitely see why! The platter comes in two sizes – £7.99 for small and £8.99 for regular. I’ll let you make your own mind up on whether you think that’s good value for money, but personally I’d definitely come back after tasting their food.

The Combo platter came with a generous serving of tasty Chicken & Beef Gyro, placed on top of a bowl of rice, lettuce, tomato and pitta bread. They also have extra add-on options such as Jalapenos, Olives, Green Peppers and Onions.

The meat had a good flavour to it, it’s shredded really thinly so you can really mix it up with the rice and salad.

I also tried the Falafel Platter, an option for the Vegetarian/Vegan diner (although if you’re a Vegan then don’t forget to ask for no White sauce – as it contains Egg). The Falafel’s were pretty standard, nothing amazing – but in terms of filling yourself up, I’d say the Combo Platter is best value for money.

Finally I tried their wrap, I mean Sandwich. £5.99 for a healthy sized wrap, definitely enough for a lunch time meal. I like the bread that they use – it tastes a lot like the Naan breads you can pick up from Halal Grocers, and will definitely be very filling for a quick grab-and-go meal.

Having tried a variety of both the styles of meal and the toppings – my recommendation aligns fully with what the staff told me, which was that ‘the Combo platter is our best seller!’. Healthy portion, tasty, filling and probably the best value for money in my opinion!

The Sauces

The sauces are special enough that they get their own sub-heading! Now I’d heard a lot about their infamous ‘white sauce’ from following their US stores on Instagram for a while now, so I had high expectations – and I must honestly say it lived up to them. The picture of my Platter above shows me having just a little serving of sauce – but this was so I could make sure I liked it. Believe me, after a few bites – the rest of my meal was swimming in the white sauce!

They also do a hot sauce, but unfortunately I can’t comment on it as to be completely honest with you, I was too scared to try it. But my friend who joined me (who loves spicy food) said that he found it super spicy. I even took some home and got my mum to try it (my mum LOVES spicy food) and even she couldn’t handle it. All i’ll say is – try at your own risk!

The Sides

They also do a variety of sides – £3 for a portion of fries (I wasn’t massively blown away by them, they looked and tasted like McCains Crinkle Cut fries). Also, Falafel (in a serving size of 2) for £1.50 and Baba Ghanoush and Hummus for £3 each.

The Drinks

As with most new fast food places in London, they have the funky drinks machines which have like 100+ flavoured options in them – I never know which one to go for because there’s just too many options, but this time I went for Grape Fanta and it’s definitely now one of my top 3! A cup for the refill drink costs £3.75.

The Desserts

Finally, for something sweet to end your meal on they sell Baklava for £3 and Cookies for £1.25. They didn’t have any cookies on the day, but their Baklava was amazing. I need to find out who their supplier is because I want to buy in bulk – as good as (if not better than) the stuff you get in Turkey!

The Service

A special mention has to go to the staff. Now of course, given it was a launch event, I’m sure the staff were instructed to be extra-friendly. But I must comment that the service was outstanding. From my visit to Miami a few years back, the difference in service between the U.K. and the U.S. is like night and day (sorry to any UK restaurant workers reading this). Super friendly, genuinely strike up a conversation with you while serving you, and don’t make a face when you ask them to keep putting put more sauce in your bag!

Would I recommend making a visit? HELL YEAH!

If (like me) you heard about Halal Guys many years back and have been anticipating getting a chance to try their food, then your time has officially come!

I’d recommend getting a regular sized combo platter (£8.99), a portion of fries (£3) and a refill drink (£3.75) – which in total will come to a little over £15, and I’m sure will be a meal you’ll really enjoy!

If you do go visit, I’d love to know what you thought of the food! Drop me a message on Instagram or hello@halalfooddiary.com.