Albania - Alba Restaurant, NW6

Restaurant: Alba

Location: 5 Malvern Road, Maida Vale, NW6

Date of visit: 6 February 2010

Time of visit: 9pm

Steve and Elle ate: A selection of meat including chicken, mini kebabs, steaklets and spicy sausages, served with a variety of vegetables including cabbage, tomato, mushrooms and onions topped with a light cream cheese dressing. All served with warm bread.

We continued our A to Z of London restaurants with a visit to Alba (formerly Lisi) in Maida Vale. This being our second attempt at eating there (we failed to book the previous week and were unable to get a table due to a private party) we knew exactly how to get there and where to park. The restaurant has the great advantage of having on-street parking right outside that is free after 7pm.

As we walked into the restaurant we noticed how quiet it was and we ended up with the whole of the downstairs area to ourselves. The dining area was clean and tidy and, although it has more of a 'cafe' feel to it than a restaurant, some authentic music gave it an Albanian feel. Although due to the lack of people in the restaurant, there was a lack ot atmosphere overall.

Shortly after we were seated, a pleasent gentleman came up with a notepad and nodded at us to take our order. This took us by surprised as we had not seen a menu and were not too knowledgable on what to order in an Albanian restuarant. I asked for a menu and he promptly produced one. However he only showed us a small specialities section on the back of the menu and explained what the items were. It consisted of about five or six different meat dishes and he recommended we go for the one particular dish, designed for two people, which included a selection of all the meats from the other dishes. Our confusion at not getting a full menu soon diminished as our meat-loving eyes lit up at the prospect of a huge plate of all our favourite meats. Although vegetarians beware - we are really not sure what, if any, meals would have been available for non-meat eaters.

Whilst we waited for the meal Steve drank a Budwieser and Elle a can of Diet Coke. Both were fine and not too badly priced for a restaurant although we did notice that both had "Part of a multipack - Not to be sold seperately" disclaimer written on them!
The food came after a reasonable wait of around twenty minutes and did not dissapoint. The portion was huge and posed an interesting challenge. The selection of meat and vegetables was fantastic, all cooked perfectly and the bread was a perfect accompainment to the meal. The 'steak pieces' did appear to be 'reformed' rather than cuts but we had no problems with this and still wondered how they could afford to pile up so much meat for us (the meal was approximately £17 without drinks).

Eating so much meat is thirsty work and more Diet Coke and Bud was drafted in. However we noticed that after the food was served we were left well alone and I had to go upstairs to fetch more drinks myself. The staff were very pleasent which made the trek upstairs worth it. After the meat-eating challenge of our lives (some of which was left due to us reaching capacity!) we went upstairs to pay. We had found out earlier that cards were not accepted, or at least cash was preferred (the actual situation wasn't made particularly clear) so we paid with cash.
The total for the meal and drinks was appoximately £25. We were pleased to see no service charge was added however we tipped 10-15% anyway (very much worth it due to the amount of meat on-hand). Very much fed, watered and satisfied, we headed back to the car.

Overall, it was a postive experience and the food made up for any confusion with the menus and slight lack of service. I do feel they are probably much more geared at large parties than small orders but we would recommend a visit for the meat eaters out there. Although veggies should probably call and check their requirements can be catered for in advance .

Good: Fantastic food, great value for money, good location in Maida Vale with free on-street parking (off peak times) and service charge left to our discretion

Bad: Full menu not offered, lacking a little on the service side, credit & debit cards not accepted (or at least particularly welcomed)

Cost of meal: Approx £17 (excluding drinks)

Afghanistan - Mesa Restaurant, HA3

Restaurant: Masa
Location: 24-26 Headstone Drive, Harrow & Wealdstone, HA3 5QH
Date of visit: 10 October 2009
Time of visit: 8.30pm
Steve and Elle ate: Couples Special - 1 skewer of chicken wings, 2 skewers of lamb kobeda, 1 chicken karahi, 1 challow rice, plain naan, salad

We kicked off the A to Z of London international restaurants with Masa, a small Afghan restaurant not too far from the High Street in Harrow & Wealdstone. As we walked in, it became immediately clear that it was popular - the place was rammed, and lively. In fact, Steve's first thought was "they don't have any tables", despite us booking a table for two through Top Table. With no one at the door to greet us, we ventured a little further into the restaurant, and managed to catch the attention of a waitress behind the counter who was also dealing with other customers. Steve mouthed, and gestured, across the restaurant that we had booked a table for two. She acknowledged that, and pointed to a table in the far corner.

We took a seat, and wait for menus. Masa has no alcoholic drinks licence, so we plonked a bottle of our own-bought wine on the table. We took a few moments to look around the room, and it was clear that the waitress (yes, singular...at least for the first 10 minutes or so) was really struggling under the pressure of the customer requests (we reckon there was around 35 people in the restaurant - so she was being spread extremely thin).

Fifteen minutes had passed, and we were still waiting for a menu, and getting a little bored of looking at an unopened bottle of Pinot Grigo (there's a lot to be said for screw-capped bottles). Elle approached the counter and asked if we could have some menus, which finally came a couple of minutes later. At this point, we also asked if we could have a bottle opener.

The menu was well laid out and informative, if not a little battered. The food is very decently priced, with the majority of the mains between £6 and £8. Having waited the time we had to be seen to, we couldn't help notice the note on the menu that a 12% service charge would automatically be added to the bill.

Another fifteen minutes passed and no one had taken our order. When I spotted another table being seen to, after arriving only ten minutes before, it was time to approach the counter again. The waitress apologised and finally came to take our order. We took the opportunity, again, to ask for a bottle opener (I think Steve may have been shaking by this point - we should've at least put the wine out of sight in the mean time). A few minutes later, in a rush, the waitress dropped a corkscrew onto our table, leaving us to open it ourselves.

The food arrived half an hour later (which didn't seem anywhere near as long now that the wine was open). All of the food arrived at once. Well, at least we thought it did. Halfway through eating, Steve realised that the naan bread hadn't arrived. Again, we caught the attention of a waiter (which was a little easier now that the restaurant had emptied a little), and he apologised and promptly brought the bread to the table.

So, to the food. The chicken wings and lamb kobeda came out on a large plate with the salad, with another large plate of rice, and a bowl of chicken karahi. The karahi portion was a little on the small side, but the portion of rice, along the with chicken and lamb was quite the opposite. The chicken wings, cooked skewered on an open grill, were plump with great slightly spicy seasoning. The lamb kobeda was similarly impressive, similar to a lamb kofte kebab in style and taste. The chicken karahi was very good, with large succulent chunks of chicken breast in a light brown sauce. The sauce was fairly spicy but seemed to lack much in the way of vegetables. This wasn't to the detriment of the meal overall though. The rice was very well cooked, not too dry, with yellow grains added for presentation.

The food certainly made up for the slightly drawn out events preceeding it. Nonetheless, we were never asked if we wanted anything to drink, including water, during the meal and were not offered a desert menu afterwards, despite seeing menus on other tables and the restaurant being somewhat quieter.

And, as was the way, we had to approach the counter ourselves to pay the bill. Although we spotted it early on, the fact that the card machine wasn't working might have been an inconvenience to others at this stage. And, indeed, a service charge was automatically added to the bill, although it worked out as 10% rather than 12%.

Overall, it wasn't an unpleasant experience by any means, but the delays were frustrating to an extent. But it was clear to see the reasons behind it, and we could sympathise with the waiting staff as they rushed around assisting the customers without even a pause for breath from the time we entered the restaurant to the time we left. And the food was of a high quality. Add a couple more waiting staff to the roster, and there would have been very few negative points to the visit.

Next month, we try out Albanian cuisine.

Good: High quality food, good value for money, lively authentic atmosphere
Bad: Understaffed leading to slow service, non-discretional service charge

Cost of meal: £22 (excluding wine)