Raavi Kebab

Pretty authentic Pakistani food! The lamb curry and mixed veg curry were excellent! Very good sweet and mango lassi!

Been coming here for 20 years, but it will be a while before I return.
Looks like the owner has retired and some kids have taken over running the place.
It’s halal which I respect but you used to be allowed to bring your own alcohol which is no longer the case, how times change. I don’t drink myself but it’s disappointing bringing people here having warned them they don’t sell alcohol only to be told they can’t drink their own either.
No matter, that wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest were it not for the change that has happened at some point.
The bigger problem is that the food isn’t fresh anymore. They seem to prepare it in advance and run out of things. You can’t choose how spicy your dish is anymore. The naan is more like toast than bread.
What went wrong? How could this place have gone downhill so quickly? It’s so sad!
My heart wants to give 3 starts out of loyalty but my head says it only deserves 1, so the updated review is 2 stars as a compromise.

This place is terrible and not sure how it rated 4 stars. We used to live in London and love the options for great Indian and Pakistani food. We are in town for a visit and trusted Unilocal to help us find a good curry at 10 PM. I was so looking forward to trying Raavi and thoroughly disappointed in the portions, in not getting our order right, in serving cold naan and being cheap about the amount of chicken in the chicken chana. We moved to Miami where Indian food is not plentiful in any way and I never thought that a place like Raavi would under-​perform Miami, but our Copper Chimney restaurant in Sunny Isles is way superior.
There are far better in London. Don’t waste your time or money.

Definitely one of London’s best kebabs. The sheekh kebab, lamb tikka and chicken tikka are totally authentic and fabulous. The naan was hot, freshly baked and very soft. The haleem and nihari are quite oily but that’s how they are supposed to be.
The place is tiny accepts cash only.

I like this whole in the wall restaurant — it doesn’t look like much from the outside (nor inside, for that matter), but the food is very good. Sometimes we’re the only ones dining in but by the time we leave the place is packed! Definitely a good find and one for locals in the know.

Went there on a weekday late around 9pm ish. Service was great food was good. If your not indian then in comparison to other indian restaurants
this is great. I had a meat Thalia which offered excellent value for around 10. This was more than enough to fill you up.
It doesn’t compare to indian places in south hall or north west London but definitely better than the average restaurant or other places in brick lane.
Would I go again? Yes as it’s one of the few half decent indian places in central London

Sehr gutes und authentisches indisches/​pakistanisches Lokal. Meine indischen Mitbewohner haben mich auf dieses Restaurant aufmerksam gemacht.
Sehr gut im Geschmack. Die Preise sind — insbesondere für Londoner Verhältnisse — günstig. Die Einrichtung ist sehr einfach; nichts fürs Auge bzw. ein Date zu zweit ;-)
Achtung: Alkoholika werden nicht ausgeschenkt und dürfen auch nicht mitgenommen werden.
Für ein gutes
Indisches Abendessen empfehlenswert.

Oh, Raavi Kebab. When people ask me why I want to move back to London you’re always at the top of my list.
As previous reviews have mentioned, the restaurant itself is nothing to look at. But the staff is friendly and the food… sweet mother of Mary, the FOOD! Some of my most painful memories are of waiting for their chicken korma, saag paneer, raita, sweet lassi, kebabs, fresh naan, and other savoury treats to arrive at my table. It’s an unbearable wait, one that nearly turns me into a curry-​hogging monster when my meal arrives. Oh, you wanted some, too, dining companions? I’m sorry BUT IT’S ALREADY IN MY MOUTH OM NOM NOM.
Ahem.
I also need to emphasize what great ownership this place has. One of my friends (in a Raavi-​enduced food coma) left her umbrella and a bag of groceries at the restaurant one day. The staff put her groceries in the fridge, to wait for her return! They knew her as a regular but I’d like to think they’d be as sweet to all their customers.

Just like Indiana Jones when he picked the right goblet, we chose well when we decided to try out the most modest and least assuming south Asian restaurant in the street. The meat at Raavi Kebab is very tasty and very affordable too, although be warned — there is no booze on the menu. We ordered the mixed grill starter, a fiery Kebab Mesala and the Balti Gosht. The waiter urged us to try the Nihari next time. There will be many next times.

It is difficult to see, as it’s hidden and there is an adjacent restaurant with a similar name (Raavi Shankar’s) but that other restaurant is definitely more swanky than this Pakistani Kebab location.
I ordered the selection of meat kebabs including Chicken, Ground Lamb, and Lamb chunks. Delicious flavor and nicely cooked on real charcoal. The Vegetarian rice is tasty as well, but it does have a little kick from the heat of the peppers-​so order one of the savory or sweet yogurt drinks to help cool the fire.
My dining companion ordered the sampler plate that included kebab, curry, and lentils with the vegetarian rice.
The bathroom is teeny and down the narrow and enclosed space so probably not a date place like Davide mentioned, so handicapped access is not really very good. The restaurant is friendly and can be warm with the open fires going but serves really good, reliable food for snacking or after getting a pint at one of the crowded pubs along the block.
Conveniently located between Euston Underground Tube or a few blocks North of the Euston Square Station along Gower Street (and minutes from the British Museum.)

This is a somewhat shabby looking place, you surely don’t want to go there if you’re out on a date, but from the very moment when you look inside the shop window and see the guy cooking tempting skewers on the live embers you foretaste what’s to come.
I was brought there by a friend whose indian acquaintances recommended the place. We were three, and ordered a huge amount of food without realizing what we were doing: ended up eating mountains of delicious meat (especially the chicken and the lamb), served with pretty spicy sauces and delicious naan bread.
Too bad that, being a muslim place, no alcohol is served (or allowed, probably): happily, their sweet lassi is absolutely FANTASTIC, and leaves nothing to regret.
Ended up paying £15pp, but we ate an awful lot: one can surely be satisfied by spending ¹⁰⁄₁₂ pounds. 3.5 for the unsightly look.