Nela Restaurant - (Near Lambeth, South East)

5 /5 Des Crehan: Is this the best restaurant in London? Excellent customer experience starts as you enter and ends as you leave. Amazing friendly interactive service, beautiful decor, chilled atmosphere, fantastic food. Hats off to kitchen who made the whole experience complete. If you haven’t been get it in your list!!

4 /5 S J: Great addition to this neighbourhood as the improvements are rapidly happening. Located just around the corner of the Whiteley which houses the new Six Senses London. The space is vast as you walk in and feels quite open but a bit on the colder and industrial side with the open kitchen busily at work as you walk in. You can see they keep the kitchen immaculately and well orchestrated. We started with three of their signature cocktails which were all excellent and one in particular stood out for creativity (see photos). Unfortunately they didn’t have the wine we wanted but we found a decent alternative. We ordered a variety of dishes to sample the menu to get a sense of the restaurant and each delivered with a unique experience. We especially enjoyed the courgette flower pizza with a very simple but tasty combination of fresh courgettes and the lightest crust. The rest of the small dishes were delicious but a slight disappointment with the pedron peppers. Their braised short ribs were tender and seasoned well, the two skewers we ordered, lamb belly and boneless chicken wings were nice but the chicken tasted almost gamey. The three of us shared two desserts and both were exceptionally delicious and their signature tiramisu was extraordinarily creative and highly recommend them. It was quite nice our waitress cleaned the table in between courses. The music would’ve been better if it was a bit lower as it was difficult to hear the waitstaff explaining the dishes/cocktails. We all agreed to return to try more dishes and cocktails as it was a great experience overall.

5 /5 Ishan Issadeen: I visited for dinner on a Saturday. The redeveloped Whiteleys complex is almost unrecognisable versus before, with Nela taking up a large space at one end of the building. I had mixed feelings on the venue. It’s massive and the decor somehow got lost in the cavernous space, but on the plus side it was great to get a table with plenty of space and seating was comfortable. Between the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 kids) we ordered the lavash bread (free), frena bread, fior di latte dip, scallop, beef tartare with langoustine, crispy mushrooms, potato Mille Feuille, sea bream, chicken wings, short rib and the ribeye. For dessert we tried the basque cheesecake, tiramisu and the chocolate cake. It sounds like a lot of food - and it was - but portion sizes are generally quite small and we did get through it all. The food was really good. Favourites were the frena bread, crispy mushrooms (kids loved this), chicken wings and the short rib. The steak was solid too. Desserts lagged the rest of the meal, both the cheesecake and tiramisu were just “ok”, but the chocolate cake (more like a fondant) was more enjoyable. Service was quite friendly and attentive. We also enjoyed some of their cocktails / mocktails for which the selection was extensive. The bill for our meal came to £421 of which £96 was spent on drinks. Fairly punchy especially for a place in Queensway which is known for good value eateries. But with a comfortable venue, high quality food and efficient service, we left satisfied and I wouldn’t hesitate to return in future.

5 /5 nour h: Nela is a new restaurant that offers excellent service, delicious food, and beautiful décor. The mains we ordered : boneless chicken and lobster were both absolutely delicious. And please don’t forget to order the tiramisu!!! Highly recommend it for date night or groups

5 /5 El. P.: We had a nice dinner at Nala. Very nice welcome; we were asked if we wanted to leave our coats in the cloakroom and then if we preferred to seat at the table immediately or if we wanted to have something at the bar… absolute great service! The plates and cutleries were replaced after every course and the table always kept clean and the glasses full. Food was very pleasant too and a nice selection of cocktails and drinks. I would definitely recommend.