Yalla Yalla Amsterdam Restaurant in Schinkelbuurt

Very disappointing experience. The restaurant was not clean, and the plates and forks were dirty. The food was served cold and tasted like it had been taken straight from the freezer. The pricing was also concerning. According to the menu, our total should have been €46, but we were charged €55 — €9 more than the amount shown on the menu. We were told this was because of a bottle of water, but the extra charge was not clearly explained beforehand. Overall, the hygiene, food quality, and unexpected extra charge were unacceptable. I would not recommend this restaurant. Unfortunately, we had a very bad and disappointing experience. The restaurant was not clean, and the plates and forks were dirty. The food was served cold and the quality was as if it had been kept in the freezer. The bill was also very strange. According to the menu, our total should have been €46, but we ended up paying €55 — €9 more than the amount shown on the menu. This extra charge was for a bottle of water that was even open and unsealed and it was not clear that it was bottled mineral water. This charge was also not clearly communicated to us before the water was served. Overall, we had a very bad experience in terms of cleanliness, food quality and additional and non-transparent charges and I do not recommend this restaurant.

Had a bad experience, i asked if they have kabali palaw and they said yes but with seekh kebab meat. I said oke .they served me with 5 small peices of raw meat with boiled rice with carrrots trust me there was no taste of kabali palaw doesnt worth of visiting , for 25 euros . Not recomended

I think the atmosphere is really good.

Delicious food, nice atmosphere.

Amazing experience lovely food and service

The worst food is everything old, raw meat and leftover rice.

Very bad experience. The food buffet was cold and half empty. No one cared to refill the empty dishes. This was incredibly expensive for the price we paid.

Top restaurant, super good. Delicious food and super clean.

Very bad service. The order was written wrong by the waiter who did not speak the language properly. After waiting for more than an hour, the kebab was only blackened on the meat and the rest of the meat was completely raw and uncooked. I do not recommend you to waste your money.

The food was cold and the meat was raw. I don't recommend anyone go there. The price for two orders is €70.

Parisa is a wonderful chef with a lot of experience. We thoroughly enjoyed her delicious Kurdish dishes and the warm hospitality. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and prepared with a lot of love. Highly recommended! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a wonderful experience! Parisa cooks with passion, and you can taste it in every dish. The Kurdish cuisine was delicious, authentic, and full of flavor. Her hospitality made the evening complete. Highly recommended! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The chef was very nice, the waiter too, nice atmosphere and super good food.

I really love the food and in the weekends there are live music and dancers !!

They are very friendly and their food is delicious 😇

First of all if you advertise your restaurant serves afghan you should have afghan food in there, not just for the look of it. We wanted to order 3 qabuli but said only 1 is left then that came with a boiled(test-less, dry) lampshank with boiled keshmesh and zardak on top of white Iranian rice. Ordered tea but they couldn’t make it cuz apparently it was too hot to make tea then told us they will make the tea after making us order cold drink however the tea never came at the end. The other two meal came with missing chicken shish so asked for it and been charged for €13 each while that being our original order. Overall not recommended at all specially for afghans.

Great food, really hospital and kind people! Thank you for your service Zrivan!!

Very very satisfied with food service everything. Really appreciate hard work. 🥰

This was my first time that I tray Afghanis food and it was really delicious I really loved it

Rating: 2.5/5 (non-buffet) over priced, meat was slightly smelly and not too soft. overall, food was alright, but you can get better food with this price range elsewhere. But I like the vibe of the restaurant, and hope the buffet is worthy.

Employees are nice, but quiet late to answer request (we had to ask 3 times to have the bill and about 30 minutes to have it) The food doesn’t look like the picture you can find in internet (see photos below) and it’s quiet picky about the meat quantity… more rice than anything. At the end of the dinner they asked if we wanted dessert, we said yes and 15 minutes after they came back saying « no desserts for tonight »…. we were quiet 🤡 like this

Came from London with friends and had a fantastic meal at Halla Halla. Special thanks to Hayat (Manizha) jaan for her warm hospitality and excellent service. She made our visit extra enjoyable. Highly recommended!

Edit: you will see my review below, and how it has changed. I’m so incredibly disappointed, this was one of my favorite restaurants in the city and it’s literally one of the worst now. Idk if they lost the chef or what happened.. I went there and took family and was so excited to eat there again, we got stale cold bread, I asked for chicken curry they gave me some weird chicken with French fries on top. The pomegranate mocktail was old and flat no bubbles (i used to love this mocktail). We ordered a bread that never arrived. I will never go there again i cannot believe this Review from 2024: This is literally one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in Amsterdam. We ordered several things - the garlic naan, muamarra naan, eggplant starter (my favorite wow), grilled meats, lamb shank, chicken kadai (also a favorite) and more. Loved the pomegranate mocktail also. This is a hidden gem. Parking is super easy in the street with plenty of space, prices for 5 people and tonsss of food was 150€ so very reasonable. There’s no wait time at all and the service was excellent. Vondelpark is around the corner. I’m definitely coming back.

I definitely do not recommend this place. However, if you'd like to try burnt kebab and pay more than the prices shown in the menu photos on Google Maps, then feel free to give it a tr

A deeply disappointing experience from start to finish. We arrived at opening time (17:30) and were told the buffet wouldn't start until 18:00, so we waited. At 18:00 we asked about the food and were told "just 15 minutes." Nothing was ready until 19:00. Had we been given an honest estimate, we would not have wasted an hour and a half of our evening. The buffet is advertised at 26€ per person, we were charged 32€ per person with no explanation for the difference. Drinks are not included, which is fine, but paying 3€ for a glass of apple juice and 3€ for a glass of orange juice poured from a tetra pak carton is frankly unacceptable. We expected at least natural juice at that price. The big bottle of water was also "not available". To top it off, our table was wobbly and the floor tiles were cracked and uneven underfoot. For a place that overcharges on every front, the least you'd expect is a functional, comfortable table to sit at. Uncomfortable, overpriced, and poorly managed. Not recommended.

Food was decent, really tender and tasty meats. There were more variety of rice than meats. Quite limited buffet options. Ended up being quite oily and salty so you can't really take too much in. Bread was dry and stale. Price was misleading. It said €26 but we ended up paying about €32 and an additional €5 for a drink. Small difference but just annoying to not know beforehand (no clear distinction between lunch and dinner prices). Overall good food.

A fairly small and seemingly simple buffet, but truly every dish tastes heavenly. The staff welcomes you as if you were a guest at their home. This restaurant is definitely worth a visit.

A restaurant with a great oriental atmosphere and impeccable food.

Great food. We enjoyed the buffet and were only dissapointed that we couldn't eat more :-) I highly recommend this place!

Had lunch in the form of lamb shark, or lamb leg in Swedish Typical Kabuli Palau dish. Tasty. Can be recommended.

A very good new chef, very friendly

The best food with lots of choices. Tasty and top service.

The restaurant was dirty, stank, and it really wasn't worth going there. A friendly lady should have been working there. The food is tasteless and disgustingly filthy.🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 In response to your rude and biased comment, I must say the following... In all comments, both in English and Dutch, the dissatisfaction and rudeness of the person in charge at the restaurant were mentioned. From the poor quality of the food to the rude and inappropriate behavior, false advertising, and even the price of the food, the coldness of the food, and the lack of food in the buffet. Everything was described in detail. As someone who is aware of my personal rights, I will certainly take legal action and inform people so that they are not misled and do not trust a restaurant that is empty on Sundays and during dinner. And be very careful with the comments left by previous guests. I consider your shameless behavior and shameless insults as a sign of your character and lack of culture. 👇 In all reviews, both in English and Dutch, the dissatisfaction and rudeness of the person in charge at the restaurant were mentioned. From the poor quality of the food to the rude and inappropriate behavior, false advertising, and even the price of the food, the coldness of the food, and the lack of food in the buffet. Everything was described in detail. As someone who is aware of my personal rights, I will certainly take legal action and inform people so that they are not misled and do not trust a restaurant that is empty on Sundays and during dinner. And be very careful with the reviews left by previous guests. I consider your shameless behavior and shameless insults as a sign of your character and lack of culture.

Delicious lamb shank, the meat was so juicy and well cooked. Top service

Very dirty and smelly food, an extremely unhygienic restaurant environment, staff with unpleasant and disgusting behavior. My daughter vomited immediately after eating and we took her to the hospital; she felt very sick. My wife and I also felt sick; we vomited and had severe diarrhea. I absolutely do not recommend this restaurant. Please be honest with everyone who asks about it.🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮

Very disgusting dishes🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

Had a delicious meal at Yalla Yalla

The food was very tasty, highly recommended!

The food is always delicious and the service is truly excellent. We really appreciate it, 👌thank you!

Your food is always delicious and everything was great. The service was excellent and we really appreciate you. Preparing the delicious food takes some time. Thank you.😊

Everything was perfect. the service was best we really appreciate it. In addition the delicious food takes a little bit time.👌

Family visited,food was good and service as well good price in amsterdam

Firstly I hate to leave a review for a bad dinner, but I felt if I don't I will be even more annoyed. Never have I been so disappointed. Took my brother and daughter out for a meal, had wanted to try this place for ages. Met firstly with an abundance of dirty tables. So thought ok, staff issues, were used to it in Amsterdam. Ordered a mixture of starters and a main to share. If thr hummus is bad then I don't know anymore. 😕 no taste, bad texture. The "patatas bravas" which my kid ordered were just cold patat. I asked for the "sauce" (?) Well she returned and thrown 3 sachets of mayonaise on thr table lol. I had asked for flatbread for the humus, a few bits of stale cut up bread came back. The food was trying to be warm but failed on all accounts was mostly cold. The only good thing was a cold glass of white wine surprisingly enough. My daughter ordered pomegranate juice. This took 30 mins and arrived at the end.. it wss strawberry juice. When I asked for the bill, I wanted to get out there so quickly, the waitress argued wjth me and my daughter that she had ordered strawberry even though that wasn't true.. but I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore. She just laughed. I paid. We left really disappointed. All tables were still filthy with food left by previous customers that weren't even there upon arrival , so who knows how long they'd been left there. Really bad atmosphere, really not just a bad day, but it also smelt mouldy, and we would never go back waste of time and money. We went for a burger and ice cream to cheer ourselves up afterwards.

Terrible service terrible food . Not recommended at all .

The quality was really good and delicious. It's a shame there was no contact to order more. We wanted more drinks and ice cream for dessert, but it took too long before someone came. Despite that, highly recommended for delicious food.

No vegetarian main dish. The boss was very unfriendly.

Service is good the girl Irina was new yet tried her best to accommodate and take our order with the house sepecuality. The only things is they over charged me 60eu. She suggested 1set of BBQ Tafel and 1 set of Rice table is good for 4 adults and 1 child, she billed me x2. When we left we realised about this. My husband called them and they said they will transfered to my bank back. In deed they transfered after 5days.

Delicious food, super nice people, and you don't have to wait, and very warm, cozy, beautiful interior!

People, do not go to this restaurant; the food served there as all-you-can-eat isn't even Afghan cuisine. They are ruining the name of Afghan cuisine. Because Afghan cuisine isn't like that. They don't even deserve 1 star.

Tried the buffet at Yalla Yalla Amsterdam with my friend today — really solid experience. €26 per person for great variety. The chicken dishes were the highlight, and the rice + salads were on point. Bonus: unlimited Afghani tea, which was a perfect finish. No photos because I was too busy eating 😅 Rating: 10/10.

I've been to many all-you-can-eat restaurants, but this one was by far the worst. We received a terrible welcome, no tables were available because they were all still cluttered up—it was almost as if we were expected to clear them ourselves. Once seated, after a long wait, we were given zero cutlery, only a plate to serve ourselves from the buffet, and even then, we had to get up to ask. There were no glasses, forks, knives, or napkins. An empty table with only two plates in the end (and there were two of us). We were told that tap water was extra but tea was free (??????). And the buffet had very little choice and was practically empty. The dishes were quite cold, and the pasta was literally inedible because it was completely undercooked; it was crispy (??). And I'm usually a very picky eater. We ate the same thing until we were sick of it because that was all there was. It was a disaster. Don't trust the reviews! TikTok videos, because between what's on social media and reality it's a whole different world, to the point where I wondered if we ate in the right restaurant. I personally would have preferred to spend 10 euros on a small tray of fries than eat there, plus they're ripping people off with their prices, starvation was probably the best choice that night.

Not good, terrible service (understaffed), very, very little choice. Too expensive for the service and product offered. Water isn't free????????? I went back to France for a real all-you-can-eat buffet, yum, what a delight! I was traumatized by this one 😰 Oh yes, and we had to find our own cutlery 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I went with my family; the quality was incredibly poor: the rice was raw, the meat stank, the potatoes were hard, and there was very little food too. Anyone who knows real Afghan food knows they shouldn't come here. I am ashamed of my people; it was a waste of my money. I have terrible stomach pain after eating, and so does my family; I have to go to the doctor tomorrow.

The food here was super tasty and there was a cozy atmosphere. I ate Afghan food for the first time and had a very positive experience. The tableware did look a bit greasy, but otherwise, it is highly recommended.

Very disappointing. Absolutely not worth the money.

Small restaurant for this many guests, it was so busy to take food. But the food was very nice especially u go on time. Service a bit slow but no matter we don’t complain.

Terrible!!! Went for iftar at dinnertime, such a long line, and when it was finally our turn, there was no meat or chicken to be seen. Filled my stomach with bowls of rice and salad, and you pay more than 65 for 2 people for that; a waste and never again.

I do not recognize the recent bad reviews. I have been here often with good experiences. Today I even had telephone contact outside of opening hours. As far as I am concerned, it is highly recommended for lovers of Afghan cuisine in an open buffet concept.

Food doesn’t taste authentic, service was very poor. No water was served for iftar. Alot of meat items were empty in the buffet. It was houseful even then they only put only ONE skewer of chicken tikka in the buffet every 10-15 minutes. No marination was done to meat, even the kabuli palao was without meat, you are asked to pay 14 euros extra to get meat with kabuli palao. Plates for deserts were also gone after 20 minutes and they didn’t put anymore. Totally, buffet is not worth. For 26 euros excluding drinks with such poor food service. Absolutely NO from me. Don’t waste your money visiting them.

Very disappointing experience. The environment was BAD and the owner was extremely rude, the meat was undercooked and cold and when the management was asked abt it the they showed attitude. The portion sizes were also very small and they restock seldomly so people have to wait for 30+ minutes !! I DO NOT RECOMMEND!!

The owner was pretty rude and ruined the vibe of the dinner saying that too much food was being eaten when it’s all you can eat. Food was rarely restocked and staff were in on it. Terrible scam like tactics. Do not go here. Rude and poor quality.

Bad service, ittle portions, owner very rude

Yalla Yalla, a place which markets itself as an “all you can eat” but it’s a lie. FOOD IS EMPTY, OPTIONS ARE LITTLE (see pictures). The owner is rude and shamelessly called us a DOG. Food is restocked little, this is their tactic so you give up and stop eating. The owner cites a time limit of 1.5hr, but this is not mentioned anywhere (MISLEADING CUSTOMERS!). They also falsely accused us of mistreating one of their employees, in a ruse to distract and justify their harassment of us. However, no evidence exists! The only thing that we did was eat too much, and frankly at an ‘all you can eat restaurant’, what else are you supposed to do. SHAME!

Owner called us a "DOG"! We sat down at around 18:40, and within an hour or so the owner came to tell us we ate too much! He said we "ate like dogs". Very rude! He got very physically close to us as we were peacefully eating. He was trying to intimidate us by raising his voice and body language. He insulted us continuously and told us to refrain from leaving a review even. We ate as much as we wanted (like advertised) within the time limit (which wasn't even mentioned). Horrible experience. Got insulted and intimidated.

We had reserved a table for two at Yalla Yalla a day in advance, specifically to be able to eat at sunset during Ramadan. When I made the reservation by phone, I specifically asked if credit card payment was possible, and they confirmed it. Upon arrival, we indicated we had a reservation. I wanted to pay for the buffet for two with my credit card, but then suddenly discovered that credit cards weren't accepted at all. The employee directed me to a nearby ATM. We therefore left our table to withdraw some cash and arrived back well within our reservation time. When we returned, however, another woman was already at our table. We pointed this out to the employee, who showed us to another table. This was annoying, but we remained calm and accepted. Not even ten minutes later, the same employee returned to tell us we had to move again. This was the second time we'd had to switch tables. We didn't make a fuss about it again, as we hadn't started eating yet. Just as the sun was setting and we could finally start eating, we served ourselves two plates. While we were still eating, a man from the restaurant came to our table and asked us to move again. This would be the third time. I tried to explain that we had already been moved twice, but before I could finish my sentence, I was told to "be understanding" because other people wanted to eat. I found this peculiar, as we were the ones who had reserved a table and had already had to move several times because our place was always given to others. While we were actually eating, he even tried to seat other people at our table and tried to intimidate us by demanding, in his frustration, that we get up and move. At that point, I had had enough. We were interrupted several times during our meal, and it felt like our reservation and presence were completely disrespected. I finally packed my things, put on my shoes, and left. This is simply unacceptable. I was expected to show understanding, but the restaurant itself showed absolutely no understanding of our situation. A reservation is supposed to mean something. Unfortunately, in this case, that wasn't the case. We will NEVER be back here again.

Great buffet, we went wıth all famıly. Amazıng food for thıs prıce in Amsterdam. We wıll defınetly don't cook anymore,. Thank u for the servıce.

Most delicious food sooo far:) Definitely recommend it

Great service, great food and great team, I recommend this place. 🙏

What a disgraceful service! Normally, a buffet should have more plates, but with this one, you only get one plate and have to help yourself all the time, even with desserts. When I asked for an extra plate, I got a strange answer: (we don't have anyone who can do the dishes)

This is the first time I've heard of this strange rule, where you can only use one plate at the buffet, and unfortunately, the service is bad.

I found this restaurant absolutely terrible. The food was cold, and the chicken wings still had feathers on them. The mocktail was simply orange juice and cost a whopping six euros. I paid three euros for a spa, and the wait was incredibly long. Very disappointing.

Amazing food, great service, and such a cozy atmosphere. Highly recommend! Full experience is on my TikTok:Sonya_Sheremi — don’t miss it 😉

It's bad and not worth the money paid.

We had a reservation, my friend called to book the night before, when we went they told us that we havent made any reservations for us. Regardless they found a table after few minutes for us, but the plates on it were really dirty, there were a family sitting there before us, and the guy who served us refused to change them whatsoever, the other worker helped but what was really wild, we were fasting and asked for water they said they dont have anymore. The food was not worth it as well, such a bad experience will not be coming back.

The food is incredible: meatballs, rice, potatoes, pasta… everyday, home-style cooking, all you can eat, and for only €26 per person. You don't see places like this in Amsterdam.

A very disappointing experience. The food was extremely bad, and the meat was served raw and clearly undercooked. On top of that, the service was rude and unprofessional. I would not recommend this restaurant at all. ⸻ A very disappointing experience. The food was very bad, and the meat was served raw and clearly undercooked. Furthermore, the service was unfriendly and unprofessional. I would absolutely not recommend this restaurant.

Absolutely disgusting. But the lady was pretty good.

Worst experience ever. The meat that was served to us was undercooked from the inside and clearly not safe to eat. When we informed the chef about the issue, his response was: “No, there’s nothing wrong, it’s all fine,” and he laughed in English instead of apologizing or trying to fix the problem. The attitude was extremely unprofessional and disrespectful, with no concern for customer safety or satisfaction. Very disappointing experience — I will never come back and do not recommend this place to anyone.

Very disappointed. The food was extremely oily and overly salty. I ordered beans with lamb korma and the taste was really bad — only oil and salt. The rice was the only decent part. I used to love this place, but the quality seems different lately, possibly due to a change in the chef :”(

We had a wonderful meal and enjoyed the service! The service was super friendly and the atmosphere was great. Definitely recommended!

Excellent top fast service and top quality dinner.

The food was delicious and the staff were very friendly. The prices were also good. I highly recommend it, and I would definitely come again.

This was absolutely delicious!! Not expensive at all, the service was super nice and welcoming!

We have visited with family and we have eaten good and enough food for the first time in a restaurant. For this price this buffet in Amsterdam is unbelievable. Thank u team yalla yalla and we come again and again,. And the taste is just better than the other Afghan restaurant that we went. Top qualiteit and taste

Great food and great service for very reasonable all you can eat buffet. The food was authentic and freshly made, I highly recommend trying it out!

Halal restaurant means no alcohol. Do you also cook with wine?

food tasty, clean and more than fair with the price 10/10

That one star is way too high. The food was just dry rice, like in Somali prisons. The service was absolutely ridiculous; the all-you-can-eat menu contained only dry rice with a lump of tomato sauce from World War II. This restaurant literally consists of jelly jelly because you have to get out of here. Their name isn't a lie. Plus, the woman forced us to pay cash or transfer a Tikkie. Plus, the food was super expensive. I'll never eat here again.

A beautiful place with delicious food for the buffet 🙏🏻 I recommend it for Arabs. Great restaurant for a buffet at €23. They offer Halal food.

The food was fine, but some things, like the meatballs, were way too salty. There weren't many refills either. The service was a bit weak.

The dishes are limited, food was cold and reception and we had to wait a long time for food.

Wow thuis place is amazing with this food and price. Its our second time and Our family Will be Here always and we take our party Here as well. We suggest of to every body in the netherland and for tourists. Thank u for all

Update after restaurant owners' response: Showing up after the first time was satisfaction, the third time was to give a small business the benefit of doubt after you had taken stuff off the menu and we thought maybe it was just a bad day. Thank you for confirming that you purposefully don't put out enough meat. No one asked you to add skewers ever second. Even if you were to add one every minute, it would take a room of 20 people 20 minutes to all get one. And even that never happened. Now if you think that is a good deal for 20 euros, you should reconsider. We frequent the Foodmarket which is 100% halal and includes drinks for about 45 euros. Meats of your choice off the grill every 5 minutes for dozens of people. Not to mention that they never run out of food. I never wanted to compare your small business to a big one, but since you have mentioned I would be better of visiting one, I thought I'd give you a clear example just so you know somewhere in the world a better deal definitely exists. And this is just one of the examples. Thank you for responding the way you did. Now everyone know how you reply to critisicm. ----------------------------------------- This was the 3rd time we went. The first time was great. Every time thereafter, they had taken something off two options of the already small buffet. The meat was being added two skewers at a time. People were seriously thinking about leaving and have dinner elsewhere. Not to mention the people who were seated near the buffet station and clearing the meat as soon as it arrived. At one instance they even asked the chef to just hand their table the skewers, which he refused to do. I feel like they aren't able to deal with a bigger crowd (and it was not even crowded) compared to the first time. So for us, this place won't be a spot in the near future, especially not during ramadan.

Terrible service, food isn't refilled, and people serve themselves with their own forks and spoons. First and last time I've been here!

Eerlijk te zi‌jn deze plek s de beste ter nerderland. on a very busy weekend we are served and eaten so good. eveythig perfecly cooked and sufficient. We have to think twice before we write a review to a restaurant. seriously 23 euro is nothing to complain. we as a group of 20 person on a busy day we are all satisfy. definitly suggest and come back

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic experience! If you're looking for authentic Afghan flavors in Amsterdam, Yalla Yalla is definitely the place to go. The food is fresh, the spices are perfectly balanced, and the portions are generous. The staff is incredibly friendly and makes you feel right at home. The atmosphere is warm and relaxed, with pleasant music playing in the background. The Kabuli pilaf and mantu were especially amazing! The prices are fair for the quality you get. I will definitely be back! 🌿✨

Best location for tourists best food with a friendly stuff and the price is very reasonable specially for tourists wanna try Afghan cuisine . 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

It was delicious we will definitely come back inshallah!!

Simply amazing! The moment you walk in, it truly feels like you’re visiting family !! warm, authentic, and welcoming. The buffet is simple, yet every dish tastes homemade and full of flavor. I’m really glad I discovered this hidden gem, and I’m sure I’ll be coming back often! Everything was fresh, delicious, and prepared with care. For only around 23€ per person, it’s honestly a great deal considering the variety and quality of the food. You can taste that it’s made with love, not just cooked for the sake of serving. The people working there are authentic and genuine. At first, they might seem a bit reserved, but once you talk to them, you realize how kind, warm, and helpful they actually are !! it adds to the whole experience. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for good food, fair prices, and that comforting feeling of homemade cooking. I’ll definitely be back soon!

Delicious food! Definitely recommended.