An independent restaurant in Ealing has received the Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice award for the third year in a row after continued rave reviews.

The Moroccan and Lebanese restaurant Leila near Ealing Common was recognised for receiving consistently great tourist critique on the website.

To receive the Traveller's Choice award, a business must maintain an overall rating of at least four out of five stars, with approximately 10% of establishments on Tripadvisor receiving the award.

Lebanese owner Raef Hamze established Leila seven years ago and has been running the venue with an easy-going and friendly temperament, reflected in its welcoming atmosphere.

An Ealing resident since he was four years old, attending John Heron primary school and Kingston College, Hamze has an affinity with the area and his restaurant seems testament to his ties here.

He told Ealing Nub News: "I call Ealing my village. My wife teased me recently in the car saying that when I try to leave Ealing I always take a wrong turn, because I know I shouldn't be driving anywhere else!

"The atmosphere at the restaurant is important and a lot of our staff have been with us for a long time, it's really homely, like a family."

He added: "We've got quite a few regulars and people from our previous restaurant who have been with us for 10 years or so.

"A lot of customers know my kid's names and ages, and we know a lot of them through the generations having seen their kids grow up, which is nice.

"Since the lockdowns we've starting to see familiar faces, locals and regulars again which is quite strange because you don't realise during Covid how long it was, people say they haven't been here for two years and I think, wow, I thought they were here last week!"

As well as a restaurant, Leila also runs as a successful catering business providing food for house parties and weddings.

The business is the only Moroccan and one of only two Lebanese specific caterer providers for the whole of the Hilton UK, excluding their franchised branches.

They also work in partnership with Ealing and Gunnersbury town hall to cater for weddings in the area.

Hamze expressed his passion for catering and his hopes to expand this part of the business.

He said: "I love being part of someone's special day and our team getting thank you cards from brides and grooms, you do it for what you love."

During lockdown, they started delivering Moroccan afternoon tea sets which proved highly popular with people, mainly ordering for relatives on special occasions and to elderly neighbours.

Their menu has adapted in recent years to cater to an increasingly younger Ealing demographic and changing demands of the public, now featuring a bottomless prosecco brunch and extensive cocktail menu.