Shaka Zulu (The Stables, Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8AH) This venue is beautiful. The food is very good and exotic; however, the customer service is terrible. The staff lack customer serice, restaurant and any bartending training. Their organization, response to customer requests and knowledge of the restaurant is awful. The security is rude and ineffective as there was a huge fight that was out of control on the dance floor for about 8 mins. We waited over an hour to be seated for dinner. There were no procedures to deal with a back log of customers. Drinks took extreme long, about 15 mins on average to make and we received the wrong drinks on our first order. There did not seem to be a clear chain of command to escalate issues or complaints. Due to the long wait and poor service, we were promised complimentary champagne this took 20 mins to be delivered and when it was it was sparkling wine. The food was good. However, the dining experience was marred by party revellers from the other side of the floor coming over to the restaurant and walking around, placing their empty glasses on the table while we were eating and in two separate instances, revellers vomiting under tables in the restaurant area. When we complained, the response from the staff was to hand one of the persons a large napkin and then he continue with his duties. In addition, there was a huge fight on the dance floor. The bouncers took about 8 minutes before they showed up to clear the fight and trouble makers. This took a further 15mins to resolve and the music was turned off. They then started rudely ushering people out of the venue before closing time. They did this in the worst, most impolite and forceful fashion! One group refused to leave because they had just bought drinks from the bar that was still open. The bouncers were rude, loud and threatening to the group. There was a nervous stand off between the two groups as the patrons would not back down and leave the drinks that they had bought. It was not closing time for the venue as advertised and the…
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Link to this reviewDecember 2010 |