Amazing food let down by poor execution. Hands down the worst service I've had in London in 6 years.
Having heard about this restaurant from friends, clubs (Nudge and JustOpened) and reviews I was really looking forward to my first visit to Kurobuta. The food was amazing - but the overall experience was let down by the sloppy service.
Having out of town guests I made a booking to take our friends out for a special dinner, party of 4. While the food garnered rave reviews - everyone left unhappy with the experience because of the service.
The #1 thing staff/management can do to make this a 5 star - is to increase the communication. Had someone spoken to us, communicated effectively this would have been a glowing 5 star review.
We were seated early on "Tight Ass Tuesday" and both the A la Carte menu and "Tight Ass" menu were explained to us. Our initial server Graham was charming, informative and personable and explained that as the waitstaff came on later, our server would change.
From there things went downhill...
We'd all ordered the "Tight Ass" menu which allowed us each to pick 3 items from the menu and then get the mochi iced dessert.
Our Japanese tapas styled dishes came at different times, which is not unexpected for a Japanese restaurant, but not explained to us. Adding to the confusion - not a single dish was given to a specific person, and no explanation of what was in the dish was given. Things were dropped on the table and main protein identified by multiple servers/expediters/staff to just get it there and run to the next table. We didn't know what was in anything but had a general idea who had ordered it.
This is where the lack of communication started.
Some of the dishes where we had ordered more than 1 were combined, yet others where we had ordered more than 1, had not been combined. So we'd ordered 2 orders of the yellow fin sashimi, received 2 plates, ordered 2 of the bbq pork belly received 2 plates, but everything came at different times. They were dropped into the center of the table so we self-allocated. So, then the scallops came, and since we'd ordered 2, one of the people who ordered it ate it. Then we waited... and waited... finally calling a server over and they said nope - we combined the plates you already got them all. We explained that no one had explained we had had 2 orders combined on one plate, in fact, no one said anything about the food when it landed, and asked if we could just have just 1 scallop, not even a full order so the other person who'd ordered could get a taste. They said they were unsure and would ask the kitchen. 20 minutes later they came with 2 scallops (a new order) on the house - which was great but, they should have either just explained they were combined in the first place or later, that a replacement was coming, as we already thought by that time it was a lost cause and were thinking about dessert.
I went to the restroom and the toilet seat was hanging off to the side of the toilet, rendering the toilet unusable. I notified staff.
The dessert order of mixed mochi was dropped on the table again with no explanation, but only 2 out of 4, and side by side. We waited a few minutes to see if the other 2 were coming. When it was clear they weren't we tried to flag multiple people to no avail. 10 -15 mins later, mochi melting, we finally got confirmation that yes indeed we were supposed to share these desserts, so we passed one of the half-melted mochis across the table for the other couple to enjoy.
Still early - only a little after 8 we spent 10 -15 flagging down the bill, then another 10-15 trying to pay it. However, they had added an extra £50 onto a 200 bill, so we then had to get the extra charges removed to get what we'd paid for.
I haven't even spoke about the food. Had the service not been so appalling I would happily regale you with the detailed descriptions of our seared beef, yellowfin sashimi and the amazing octopus donuts. Unfortunately, the dismal service soured the food for all 4 of us.
I'll certainly give Kurobuta another try. The menu and food make it worth a second try, but you could not drag me into the Marble Arch location ever again. It was embarrassing hosting guests there. Next time I'll try Chelsea - with hopefully a better experience. Or, just Deliveroo it and not pay the 15% service charge for terrible service. read more