I was in town visiting (for work) and was staying at the Town Hall Hotel around the corner and, even though I really enjoy the Bethnal Green area, the eating options are pretty limited. When I discovered a Brazilian steak house in the area I had to give it a shot. I saw that they did the eat as much as you like or churrascaria style of eating, where you have a hot and cold buffet of various side salads and starches and then the meats are brought to the tables on skewers. I don't eat red meat too often, but when I get the urge, a churrascaria is a great way of curing that urge. I tried to go there on the Sunday evening first. It clearly says that they serve the churrascaria until 10:30. But when I had arrived (at 9pm), there was no churrascaria. The owner/manager (?) told me that it wasn't busy so they closed down early. He persisted in trying to sell me to stay and have alla carte but I told him, several times, that wasn't what I wanted and came here for. So, I returned this evening. Again, I arrived at approx 8:55pm. No chrrascaria or buffet. But the manager told me that they still serve it but it's not out. They would bring a selection of side dishes to the table and then bring out the meats. So I decided to stay. I NEEDED meat really badly. There were about 10 people in the restaurant and you'd think there were 100. Although, in all fairness there were only two members of staff. The manager, who took orders and served drinks, and a server who brought out the food. Some side dishes arrived after about 20 mins. The problems start here. Because I'm not picking my food, random stuff is appearing that I don't want. Like a plate of "fries" and other stuff that just gets wasted. I didn't order this stuff and I don't want it. So, for the next 15 minutes I ate plain rice waiting for the meat. First skewers came out... pork sausages. I don't eat pork. Next came out BBQ chicken wings. These were frozen/defrosted chicken wings that tasted like they had been sitting around for a couple of hours and then reheated and slathered in cold BBQ sauce. They were rubbery and cold. I didn't eat them. Then the "meat" came out. Over the course of the next half hour a tried the rump steak, beef ribs and something else. All of them had been over cooked. They tasted like they had been previously cooked and then reheated. They were dry, salty, very fatty, and chewy. I spent a lot of time trying to eat this meat and instead being jealous of Charlie Chaplin eating his shoe in "The Kid." I would kill for a shoe!! I have never left a restaurant hungry before, but I left this one after trying three meats, feeling ill and depressed... and paid GBP17.90 for the pleasure. Also, on top of everything else, they only take cash and have to hand write reciepts. I went back to the hotel and had a protein shake!
In conclusion:
I could make an excuse for them and say that it wasn't busy so they closed the buffet and then reheated food from earlier instead of cooking up all new fresh food. But that's not good enough. I paid the same as the people getting the fresh stuff at 6pm. I've eaten Brazilian Charrascaria literally all over the world and this was by far the worst. Even the restaurant in Pasadena, CA that left me and my lady suffering from food poisoning was better quality than this place. Again, I'll say that, possibly, if you come at 6pm the quality would/might be better. Maybe if you order all carte instead of the churrascaria you might get better luck. Who knows. I can only judge on my personal experience.
1. Slow service.
2. Bad food.
3. Overpriced.
Go here only if:
1. You are not a discerning meat eater and consider a Big Mac to be gourmet.
2. You have plenty of time on your hands.
3. You don't wear dentures.
A positive experience to take away from this, is that, when I went there the first night and couldn't get the food advertised, I left and found the Al-Amin curry house around the corner. That place is awesome. Review to come very soon.
Blessings. read more