805 Restaurants — Restaurant in London

See, this is why I'd prefer to go to another restaurant than a Nigerian restaurant. This is my second time visiting the restaurant and if my friend had not insisted, i wouldnt have dared it again. Let me dive in to the issues we faced.

-First off, parking took us about 10 mins We came in, had to wait over 15mins standing at the entrance, there was no one to greet or sit us. It was obvious that they were under staffed; for a restaurant that is usually jam-packed (both times I've been here), why can't the management hire more people? Seriously, how much will this cost you? we sat down by 21:40pm and kept on calling the staff to take our order, took another 10mins before someone answered us. They ignored and was walking past us. our order was taken exactly 21:56pm; something we quickly noticed was that the guys on the next table were already verbalising their disappointment with the delay getting their food. They had approached the service desk, complaining, numerous times- i regret not taking this as a warning and walking away.

Nonetheless, We were promised maximum 30mins- this didn't make sense to me unless they were going to the market to buy the stuff and cook the food, however, we were hungry and my friend insisted on having Nigerian food, so I was willing to wait. Lo and behold, by 23.10pm (remember we ordered 21.56pm) we were still asking for the status of the food. Several other tables were complaining bitterly. Worse thing is, we were stuck as most other restaurants would have closed their kitchen by 11pm, and it didn't much sense to have waited till this point and leave. By 23.20pm 2 of my friends gave up and walked out of the restaurant as they were furious. I went to the "supervisor" for the umpteenth time...I was starving and angry!!!! At least give me food that I can even take home since my other friends had left. Out of 6 dishes we ordered only 3 came by 23.37pm. This is unacceptable in all universes. Its completely absurd. What a shame. to add salt to injury, they gave me the wrong order 🙄 the food seemed rushed as it was not as tasty as my first visit. Plus my friend said his egusi soup tasted old- so my question is, if you are just microwaving the soup, what's with the 2 hours delay?

The thing is, I think as Nigerians, we are so used to maltreatment that we'd hardly push back or demand for better service, whether its from govt or service-producers. So, tomorrow if you walk in this restaurant you would still see it jam-packed irrespective of their terrible service and subpar meals. There's absolutely no reason why this place is as successful as it is or has lasted as long as it is (esp if its always been this way). After we are the first to cry that witches or wizards are after u.TERRIBLE! Thanks for reminding me once again that it's not worth it to support Nigerian businesses. Gosh...

What a very disappointing visit! My dear friend had booked this restaurant over a month ago to celebrate her recent doctorate with 30 family and friends. We got there well within time to find other people sat at our tables, not good you’ll agree! We brought this promptly to the attention of the manager who went off for 10 minutes to “sort it out” We were all then herded outside the restaurant to walk to another restaurant a few doors away! What on earth was going on you might ask? So we were seated and no word of a lie! It took 2 1/2 hours for the staff to take our orders and put food on the table! I was sat at our food came out staggered so got one plate and another arrived 40 mins later, air con was on right over our head and despite us asking for it to be turned off, they didn’t which meant our food got cold very quickly and whilst awaiting for the rest of the meal we’d ordered. The service at this place was diabolical! Staff did not have a handle on their service at all, some of the guests left before their food arrived as they had to wait so long! We complained to the manager who quite frankly could not comprehend why we were upset! He was a rude man! He eventually suggested he reduce the bill which was near to a grand! By 20 pounds! We refused this and he came back with the offer of reducing bill to £70! By this time we had just about enough of the absolute chaos of this place! Outside the restaurant we bumped into the owner! Emanuel James who appeared to listen attentively to our woes and he agreed to address this with my dear friend who had footed this bill! He said he was going into his restaurant to talk to herI He also offered to have us all come back to eat free of charge! I was much encouraged and went home believing that this man would offer my friend a hearty apology and some real compensation only to find out this morning he hadn’t bothered even to speak to her!! Appalling! I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy!

Update 4th Aug 2018:

Well just to update you all, as you can see I got a response from the “owner” who attempts to justify the appalling service we got by alleging we turned up late???? We were early actually!!! But hey, he asked that I contact him to discuss further, have just done that and asked very politely to speak to you, your staff just hung up on me ????? What type of a shambles organisation are you running here? Note people, it seems this attempt at placating Unsatisfied customers by asking us to get in touch, is just a ruse to make others believe they care!!! I would advise in the first instance that the owner starts employing staff who have people skills.... at...

The service we got there yesterday was horrible. It was our first visit and it will be our last visit. I convinced my partner to have my birthday meal at 805 Reading, but it turned out to be a disaster. Firstly, when we walked into the restaurant, we weren't welcomed. The two waitresses just stood there and were looking at us. we made our way towards them and one of them asked us if we wanted a seat. Of course, that's why we came into the restaurant. She brought the menus. We made our choices. I wanted the Monika Croacker, while my partner wanted the full rotisserie chicken. There was so much fuss about the chicken by the waitresses. We were told there was no full chicken, so we could have the half chicken. We said we wanted the full chicken, or they could give us two halves to make it a full chicken at the price of the full chicken. She went to confirm from the chef, who said that it was alright to give us two half chicken for the price of one full chicken. Then after 10 minutes, they had a meeting with the chef, and the second waitress came to us to tell us that they have the full chicken but the price have now changed from £10 to £15 because they haven't updated their menu. I told her that the menu said £10 and that's what we were going to pay. SO why did the other waitress tell us that there wasn't any full chicken only half chicken. I told my partner that we have to go because the service was poor. They were undecided and clueless about the services they provide. She later said that it was ok, that we can have our meal at the prices on the menu. When we finished eating, the waitress just came to the table and took the plates, not asking if it was ok to take the plates. I asked her for a bowl of water to wash my hands after eating the fish and she told me that they are only allowed to give the bowls of water to customers who are eating eba or pounded yam. I was amazed. After eating the monika fish at their restaurant, they won't give me a bowl of water to wash my hands. She said that I had to go to the bathroom to wash my hands, but if I insisted, she can get me a bowl. When it was time for the bill, they included a compulsory tip on the bill. Tips are optional and not compulsory. The food was good but the...