Arena Lounge UK — Restaurant in London

Great way to loose weight. Intrigued? Read on...

We visted Arena Louge at around 4.30pm on a Sunday. Upon entering there were circa 4 tables occupied and circa 20 vacant. Apart from the manager, there were 2 waitresses.

We waited at the bar to ask if seating is self service and took a seat. A few minutes later, the waitress leaves menus on our table without so much as a 'hello' or 'would you like to order '. I waited 5 minutes and approached the bar to order drinks. Our drinks sat on the bar for 5 minutes prior to my asking the waitress to bring them over.

You're getting a picture of what's unfolding here, but it gets tragically worse and you are advised to read on...

I call the same unprofessional waitress over to take our order for starters. Prior to giving my order,  I politely told her that I find her service poor as she did not greet us, did not take our order for drinks and has not asked if we would like to order any food. She seemed pretty unhappy with the feeback. I continue to explain that I am being nice with the feedback and hope her service improves.

Starters arrive (see video clip). Salt and Pepper veg looks like leftovers on a plate, kebabs are very well cook and flavoured, the lamb was awful and chewy, feeback which I gave the manager.

It would appear that the waitress had passed on my feedback abour her lack of service to the manager who was now our waiter.

More staff have now arrived for the evening shift. One of these arrivals is given the task of waiting our table.

Mains were ordered and the naan was sent back as it was a tad undercooked and doughy. But apart from this, main was actually very good, especially the butter chicken.

Overall, the food was acceptable, service was absolutely shambolic, unprofessional and not suitable for a dinning experience. I was surprised to see the chewy lamb on my receipt as well as a 12.5% service charge! I asked for the latter to be taken off, paid, gave the manager my feedback and left.

It doesn't end here...

90 minutes or so later, the stomach cramps started and lasted well into the night and the next day  During the course of the night, I'm almost certain to have lost weight (you get my drift).

Arena Lounge is a stark contrast to the last Indian restaurant I reviewed. Aweful dinning experience ending with an upset stomach.

Please read my other detailed reviews, particulary if you enjoy...

A very disappointing experience. There was a table of us and the starters were brought out with no side plates or cutlery. We had to ask twice for cutlery and plates as it wasn’t given to us for mains either. The service is shocking and if you ask another server who isn’t serving your table, they openly seem annoyed that they need to help and then openly had a go at the server who was meant to do just the bare minimum! This server was also behind the bar so it makes no sense why the set up is like this as she clearly couldn’t do both jobs and seemed new. Water came and the smell from the glasses…! The floor manager decided to make an appearance & we were shocked by being asked to pay before we sat down but the people before us paid on leaving. Although the floor manager said “he didn’t know us so how could he treat us differently”. You are missing the point. We are young family & there is such disorder and no organisation and to be honest it’s really sad but I don’t think they really wanted to fix the situation as I can see other reviews say the same. Yes the floor manager removed certain dishes as the food & service wasn’t the standards you would expect but it was his attitude too. I have been in customer service, still am in a certain way and it’s really sad that when people are genuinely struggling for money & want to treat their family are disregarded. It’s seems the business is more interested in making money rather than genuinely caring about the service and the food which comes out from the kitchen. Please don’t copy & paste the response you do for all bad reviews (no one had their feet on the chair).

My response to you was fair and it was an incredibly unorganised & you have 0 care for the customer! Not just based on other reviews by my own & yes you have copy & pasted several times the same response so why deny. You are incorrect in your response - We were told to sit whenever we pleased by the lady behind the bar including outside! The payment method - this was not mentioned to us once, we were told by the manager that we were wrong in what we saw and how can he treat us any differently if he didn’t know us! We asked can a mint leaf be removed and the lady behind the bar, asked the gentleman who made the drink and he said yes. Your only worry was the party I am afraid. I am not petty nor am I dishonest. All the best to...

Our first time visiting this restaurant. It did not disappoint!

Own parking onsite. Pretty outdoor dining huts (very impressed by this) Very clean restaurant & this is the first thing that you DO notice as you enter. Staff were smartly dressed, polite, and very attentive. Did not need to be called, made regular visits to table asking if anything was required or if we were happy. Great choice of menu. It wasn't limited. Food was really delicious. All flavours blended really well to each individual dish ordered. Nothing tasted the same as you may find in some restaurants... Top on our menu had to be methi Chicken & kurkure Bhindi....seriously amazing food 👌 Table was cleaned promptly in-between starters and main course. Ambience was great....light music...not too loud that you cannot hear yourself talk. Food was FRESH & piping hot. Top on my list has to be their utensils/bowls for serving. I love intricate designs...and unusual items for food display. They had really lovely brass bowls...drinking glasses and naan trays....this really stood out in their presentation. . . . We had: Mango Lassi Kurkure Bhindi Crispy corn Chicken tikka Mari Mogo (soooo good) Methi Chicken (another super winner) Chicken Tikka Masala Naan Lachha Paratha (another hit) . . . Definately...