Bonnington Cafe and Community Centre — Restaurant in London

I have been to this establishment twice and both times have been shocked at the overall experience. You might ask why I went twice if it was so bad the first time: to that I can only answer that the first time was so bad, it was unbelievable. I assumed it must have been a freak event. Why else would I go for an evening of south asian food and be served soggy pasta with mozzarella, yorkshire puddings and a Quorn dinosaur? So, a year on, I visited again and naively hoped for better things.

It was not better. Two (potentially teenage) girls appeared to be running the joint until mum appeared an hour in. There was no service all evening: we showed ourselves to a table, assembled our own cutlery and had to ask for the bill because no one came over. There was only one option on the menu, and when we asked if there was anything else we were told they were still working on the menu!!!

The main was the size of a starter (6 dumplings) and the side salad was completely unseasoned and undressed chopped tomatoes, cucumber and olives. In the absence of any flavour we asked for salt and pepper: there was none, so they popped to tesco to buy some.

For a plate of salad and 6 dumplings we paid £33, which included a 3.00 service charge!

The café environment itself could be charming but needs a good clean. I had ants running up and down my arm on occasion, and there were waterstains and huge spiderwebs above my head. (On that note, if you're missing David Attenborough shows the spider would more than make up for the food. I watched it spin nauseatingly around a fly and ingest the whole thing).

Bonnington could be an amazing space and fantastic asset to the local community and economy. I have seen impressive looking food from other reviewers and can't help feeling that whatever nights I go the chefs are out to get me. I think the ability of the chefs seriously needs to be reviewed to ensure consistency, and the people serving customers could do with some basic training. Then if the nature displays could be removed from the café environs, Bonnington would be approaching a place i'd like to visit.

I didn't complain and paid my bill because the enterprise is charitable, but will not be returning in a...

I really loved the food. I had tofu steaks and they were a great example of a veganised pub classic.

I advise reserving; I managed to slip in, but almost all the tables were booked for either 6:30 or 8:30, or both. You can book parties in here, of up to about 8 people, I'd say (I'm not sure any more tables will fit side by side in the small room).

It's a cute place, with a deli selling alcohol across the road (and fresh veg, interestingly, plus all manner of other odd bits), and a community garden space with swings nearby.

The centre itself does a number of events for cheap from yoga to piano lessons. It's a great little corner of town. The cafe has leaflets for all manner of intriguing London events you might not otherwise have heard of. Makes for interesting reading.

This cafe is attached to a community centre, so there are certain differences to a regular establishment:

-The menu changes day by day. To know what's on offer, you have to go to the website, find the contact details of the chef on rota for the night, and ask them. Or, show up and take your chances. I did and I'm not disappointed.

-They are short staffed. Only one waiter, rushed off her feet. The food came quickly but it took a while to settle up. To be honest, if I'd had exact change, I would have just put it on the table and left, since I had another engagement I was late for. Best to go when you're not doing anything else, then you can just relax and it doesn't matter.

-There's no bill or receipt. They don't take cards. A main is about £8. I'd advise exact change or just enough that the remainder is an acceptable surplus.

-The toilet is up three flights of stairs, past what looks like someone's abandoned living room.

-There's a definite community atmosphere, some of the people there were clearly either...

This place used to be great, but it's really gone downhill based on my recent visits.

Be aware that the cooks change by night and they each use their own waiting staff which means it can be very chaotic as they don't really know what they're doing.

They also seem to over-book so as the evening wears on, you'll see a queue of people forming at the door, snaking into the street. This means they try to rush you to finish your meal, so they can seat the next lot of diners which isn't great if you're expecting a relaxing evening. And it's particularly annoying as the waiters are too busy to be attentive so you have to wait for ages to catch their eye to bring over glasses and cutlery etc and yet you're under pressure to eat and leave ASAP.

The food is just OK. Obviously, the cost of everything has gone up in the last few years, but I do think that the prices for what they offer is getting a bit out of kilter. The dishes will often be things like hummus and vegetable stews - quite basic student fare really and the portions are now pretty small.If you have three courses, and add on their BYOB cover charge, then you'll pay around £25-£30 per person. Not cheap.There are certainly other places around now that provide similar if not better value for money.

In theory, this is one of those places you go to if you like non-corporate, artsy venues. Somewhere that's not swish but you don't mind because it's all part of the 'boho experience'. But in reality, the level of service and disorganisation is so poor you can't overlook any shortcomings (like so-so food) and the actual overall 'experience' ends up being...