Buster Mantis — Restaurant in London

Buster Mantis pitch themselves as a West Indian Restaurant/Bar. I saw the photos of the food online and instantly became excited, at the portion sizes and the possibilities of future visits, as my family, friends and I live locally.

I went with a party of 9 today for Sunday lunch. To say I am disappointed is an understatement and the owner or manager is deluded, dismissive and rude. I know West Indian food and this is FAR FROM IT!!!!

The large Yorkshire pudding is from Iceland (which is nxt door on the High St) and arrived burnt. When I asked for another (Yorkshire's are usually golden) I was met with confusion and advised by the owner/manager that it wasn't burnt. I can assure anyone who reads this that I am not blind and I will upload the evidence. He brought another burnt Yorkshire, now I'm confused. I highlighted it looked the same and he still asked if I wanted it. Erm..

Anyway, the rock hard roast potatoes were also from Iceland (Aunt Bessies or similar), there were three on my plate. I ate one before realising it was a frozen roastie.

Next the ball of stuffing the size of a Ferror Roche which was also completely burnt. I had to scoop out the inside of it so I could taste the flavour. The veg consists of cabbage, carrot and green beans which are hidden under your chicken and overcooked. You literally get a spoonful of rice and peas added to your plate, that really shocked me. It was very bland (no seasoning) and no coconut cream????? Thats not West Indian rice and peas! Marco Pierre White springs to mind..

The size of the chicken was good, but it was extremely bland too. I had to ask for salt and pepper, but it didn't help. My granddaughter who is 8 and a good eater, kept complaining about the bland taste and requesting the salt and pepper.

The Mac and Cheese, bland and pointless, on the plus side the coleslaw was okay.

My daughter had the Escovietch fish and said it was mild...again, I am really shocked....

Where was the scotch bonnet, garlic, salt, pepper, all purpose, pimento...???? I could go on...I am highly offended that the owner claims Buster Mantis is a West Indian establishment and I will be advising anyone who will listen, to not waste their time or money. This place is not for anyone who wants the real FRESH taste of the Caribbean.

Go to Yah So in Thorton Heath, the food, menu options and music are so much better.

I also noticed that a lot of the 4 and 5 star reviews online are from 2018/19. May be the pandemic has affected this business, however they need to sort the menu out or stop claiming to be a West Indian eatery.

Before I forget, the options of soft drinks are Pineapple, Mango and Lychee, Diet Coke and Lemonade. What happened to good old fashioned Orange or Tropical juice?

So disappointed.......All you're really getting is a large burnt Yorkshire pudding and extremely...

So as soon as we walked in we were greeted and seated but unfortunately that was the only good customer service we got. We went there for a Sunday roast as we heard so much about this place and we’re so excited to try them. There was three of us, we made our orders and waited. Two of us ordered tap water which took ages to come for some reason, my friends stater and cocktail came before our waters came. When I made my order I asked for extra roast potatoes instead of Yorkshire pudding as something is Yorkshire’s makes my tongue swell up. When my food arrived it had a Yorkshire on it so I asked the waiter (different to the one who took out order) if she could swap it and she said it was fine. When she came back she said that the chef said that he won’t do it as the value for potatoes is more than Yorkshire puddings. Bearing in mind only 3 potatoes were on my plate. We ordered mac&cheese with our food which came later on in the meal. The mac&cheese was awful. I’m a Jamaican lady and I cook mac&cheese all the time. I honestly don’t know what that was. The rice and peas was soaked in gravy that was clearly bisto, that gravy was not home made which was very disappointing. We only got one tiny ball of stuffing. When I was eating my chicken I noticed that it hadn’t been cleaned properly. When I pointed it out to a member of staff she took my mac&cheese and walked off and never returned. My friend got the roast lamb which she said was very chewy and lacked flavour. She ate it but didn’t enjoy it one bit. For £19 I would expect better! When we were finally given the bill (by another member of staff) she had a bad attitude because we didn’t want to pay service fee. She asked me why we didn’t want to pay (cheeky) and when I told her the reason she said “you’re funny my girl”. Definitely wouldn’t go back here. Just a ghetto Restaurant with bad customers service. Don’t...

DISAPPOINTMENT! I had such high hopes. I have eaten at so many places. This is not a place to go to, maybe if you are someone who doesn't have an experienced tongue pallet, you might enjoy it.

My meal consisted of; Crispy Squid, Oxtail Croquettes, Saltfish fritters, Plantain and the infamous Roast; lamb My friend had the same including the poor macaroni and cheese and 2 rum cocktails

The crispy squid was the highlight of my whole meal, I did not travel down to Deptford for SQUID! The oxtail croquettes were nice. The fritters were more batter than saltfish. The sauce that it comes with was tasty, it saved the dishes. I had that sauce and the plantain with everything, it "complimented" and saved the starters.

And the reason why I came down to Buster Mantis; the roast, which was RECOMMENDED by the waitress! The Yorkshire pudding was burnt, the vegetables were hard, and the lamb was decent. But what made me sick, was the rice was SWIMMING in the dark gravy. I have NEVER seen something like that before in my life, I could not eat my food, and I could not even complain I was that mortified. There was more gravy than rice. what would possess you guys to present that to people? Visiting many restaurants and food stalls I critique the food and I speak to managers/owners but I was too embarrassed to even speak to the waiter. I went to the toilet and told my friend to tell them to remove it. I wish I took a video so others can truly see the mess.

I ordered such a big meal and left HUNGRY! I WOULD NEVER COME HERE AGAIN! I would have been more satisfied going to Mcdonald's and saving my money.

If you are the Black Caribbean, African or Asian do not come here. Black/White...