Cafe Tamra Northcote Road — Restaurant in London

Overpriced and portions have become ridiculously small. Pancakes were disappointing too.

Edit (to reply to the owner’s comment below): I wouldn’t normally give 1 as I want to support small businesses in my area but put yourself in my shoes: had brunch for one and ended up with a £40 bill - still hungry and had only bite of the pancakes. No one asked for feedback - if your male waiter had asked me, I may have not commented on here. He didn’t. I understand the need to increase prices and don’t mind it but there should be a limit to portion control - today’s case was extreme (I paid for extra chicken but had tiny pieces added, only one piece of bread and even the piece of butter was tiny!). I didn’t expect the American style pancakes to be so thick and dry. On this one, maybe I should have asked before ordering so I’m partly accountable but the male waiter today saw that I only had one bite and didn’t bother to ask if everything was ok. He seemed pretty unbothered and wasn’t engaging at all hence why I ended up not saying anything and paying anyway. He should have not charged me for it. So I don’t think rating my experience today as 1 was unfair. I have come in the past and really enjoyed it but things have cleared changed drastically (the couple next to me told your lovely female waitress that they felt the portion was too small too and were surprised so I’m not...

Have been to Tamra before and was okay - however I am writing this review as the £2 cover charge really bothered me last time we went. Firstly, before we could sat down a lady approached us with a card reader and demanded payment before even considering showing us to our seats! It felt like a shakedown!! Secondly, Cafe Tamra make a bigger deal out of the Northcote Road closure tax than Nasa do out of the Moon landing!! I get that they have to get to pay a charge - but THEY get to more than double the size of their restaurant as a result! Think about it - its like Pizza Express charging you extra to cover their rent bill - you would kind of expect that to be included within the meal price! Thirdly, given how busy it is i cant believe they are not profiting on the £4 cover charge for a table of four - when the road closure is to benefit them in the first place! And then, when the bill comes - they add on a service charge as well!!! So as well as paying their rent, you are also paying for their staff!! What exactly are Tamra paying for?!? When you factor in that they are not cheap anyway (more expensive than Brickwood and Breakfast Club) it just feels very greedy and leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Two stars as food okay (no better though) but maybe try places less greedy if you can and hopefully Tamra might see the error...

I really wanted to like this place but sadly it didn't meet up to expectations.

The staff were all very polite to me but service was incredibly slow and a majority of people were having to come inside to pay just to get the attention to be able to pay. They were obviously rushed off their feet so I do feel for them as lots of people were complaining.

In terms of the good I ordered the breakfast quesadilla and a side of hash browns. The hash browns were expensive for the number that their were (in pic) however tasty and nicely seasoned. The quesadilla was nice in flavour and the chorizo really yummy but the fried egg inside was overcooked and more like a well done scrambled egg and the avocado was almost non existent. The contents were not well spead out so one quarter barely had any contents. The tomato salsa on the top hover was a really tasty addition and I was grateful to get lots of it.

They are charging a £2 per table charge road closure fee which feels a bit steep especially if you're on your own - it could end up being 20% of your bill.

I'd heard such great things and it's obviously very popular bit sadly until these things are sorted I would...