Eastern Fire — Restaurant in London

My family and I had a nightmare experience at this place from an extremely aggressive man.

I went to this restaurant with husband and little children. Upon entering, there were some 'covid rules' on the door which I paused to read. When I went in to sit, I asked the owner if food was halal. I had checked online prior to coming but wanted to make sure that I hadn't got the wrong restaurant as it was our first time on that street. The owner immediately started shouting at me saying, "you checked it was halal at the door, there is a sign there so why are you asking me." I tried telling him politely I was reading the covid rules and missed the sign but he didnt listen and just proceeded to tell us to get out of his restaurant and that he doesn't want us there. He ushered us off our seats and opened the door to kick us out of the restaurant all whilst speaking rudely. However, humiliating a family and kicking them out of his restaurant wasn't enough. He then followed us out shouting after us. When my husband questioned why he was so angry and triggered over a very normal question, he became even more rude. As my husband has an accent, he started shouting things like, "Dont you know how to read? You illiterate people shouldn't be in UK" (which I found quite ironic coming from a non English, brown immigrant). He kept shouting racist rude comments to leave the country etc after us as we walked back to our car. All this on the street, not even in his restaurant. Not only my 2 and 3 year old babies were scared but also my teenage daughter.

All I can say is I think the owner is paranoid as this was the single most bizarre behaviour I have ever seen. I was so shocked and shaken as he was going crazy over just the simple question..."Is this restaurant halal?" Those 4 words are literally all I uttered VERY politely.

Honestly, as vindictive and malevolent as he came across, I wouldn't trust eating from such a place anyway.

Restaurants are supposed to have good service where you can relax for a day out with family but after this encounter, I was put off from going to another restaurant for months. Only now leaving the review as I felt people with children should be aware of unstable people, especially those who have no concern even for children. We have been to so many restaurants over the years and I have never encountered...

Went for dinner with OH and kids. As soon as we stepped through the door, we were greeted by the friendly staff who carefully explained the menu, showing us pictures too. They advised on the heat level of the dishes, suggested what to try, and even gave me a sample of the nethali (small dried fish, aka ikan bilis), which brought back me back to my childhood 😀

The dishes arrived as soon as they were ready,  and they were devoured the moment they were set down.

For starters, we had dry lamb, chicken 64, and mutton rolls - all get the thumbs up.

For mains, we had butter chicken, thumbs up again (don't expect this to be like the Indian butter chicken - it isn't).

For the nasi goreng, the cook adjusted the heat to a milder heat for my OO, though he still found it spicy (his tolerance is rubbish at best!!). Despite this, he absolutely loved it and insisted on finishing his dish and everyone's drinks along the way!

The prawn sambal was as hot as promised, and it certainly delivered! I never learn. Poor OO gets his low tolerance from me. The sambal was creamier than I expected. Most sambals that I've had were more tomato-y, but again, the flavours were delicious.

OH had the chicken varuval and loved everything about it, I had a nibble and had to concur.

Throughout the meal, the staff would check in with us to make sure everything was ok, and they would have a bit of a joke with the kids.

At the end of our meal, we were presented with a coconut and jaggery hopper - not only yummy, yummy yummy but calmed my sizzling tongue!. The perfect ending to a delicious meal.

We all had an enjoyable time, the customer service was faultless, and everyone was so friendly. It felt like being welcomed into a favourite relatives' house where you're greeted with warmth, the food feels like a hug, and you leave with a happy smile and full belly.

Definitely...

DO NOT ORDER FROM HERE. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE & AGGRESSIVE OWNER! I WOULD GIVE IT '0' STARS IF POSSIBLE!

Placed an order in Ubereats. We made notes about an allergy and also to make the food vegetarian (as the ubereats menu does not clarify whether each dish is vegetarian or not). The owner's wife called us and confirmed the order and said they are able to make it. 30 minutes later, the order was declined.

We called to enquire why it was cancelled after a confirmation 30 minutes earlier, we were told that they are too busy to meet our allergy and dietary request. If they had cancelled the order immediately, I would be fine with that but what is not acceptable is to first confirm it and then cancel it just 30 minutes later.

When I spoke to the owner to explain the issue, he kept dismissing me when I was in the middle of speaking saying 'LISTEN HERE!' and was aggressive with his tone and other statements he made. When I told him that I will write a review about my poor experience, he said that he does not care and he has enough customers.

I always like to support small businesses especially in these trying times but I cannot support one where customer service (to put the term loosely) is so poor that it is infringing on bullying customers who have dietary/allergy...