Lucy 1st Ethiopian Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in London

Rude waitress and disorganisation ruined my birthday! I had pre booked to have dinner with around 25 people for my birthday in advance. When I arrived, there was another birthday still happening and all my friends had to move the tables together themselves! (First red flag) There weren’t even enough chairs and tables we had to carry them up from downstairs or even enough plates for injera. For a restaurant to agree to a group booking and not have anything prepared is incredibly rude. Secondly there was no sign of kindness, not even a welcoming when we arrived. We also all had to go downstairs separately to order, for a big group it wouldn’t have taken a lot for the waitress to just come up and take everyone’s order. And probably would’ve resulted in a nice tip as the effort would’ve been appreciated: However we got the exact opposite and what I’m really appalled at is the waitresses attitude. Firstly one of my guests was approached and ask for a £100 cleaning fee! Which is very embarrassing and rude as she was my guest!!! And when I was booking this insane cleaning fee was agreed to be wavered. This must not have been communicated to the waitress, and if she wanted to discuss it she should have made the effort to actually find the person who booked! Secondly another guest was told if we were to open our own drinks we would have to pay £60, I understand a lot of places have a corkage fee but £60 is unheard of and absolutely ridiculous. It felt they were just trying to squeeze money out of us. Anyway, I was not told about the corkage fee and I opened a bottle. As soon as I did my friend said no do not drink that or we will have to pay £60, so I put it back in the gift bag to drink later. The waitress than proceeded to run up (the quickest she had come the whole night) and begun shouting at us for opening the bottle, we at first said we didn’t as we did not plan on drinking it but she began to go up to everyone repeatedly shouting demanding where the bottle was and looking through my stuff, when she saw it she shouted “you’re lying to me you’re lying to me” we explained we didn’t realise, hadn’t drunken any and that we didn’t want any hassle so we put it back in the bag. For her to be shouting like that is highly unprofessional, as someone who works in hospitality myself I would NEVER speak to a PAYING customer that way. Further I would never let someone talk to me like that! Not even my family let alone a waitress who is being paid to give us a good service! It seemed oddly personal, and highly patronising as if she was scolding a child! She also said “we let you off paying the £100” acting as if she was doing us a favour?? As a professional establishment pre agreeing terms with a customer should be respected, and not thrown back in my face! I already had a lot to complain about in terms of the disorganisation even the food took hours to come out and arrived at different times ! But I had held my tongue until this point. It was absolutely disgusting the way she spoke to me, and never in my life have I had an experience like this at a restaurant. We ended up leaving before we could even cut the cake because it was so uncomfortable and hostile. And it is such a shame as I really wanted to support a local Ethiopian business. There was no apology from the waitress she had a strop and stormed off back downstairs. Incredibly pathetic and embarrassing behaviour from her, I would expect it from a child but not a grown woman. She clearly has some personal issues to work out to be throwing a tantrum in front of a customer and not even apologising. The business in general is incredibly disorganised as there was clearly no communication between the waitress and the owner. I would give zero stars if I could, DO...

Went here for a birthday booking of about 20, price of the private upstairs room was negotiated and pre-agreed in advance. However when we arrived at the agreed time of 8pm nothing was ready, we had to arrange the tables and chairs ourselves because a 16th birthday party hadn’t stopped in time. Once we sat down wait staff approached a random guest while ordering a drink for herself downstairs and repeatedly asked for a cleaning fee that was not initially agreed upon, and then when we ordered we were told food would take 60-90 minutes to arrive, almost as if we weren’t expected. Also, I get that if your policy is that people go to the till downstairs to order individually and pay before the food you’ll wanna do that, but in a big group situation it wouldn’t take much to come up and take everyone’s order quick! Plus you can get a nice healthy tip at the end if you take the order all together for a big group.

Food was really tasty but the difference between first and last dishes to come out was 45 minutes at 10.30pm. Another random guest was told not to open bottles from outside unless we wanted a £60 corking fee, and when the host popped some Prosecco open after dinner, this guest told her it wasn’t allowed, and she put the opened bottle straight back in the gift bag without pouring any. A staff member heard the bottle pop and came up acting really rudely as if we were supposed to know, demanding the £60 and also talking about the cleaning fee from earlier and acting as if they were doing us a favour for that not being in the originally agreed price of the booking. She even began raising her voice and made it so uncomfortable that we all decided to leave before some people had even finished their food because of how late some of the orders were.

It’s a shame cos the food was so good and it seemed like all the small walk-in groups downstairs were having a great time, but we were not made to feel welcome at all and the service really let the whole experience down. The business clearly has organisational problems and doesn’t know how to handle big groups, especially on a birthday, which was ruined for the host. We won’t be...

I’ve been visiting Lucy almost every week for some time now, and I can honestly say it’s become one of my absolute favorites in Stockwell. From the moment you step inside, the restaurant exudes a welcoming and warm atmosphere. The staff are incredibly polite and friendly, always greeting you with a smile and making you feel like family. It's one of the main reasons I keep coming back.

What stands out to me the most is the food. The taste is consistently amazing week after week. The dishes are prepared with such care and attention to detail that every bite is as delicious as the last. It’s clear that the chefs at Lucy take great pride in their food, and it truly shows in the flavor and quality of each dish. Whether it's the rich spices or the perfect balance of ingredients, I’m never disappointed.

One of the things I really appreciate about Lucy is the diversity of customers it attracts. As an Ethiopian diner, it's fantastic to see people from all walks of life and different nationalities enjoying the same great food. It’s a beautiful reminder of how food can bring people together from all corners of the world.

I wholeheartedly recommend Lucy to anyone who hasn’t been yet. Whether you’re a local or visiting Stockwell, this is a place you definitely need to experience. The food, the atmosphere, and the amazing service make it a standout choice for anyone looking for a great meal in London....