Niche Gluten-free Dining — Restaurant in London

I don't ever write bad reviews but I feel compelled to do so after an extremely poor experience at this restaurant.

From the moment we walked in as a four person group, something seemed off. The staff were so disorganised. My partner was given an old menu for the low fodmap option (special dietary requirements are the selling point of Niche) which meant what she thought she ordered could not be fulfilled. So she ended up not having a starter but the rest of the table ordered on the assumption she would be getting what she had ordered. The staff didn't seem to care about her special requirements either with them giving her a plate to share what we were having, and we had to literally Google whether she could eat the things being served. This is not the way it should be in a place dedicated to special dietary requirements...

The food served came cold and rather bland. I would certainly not recommend it to anyone. Despite it being clear that we were not happy and were leaving a lot of our food, there was no enquiry from the staff. It really seemed that they didn't care.

That lack of concern and generally bad atmosphere extended to the worst part of the short evening (we rushed out within an hour of getting there and would have left more quickly if the food had come faster). The table right next to us kept staring at us (our table was of mixed skin colour and have to be quite alert to such things sadly). When questioned as to why, they said something in another language, I believe Italian, and ignored our concerns. Their hostility was so obvious and discomforting. This happened multiple times and naturally left us feeling angry and upset.

I ordinarily would not criticise a restaurant for the actions of some of their customers but it seemed like the staff realised what was happening and either didn't want to help or simply didn't care, which was the impression we got all night. I would advise to avoid this restaurant even if you have special dietary...

I'd love to be able to rate this higher, I'd been looking forward to visiting Niche since I found out about it.

Me and my partner ordered diffrent things with the intention of sharing everything so we could try as much as possible.

We started with the sourdough bread for the table. Along with the 'NFC' basket and the chedder and parmasan doughnuts. To put it simply thr doughnuts are one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten. Ever before being diagnosed celiac. And my partner who can eat muggle food would agree. The sourdough bread was also incredible, ive not seen a slice of bread without massive airpockets for two years (if you know you know) the 'NFC' basket was very much just okay. It was nice to be able to eat fried chicken at a restaurant but i wouldn't order it again.

For mains I had the pot pie which was labeled on the menu as "a real treat for celiacs" i cant put in to words how excited I was to have a good pie at a restaurant. The absolute disappointment that slapped across my face when I was given a shepereds pie, in a pot..... And not even a good one at that. It was a layer of mashed potato covering a lake of watery gravy hiding 2 sad bits of lamb. I'm still trying to work out what the treat was supposed to be 🤔

And my partner ordered the NFC burger This looked amazing when it was brought out, after having a bite, the burger was cremated beyond belief. I'm honestly supprised it made it out the kitchen.

If I was to come back I'd just order the starters I cant fathom how they are so good but the mains are so bad, unless they had a staff change half way through the night it simply dosnt make sense.

Id of loved to give this 5 stars as I said I've been excited to vist this place for about a year, travelling all the way from Nottingham to vist. I really wish the pie was what I expected 😅

Again, not a total disappointment the cheese doughnuts are worth the...

My partner ordered 'fish super' as a surprise meal because this sounded like a nice GF treat and we like the concept. However i'm very disappointed so keen to write a review so others realise the online order is nowhere near as good as the restaurant - my main reasons are outlined below to help:

ParcelForce was used to deliver, the box came 1-day late as the courier claimed to attempt the delivery but we were home all day and no one tried the buzzer or called. The contents were completely damaged despite being well packed in sturdy box and arrived defrosted and at room temperature on arrival.

The sauces despite being in circular plastic sealed containers had leaked oil over all other contents so everything was oily.

Food wise I was bitterly disappointed and I think this might be to do with the concept of freezing food for too long or even thinking its acceptable to freeze food. The white fish was tasteless, almost like it was old and had lost all its flavour, the chips were soaked in oil and squashed and we threw them out after trying one chip each.

Its worth adding we have always wanted to go to this restaurant as its in the neighbourhood always busy but we definitely do not recommend anyone orders food online and personally I will likely never go in to the restaurant now.

Added later: Just to respond to this Restaurant's comment: I tried to call multiple times today, but no answer. Very happy to discuss with you and share feedback and I will try back again tomorow. I do think my feedback is honest, fair and useful for others. Please note the food was not warm, it was fully thawed but cold/fridge temperature and the instructions pointed out that it should last thawed for around 48hours. I wouldn't want anyone to experience this (and its not just about the damage of the...