Rhythm Kitchen E17 — Restaurant in London

I do not normally feel compelled to leave a unfavourable review but I do in this instance. My husband and brother-in-law booked a table for the family to celebrate my birthday – and was a surprise for me. Unfortunately I was late to arrive as I was not aware! I arrived at 9.50pm rather than 9pm. As I was conscious of this, I ordered my food as soon as especially as the restaurant closing time was displayed as 11pm and was conscious they may close the kitchen soon. I ordered starters for my husband and I to share and our main by 10pm. There was also another large table that I saw put in orders after myself as well as the rest of my family who ordered their mains after my husband and I ordered (they already had their starters waiting for me). At this point it was not verbally mentioned any closing time for the kitchen to manage our expectations, so my husband asked for the starters to arrive before our mains. After this I ordered a drink (nothing complicated - a rum and ginger beer) which took 20mins to be made. At this point I was having a good time with my family so it wasn’t worth mentioning. We noticed the other table getting their food but not us. My husband asked for an update to which the waitress couldn’t remember what we ordered, she grabbed her notepad and couldn’t even make out her own handwriting and then said “the order didn’t go through”. No apology, no reasonable explanation – nothing. So we continued to wait for our food which was after 11pm at this point. The food arrived –and there were issues; My sisters in law her chicken was red/bloody inside Her husband’s chicken was so dry he couldn’t eat it (he took it home to feed it to his animals as he felt he was paying for it anyway and didn’t want to waste it!) They attempted to give my husband his main before the starters (which he sent back) My plantain was burnt When my husband’s main did come out it was cold and he had to send it back to be reheated Me and my husband’s food arrived last even though we ordered first - for some reason, oh yes as mentioned before “the order was not put through”. I politely spoke to the waitress about my plantain being burnt to which I was informed the kitchen was closed and another batch couldn’t be made. I accepted this however again was frustrated as I was not informed about the kitchen closing prior to this. I was upbeat despite these issues until it came to paying the bill where due to the issues my family wanted to double check the bill was correct – we discovered 2 errors where we were over charged. The staff did deduct these items from the bill. However the next issue was the service charge which my family felt that due to the poor service received we should not have to pay this... This was the icing on the cake... one of the staff (with blue/green colour in her hair) firstly had an attitude – no smile on her face or sincerity especially at the fact that despite our experience we were still jovial. The excuse she said for the poor service.... was because I turned up late! Working in larger hospitality and service companies in various roles for the last 19 years (including food and beverage) – this was completely unacceptable. I became so upset at this dishonesty and her attitude I had to walk out of the restaurant and wait for my family outside. The staff were obviously incredibly disorganised, there was no communication to help manage the situation or customer expectations (eg; if upon ordering it was mentioned that due to time starters and mains would arrive at the same time this would have been fine. Also on a basic level additional drinks and dessert were not offered.). As a result the service was poor which led to complaints and everything was late which meant they probably worked late as we were still there at midnight (and so was the other large table!). The worst part was the dishonesty and not accepting the accountability for mistakes and tried to place blame on the patron – me specifically on my birthday... I’ll remember this birthday for all the wrong reasons because of...

This is an updated portion to original review 2025. I have spent the better part of 3 weeks trying to get in contact with Rhythm Kitchen to hire it out for a bday celebration. What I thought would be something so simple, has left me going through hoops & getting nowhere. I thought I was contacting them to hire a private room. But after finally talking to someone this last weekend, it turns out I would need to hire out the whole restaurant, which I'm prepared to do. Not only have I filled out numerous online request forms, & left numerous messages, Ive heard nothing to date. I was finally able to speak to a young lady who was a credit to this establishment. She was friendly, polite, & explained clearly & concisely what I would need to know if proceeding with the hire. But notified me that she would need to pass all details to the manager, & that they would get in contact. Now I'm trying to call iI find the line fuzzy & the place is shut. If they had no intention in taking a booking don't give people the run around. Also announce it on your voicemail/answer machine so people know. This would have been a large booking.Your loss as I will never return. April 2025 So a group of 6 of us went for what appears to be there very popular Sunday buffet deal. Drink on tap for a few hours, and a choice of a set few items for dinner. Great sounds like heaven. The restaurant was already packed with a few big groups already enjoying themselves. We were looking forward to seeing what they were enjoying.So we all ordered a drink so we had time to look over the menu and at least had a drink to partake of while chatting. Right, 1 member of the group was driving, another does not drink. When asked what drinks were the alternatives, as the drinks on tap were all alcoholic, there response was they had not considered it, or thought of an alternative as no one had asked before. I had to suppress my laugh, & astonishment at that response, because at that time I believe we were actually speaking to a manager. Anyway we managed to get through our drinks order, and and ordered our main from the set menu. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. For what turned out to be nearly 2hrs 15mins for the food to arrive. When we asked where the food was, previous to it arriving we were told its coming, its coming. When it did arrive, & we asked why it had taken over 2 hrs to arrive we were told because we wanted our food to all arrive at the same time, meaning starters and main. Now just to point out we had all ordered the same starter, which were saltfish cakes. 3 of which arrived on a bed of salad with a dip. They were not the size of my fist, nor the size of a tennis ball, so why it had taken so long to prepare under 20 of the for a group is unclear. Then I'd like to point out that we didn't actually ask for our food to be brought out at the same time. We were neither asked by our server, nor anyone that attended to our table at any time. And no one from our table hinted that this should take place at any time. So why this occured is beyond us. Aside from the slow delivery of the meal the food was delicious.As soon as we put fork to mouth the entire table fell silent. The food was succulent, moist, delicious & zingy, delighting all my taste buds at once. And the sauce I could drink a gallon of. They compliment their dishes so very well. They may very well be, just another mango sauce, or chilli jam, but they have brought them up to another level, & handled them so very delicately & with love. If I had to fault anything with the food I would say that the portion for the set Sunday meal is a bit small. The drink is full flowing, but the meal portion is a bit on the small side. We ordered a starter & a desert but I still felt like I was hungry after leaving (I'm one of the non drinkers lol). I think that's due to the portion size.So in summing everything up. The staff are great and very attentive. Work steadily while they have food and drink to serve. The food is to die for. Just needs to be a lot quicker in coming out of...

I had a really great time at this establishment. & as always I’ll give an honest review.

Context: My friend was holding her wedding party get together in the establishment. We were a group of (roughly) 33 people. There was one table left for general public to sit and wait for their orders but we took over a majority of the space.

Service: The staff were really friendly and made sure that we had our food served nice and hot. Being that we were a large group they gave us notice that our food would come out in waves and that we should tuck right in and not wait for all the dishes to come out. It’s a small kitchen so it couldn’t hold all the food until ready to go. This was appreciated as we all preferred to have it hot and ready and would rather not wait.

Drinks - Although it took some time for the drinks to come they were a nice blend. Again it’s understandable that it took longer than expected as they were serving our group as one and not separate tables. I ordered two mocktail sunrises- yum.

Sometimes the staff would forget whose drink or food belonged to who. However, it also didn’t help that some individuals in the group also weren’t didn’t seem sure of their own order (LOL). We worked together to make sure everyone got the right drinks and food.

Food: I ordered curried goat roti rice and pease with plantain. The food was hot ! The curried goat tasted fresh and had good amount of spice. The roti was fresh and fluffy. Good ratio of curried goat to roti bread. The rice was nicely cooked and the plantain was perfectly ripe and cooked to perfection. Great portion size and worth every penny. I wasn’t able to finish so they provided containers to take home.

A few people the ordered the mango wings. I didn’t taste them but they smelt amazing. One person bit into the wing and it seemed to be red however the staff assured her that this sometimes happens due to the way the wings are cut. No one else had an issue with their wings. Being that the rest of the wings were fine, and the mains was on the way, the staff packed additional wings to go as a good will gesture.

My friends ordered the salmon. They were very happy with the cut as it was nice and thick. Cutting into the salmon , it was perfectly cooked - not too dry and not too pink. My friends have different pallets: One friend said hers was seasoned perfectly and the other felt like it was on the salter side.

Overall we all had a good experience and the staff managed our group very well. Although the space was packed , they allowed us to play a short game (questionnaire) and some of the general public that came in also had a laugh. Sorting the bill was quick and easy we all split the bill. (£5 deposit + £28 p/p) and we had to thank the staff and the chef for their great service.

I’d definitely be returning.

Anyone reading should swing by too. The food and service didn’t disappoint.

Parking: There is free parking in the area after 6:30pm. I parked at 6pm on the road opposite the restaurant and hoped for the best. I didn’t get a ticket but again parking warded can appear like genies- so be...