Roof East — Restaurant in London

Unique venue for the summer . Superb tunes . Games or just chillaxing

I visited the Roof East yesterday evening {April 2019} and it was great fun, a little oasis in Stratford which I'm glad is based in the "original" shopping centre to generate as much interest there as in Westfield.

We deliberately arrived at 5pm to avoid crowds and when we left at 7.30 ( due to my friend feeling cold and needing a hot drink) it was getting much busier with groups arriving. Thankfully it was a chilly but sunny evening but I'm told that Easter weekend saw over 10,000 patrons which I can easily believe.

The great points include the fun and unique decor, rollerskaters, cars with tress growing out of them, the most amazing soundtrack, 1980 & 90's Pop & Soul had me dancing in my seat from the word go. . . I could have stayed for hours longer

I was really please to see a vegan offering of Vegan Chay which, considering there were only 3 eateries was a real plus for me and Connor my server was exceptional (that's him in my Eat Chay photo holding the Lemongrass and chilli chicken Boa he's just made me which was delicious) .

Lots of games to play - golf , bowls, foosball - or simply just chilling on the deck chairs of seated area, all mainly for adults (weekend I think it's open to kids) .

I really appreciate that the toilets were made colourfur with floral displays, fairy lights and cleaned regularly so even though it's a porto-cabin, half for men half for women, it was very good (coat hooks on the bag of doors would be appreciated and easy to implement) .

Down sides were that there's no stalls offering hot drinks (some staff told me how freezing they were, poor things) nor was there a stall for sweets, cakes or desserts which after any meal I require. Had there been we'd have stayed a few more hours at least but my friend was cold and wanted a hot drink, and as you can't bring anything from outside, so we had to pop to Graniers in the shopping Centre instead which I think is a wasted oppportunity for Roof East,

Mocktails were £3 each and 90% ice so that was disappointing.

Security held onto my Birthday gifts (including a boxed celebration glass, celebration mug and M&S biscuits) giving a ticket to collect as I departed and the male security man wisely suggested I photograph the ticket as I guess he knows how many people lose it by the end of the evening (and how highly likely I was to do the same) .

All the staff I encountered were very nice, friendly, pleasant and professional.

As you exit Stratford train & tube station (Overground, DLR Jubilee & Central lines) walk passed the bus depot into the Shopping mall, the lifts to the 8th floor are directly in-front of you as you enter the centre. A lady I held the lift for was parked in the car park but didn't know about the Roof East, so it's still an unknown little gem, even to locals

I will be back though, I will always be there when it's not too busy and when it's chilly to avoid the masses. . . just hope they offer hot...

My boyfriend and I booked for a lunch date and arrived quite late to a table booking due to an incident where my boyfriend had his phone stolen; we were having a fairly rough day.

Upon arrival we went through security (which was fine) and were gently ribbed by the staff for arriving late, which may have been expected. However we were seated in the shade (on a cool but sunny day) by the film stage, on a tiny table despite wanting to order food.

Quite literally 8 minutes after being seated we were approached by a staff member who called us out by name, then said rather rudely/angrily and loudly "you've got 32 minutes left!" then promptly left without waiting for a response. During our limited time there, no one else was approached in such a manner.

We promptly ordered 2 drinks and some chips. 5 minutes later the drinks arrived, but the chips were nowhere to be seen.

After waiting, with 8 minutes left on our booking, I had to find a staff member to ask for a refund. She informed me that she had no clue how the process worked but that she would contact the kitchen. 2 minutes after she left, the chips came to our table. We informed the waitress that we were waiting on a refund and she mentioned that she would look into it and left with the chips.

With 3 minutes left on our booking, and having almost finished our drinks, we were approached by a member of staff and told to leave immediately to allow the next couple to take our seats. With every minute being seemingly precious, we found this to be the icing on a bitter, bitter cake. We promptly downed what was left of our drinks, and headed for the exit.

We made a point to say goodbye to the security guard; the only member of staff who was polite...

I had a really bad experience here, the staff was extremely unprofessional and when we complained about the wrong food being delivered and seeking advise on a better table to sit at. A staff member who goes by the name of james threatened us and asked us to calm down with the complaints otherwise there would be trouble, in his exact words, to which he proposed to go and get security, since we were clearly expressing our disapproval with the service. Security then came to assist us out. We asked to speak to the manager who goes by the name of james, hoping that the poor customer service delivered in this instance will be some what rectified, but after we explained to him calmly our point of view he then goes on by saying “ sorry guys I’m afraid this is going be the end of your night as I have to side with my colleague who suggested you were being rude to him”. At this point we had ordered 50 pounds worth of food and drinks that wasn’t even delivered to us accurately. Without no justifiable reason, we were asked to leave. As customers, we felt poorly treated, bullied, intimidated, embarrassed as security surrounded us. This was frustrating and unreasonable. We were bullied into cutting our night short due to a simple misunderstanding, which the manager should have rectified by placing the customers needs first, after all we weren’t intoxicated, or obnoxious in any kind of way. I just wonder what kind of training the staff are being given. It’s appalling and I’ll never be going back there again. Will they kick all customers out for expressing disapproval of their service to staff or was it just us in particular?...