The Rum Kitchen Brixton — Restaurant in London

Myself and the family had lunch at the Brixton branch to celebrate my Birthday. It wasn't busy at all, 5 or 6 tables only. We asked if we could go through to the main dining area but was told that was for guests who have made reservations. Normally this wouldn't have been an issue but considering the whole main dining area was empty I did not understand why we was not able to set in that area and previously when I have visited and not made a reservation we were always offered to sit anywhere we wanted. All the other guests where also sat in the front area. We ordered starters and mains. The food arrived quickly, all of the starters were hot and nice but the 2 T&T curry wasn't great at all, the curry tasted very bland and was lukewarm along with the jollof rice. The Jerk chicken burger was ok, the bun wasn't toasted, the jerk chicken was bland a but dry, could have done with jerk sauce or gravy. The chips and starters was the nice. The services wasn't great at all, we had to catch the eye of the bartend, which wasn't easy, who realised when we need assistance but didn't come over to see what we wanted so I had to rais the empty water and asked for another one, while she was still behind the bar. We had finished and again looking to get the attention of someone to ask for the bill, eventually I got the attention and asked for the bill. The lady brought over the bill, my brother asked to talk with the MOD and she said she was the manager. My brother gave her feedback about the food but there was no attempt to try to show any sort of good will gesture. She apologised and said she would pass the feedback to the chef but I felt it wasn't genuine. The table we was sat on had dried food in between the grooves, as you can see from the picture. This clearly has been there for a while. Rum Kitchen was really amazing when you first opened, over the years the food quality, cleanliness and services standards has really dropped off. It is such an shame considering you have a great location, good size venue and a decent menu. There is no point opening the doors, if your team do not care or committed. We spent over £100 on just food, which we all thought was a waste of money. This feedback isn't to reprimand anyone but to help you focus on the areas where we feel you are lacking. I know if anyone had dined at any one of my restaurants I would want to have the feedback, especially if it...

Service was terrible. Was seated at 9:20pm no one came to take my order until 10:35pm. I approach 3 different works and asked if they could take our order especially before the kitchen closes. They just keep on saying I’m coming I’m coming but no one showed up. I went to the bar to order a drink I was told he not serving as he has so many orders to get out and I should wait 20mins.

When we finally order at 10:35pm there was still a long wait. Our drink didn’t come till 11pm and was still waiting on food, please bear in mind it was just jerk chips and prawns that we ordered. The member of staff I approached to take my order didn’t come over to us until 11pm. We told her we had already order she just said okay there was no apology for the delay in serving us.

We order the rude boy jug for £30 it tasted like it had no alcohol. I was very disappointed when I had to send that back after waiting for 2 and half hours. You can’t call yourself the rum kitchen and be forget to add rum to the drinks.

It seemed like staff only cared about the bigger numbered table. And clearing up to reset again. You had 3 staff clearing table while I sat there with a dry mouth and still feeling hungry.

People had come in after me and was being served fast than me, and this leads me to think your don’t care about the small tables.

Staff attitude wasn’t very welcome and found them to be quite rude as they constantly walked passed my table and look me dead in the eye know we was still waiting to be service. Customer service is terrible couldn’t even apologise for the delay in drinks or making us wait for so long. They stood by the till talking.

There was only one lady that was helpful and she explained to me that she was only serving the back table and she apologised that we still haven’t received our food and it’s gone 12am.

This was somewhere that was recommended to me by serval people and it’s safe to say I wouldn’t go back I had the worst time.

If I had to rate rum kitchen out of 10 I would...

Oh my...what a shambles. We went with high expectations wanting to try authentic Caribbean food. The let down were the staff - simply in a world of their own...not attentive at all. You need to leave the table to go to them, not the other way around. It was a Saturday midday; hardly busy.

We were told when ordering that not all food on the menu was ready so we couldn't order certain dishes. Hi there...this is a Saturday...did you chef sleep in? Ridiculous! Also we asked for a substitute as my friend wanted mac and cheese (suggested by the waitress), and we asked for our starters to come out first before mains.

What turned up? No substitute and our mains were brought out at the same time as our starters. OMG...this is clearly the Caribbean equivalent of Faulty Towers! The food was mediocre...the saving grace was the bara bread that came with the goat curry, but otherwise the curry was somewhat gristly - fatty bits that did nothing for my enjoyment.

It was incredibly noisy too...not really the music as that was acceptably loud, but another table of girls who were giggling and shouting - that should have been addressed by the waitresses. At the end, we wanted the bill...as mentioned, we had to leave the table to ask for it, rather than the waitresses noticing we needed the bill.

Not a great impression all in all. I wouldn't go back; certainly not to the Brixton branch. Don't get me wrong the waitresses are friendly and want to do the best, they're just not switched on. I should have knocked off some money on the gratuity, but decided to leave it to recognise their friendliness. But you've been warned...don't go here for the service...