Tombo Japanese Cafe — Restaurant in London

Love the mocha and salmon sashimi(7.55 5 pieces), but the beef gyu don is a bit spicy and the beef is not good.

The Shio Pork Ramen The Ramen noodle is too soft. The pork is cold and there were only two. The Ramen soup is too salty. The egg is overcooked. It didn't offer us a spoon to taste the soup.

The Prawn tempura The Prawn tempura is too thick and soft. It's like microwave food. You can't only order the tempura.

Tan Tan Ramen It have chicken ( you can choose vegan) corn and onions. Same as the Ramen noodle, the soup is too salty. The size are not worth the price. It's like only a half of the Ramen noodle. Btw, I think Tan Tan Ramen is not Japanese food it is Taiwanese food.

The Latte The Latte is average and you can choose matcha Latte. I only order the normal one.

Customer service You have to pay the tips. I mean I would love to pay the tips but it's a bit too expensive. The tables are quite full but we just waited for 10mins. The waitress is nice.

[The dessert] I didn't order the dessert because it didn't look the same as the photos. Maybe I will try it next time.

[Design] Love the vibe but the tables are too crowded. May be a good place to take some Instagram photo😂.

[Overall] I think their selling point are matcha and I love it so much! The food wasn't that good but I think it a good place to chill and meet friends. I hope there are more type of foods. It do have some vegan choice but not so much. It's close to the Natural...

An overcast day in London — but the sun shone inside Tombo Café! Greeted with a smile at the door, my whole stay at Tombo was marked with smiles from all of the staff — something so unusual in London, and really lovely. It felt like a happy place to be, even more comfy an ambience than the cute decor aspires to create. Food was tasty and comforting. The Tonkatsu Curry served hot, a generous portion that had me satisfied halfway through. Pork was tender, with a crisp layer of fried panko breadcrumbs around it, and Japanese curry just spicy enough. The eggplant ordered as an appetizer — Nasu Dengaku — was truly divine, melting in the mouth! The matcha tart being the matcha-iest dessert I have ever had constitutes a must-have for matcha lovers! (What I did not like was hot things being served in plastic/acrylic recipients. Especially tea — it makes me almost not want to drink it. Intention is to be cool, casual or modern yet Japanese? — then give me ceramics in acid colors or whatever porcelain, but never plastic or acrylic! —- Proper information now in the owner’s reply.) Oh, by the way, when I left Tombo, having thanked for the smiles, the clouds had parted and the sun was shining...

The staff refused to let me sit with my wife & forced me to stand looking through the window at her all because I was holding a drink I had purchased elsewhere.

I work in hospitality management for decades & one of the first customer service lessons we’re taught is never to refuse a paying customer regardless of what else they have with them. I’ll explain a little more below.

To let someone’s partner sit down but force their other half to stand outside generates alienation in the customer base including from those around them.

If a group sit without ordering then there’s a business case to remove them. However, in this case, it’s an over simplification. The business case for each scene you’re regularly taught in customer services:

1: Refuse a partner with an outside drink: lose profit from the items both partners would have ordered. End up with an empty table. Alienate both partners & those around them. End up with less repeat custom & fewer loyal customers.

Allow a partner with an outside drink: you’re not losing any custom by letting the partner sit at the table with his wife. The end result is gaining profit & potential loyal custom from them & not alienating...