Turtle Bay Camden — Restaurant in London

Awful!!.. My 2stars are for the small side dish of prawns on the flat bread. Disappointment after disappointment. I went there with my bf to continue celebrate my birthday. As a regular of Turtle bay in Walthamstow I gracefully received a £20 voucher to spend at any branch. For a change we decided to attend the Camden branch . BIG MISTAKE!!. The place is set out lovely. All on one floor, however the vibration of the place was lacking. Atmosphere was as dull as dishwater . No music, weak attempts at rum cocktails .full of ice pure ice ...I could've ordered a beer and been more pleased. One server in the place trying to clean, serve etc. One bar tender and 2chefs.. My let downstairs of the night was firstly to know that the 4Cocktails and 2 small sides were NO LONGER AVAILABLE DISPITE it being advertised online up to 5 minutes BEFORE entering the establishment. SO we didn't argue..just ordered cocktails and a small dish. The cocktails were basically ice , ice ice and maybe alcohol to be honest we could not taste anything apart from juice,water and ice. I usually have a very low tolerance to alcohol but not one thing happened..no buzz, no rush .nothing!!! When I complained to the server .instead of an apology for yet ANOTHER thing wrong she gave a lecture about sticking to the measurements of alcohol. This is a VERY VERY BAD LOOK ON TURTLE BAY. ..mainly because they are advertising happy hours on the basis of serving watered down drinks. I would rather pay FULL PRICE and have a PROPER ALCOHOLIC DRINK than a watered down version of icy cocktail flavoured drink. What an absolute disappointment. Walthamstow branch are always pleasant and able to help. If any one is unhappy they are on the ball trying to correct the problem but this server did absolutely nothing. Oh she did manage to ask how she did!;!?!!.. laughable!!!!!. On top of everything else..NO MUSIC. .The Caribbean themed restaurant that has NOTHING about it to represent Caribbean vibes. An absolute let down of an excuse for a Turtle bay restaurant I usually crave to attend weekly!! . WALTHAMSTOW BRANCH IM COMING BACK...CAMDEN HAS NOTHING ON YOU GUYS!!!!!! This has made my birthday one to remember but sadly not in the way I wanted.😭😞 I would APPRECIATE a form of compensation from...

Entrance - A 3 minute walk from Camden station, very easy to find, right across the road from Wagamama with clear Turtle Bay signs

Food - I was extremely disappointed in the food, the wings were powdery and the mac and cheese was watery and the jerk chicken they put on top of it didn’t taste fresh.

The moment I tasted the jerk wings, my stomach completely shrunk due to the powdery texture I could taste, it was not nice at all.

Then when the mac and cheese with jerk chicken came out, it looked and smelt like vomit and I was completely thrown off eating any of it.

0/10 for food.

Drinks - We got there at 9pm to get the 241 cocktails and I had 4 reggae rum punch’s and 2 Island Escapes, they were nice.

Decor - Very modern and aesthetically pleasing. I liked the decor.

Atmosphere - Very nice, chilled, not busy for a Friday which was great. Music was good too.

Cleanliness - VERY clean, not a spec of dirt. Not even in the toilets. It looked and smelt clean. No issues there.

Total cost - £44 for myself as the wings were free from me downloading the app which isn’t too bad.

Customer service - The customer service was amazing, from the moment I walked in and were greeted by the lovely security men by the door, to the lady that showed me to my seat and the wonderful service from Tanzie.

Tanzie was so sweet and helpful, always had a big smile on her face and was very patient when we took 101 years to decide what we wanted. She didn’t once make us feel like a nuisance and ensured our table was constantly cleared when we were done with our drinks / meals, Tanzie was the best!! ❤️

Overall - 6/10 - The food was a huge letdown but the drinks and the customer service from Tanzie made up for it.

I would return but just for drinks.

Thank you...

I had to say that overall this was a very disappointing and substandard experience.

Firstly, let’s start with the food. I had three courses none of which were particularly enjoyable. The mains and appetisers were too salty and lacked any real flavour. Lastly, the dessert turned out to be vegan ice cream which they don’t specify on the menu. I’m all for plant based options but it’s important to alert people know what they’re ordering.

The atmosphere and decor was decent, so I will give them credit for that however, the service was quite poor. It was an hour wait to receive just our appetisers and despite ordering all three courses in one go it was 15 to 20 minutes between each course. The waitress seemed nice, but the attentiveness was certainly lacking. Even paying the bill was hassle because, our waitress literally disappeared so we spent at least 20 minutes to half an hour looking for someone else to take our bill honestly should’ve just walked away.

The only good thing I can say about this place is the prices are very affordable especially for London and the portion sizes are also decent. Therefore, if you’re looking for a cheap meal with decent portions, it’s worth considering but keep your expectations low when it comes to the food quality. Personally, I don’t think I’ll be coming...