Turtle Bay Ealing — Restaurant in London

I went there for supper with a Barbadian friend. We had considerable difficulty getting served as we had to go to the bar. The person taking the order struggled with the computer system, but eventually did take the order. There were several mistakes in the order and we just couldn't be bothered to get it sorted out as we were so hungry by that time. Service was delayed by cause although we gave our table number correctly, the table was apparently not placed in the right area and the waiter could not find us so that our starters and main arrived almost at the same time. The menu claims that the food is ‘inspired’ by the Caribbean and certainly I would feel that is perhaps over optimistic and ‘loosely inspired’ would be a better description. We both like the Ackee Saltfish Rolls as a starter, it was a great pity that we didn't really have time to savour them before the mains arrived. We eventually got our drinks and my friend despite ordering a glass of wine with a bottle of tonic only got wine with a small amount of tonic in it. Not what we had ordered, but what was paid for. The person I was with ordered Jerk Salmon, which was a little overcooked and had very little Caribbean taste to it, certainly not what she was used to from are the restaurants. I ordered Trini Curry Chicken and specifically plain rice, however I got rice and peas. As I cannot digest beans properly this caused a problem and despite being careful, I must have eaten some small parts and thus suffered after the meal. The spices on the chicken were far from subtle and if I had tried to distinguish between that and Chinese Singapore Curry I would have been utterly unable to do so. It was neither very warm (spice-wise) nor particularly tasty, several pieces of chicken were very overcooked and inedible. The worst thing was that there were a number of whole small tomatoes and all of them were starting to go mouldy at the top. I found it very difficult to find a way to complain to and when I did, I didn't even get a sorry, instead the waiter said they would speak to the chef. We waited a considerable time and assumed someone would come out and apologise but no one did and eventually we left. So I really would not bother going there again and felt that it was neither that particularly good value for money and given the quality of the food not really Caribbean in anything but name. In my view one to miss unless you like overcooked food, under flavoured and possibly...

Sadly we did not enjoy our experience here on Christmas Eve. We had selected the set Christmas Menu on booking, but this was not offered to us on the night. We were also not advised about the earlier closing time of 9pm. The host was quite unfriendly and not welcoming, felt as if he didn't want us to be there.

Our waitress was all over the place, forgetting to bring water that we had asked for 20 mins, then our drinks took about 30 mins to make to us (even though there appeared to be 3 bartenders just walking around aimlessly) and she struggled to tell us what drinks were which.

It was only until our starters were being served that we were told there were some items not available and we were told that our mains were 2-3 minutes away but the wait ended up more like 10 mins. We were then rushed to eat our main meal which arrived at 8.50pm because of the early closing time. The food itself was ok, but nothing special.

What was meant to be a pleasant meal felt extremely rushed because our waitress seemed to just forget about us. Even when it came to the bill she gave us the wrong one. She apologised saying she's tired. Worse still there were so many staff aimlessly wandering around and there weren't that many tables to serve so I feel like she must have been poorly trained.

I've been a waitress before and no matter how tired I was I never lowered my service levels. To be honest they really didn't deserve any service charge in my opinion but given it was Christmas, I let it go. The only reason for 2 stars is that our waitress apologised multiple times and the food wasn't completely horrid but honestly can't say I will...

Turtle Bay Ealing is located next to Ealing Broadway shopping centre next to other high street food chains including Nandos and Meat and Shake. Turtle Bay Ealing is a modern take of a Carriebean eatery - both cocktail bar and buzzy restaurant with beach shack chic, calypso music and Carribean food classics.

The restaurant floor as an open space dominanted by a large bar with 15 to 20 tables on either side. Turtle Bay takes their cocktails very seriously with a free generous 2 for 1 Happy Hour that runs until 7PM and 9. 30PM until closing time from Sunday to Thursday and Friday to Saturday.

The food menu could be described as Carribean comfort food with the jerk chicken and stews being the main attractions. There’s an extensive selection of stews – curried goat with carrots and potatoes, or a vegetarian warmer of sweet potatoes, mixed beans and greens with coconut milk. Having ordered the Jerk Platter for £14 we quickly realised it was large enough to be shared by two people. The chicken a ribs were tender and full of flavour. For being a chain the food was fresh and full of flavour. The garlic pinnacle side was a revelation and highly recommended. The non alcoholic drinks menu is extensive as well for those looking for a booze free meal. The portions are generous and the prices are good value.

The service is super friendly but at times slow, disengaged and aloof. While the place was half empty we were told by the waiter is a busy busy on Friday and Saturday evenings. All together Turtle Bay is a good spot for some good priced comfort food in a lively space with friends, family...