Wahaca Southbank — Restaurant in London

Went for dinner, was very busy when we arrived and told would be a 10-15 min wait so decided to wait and have a drink before dinner. When we asked to order drinks got told that someone would come over to get our order and wouldn't be able to order in the bar area which I thought would be a normal thing in a bar. We waited and were then seated by the lovely host. Our drinks arrive and then we ordered our food. Food arrived promptly and was lovely. As is a restaurant that send food when it’s ready there were times when we were waiting. We opted for the favourites. The reason for low review is the staff provided little to no service. We would have had a couple of drinks but no one came to get another order of us. Food was chucked down on the table and the server then just walked away, no explanation of what we had or a simple enjoy, No asking to if the food was ok or if we were enjoying it. No asking if we would like anything else. It took a few attempts of asking for water for a half full bottle and dirty glasses to be discarded on the table. While eating I felt very rushed so couldn’t savour the taste and was ready to leave as we finished and then to add to it a 12.5% service charge had been automatically added to the bill (this is stated as optional) normally of which I would never question but in a place that provides no service seems a bit cheeky. I didn’t feel comfortable asking for this to be removed as had seen the response when this happened with a table near us with the server becoming aggressive and rude. I work in hospitality so know full well how much of a hard job it it’s especially during busy times but loosing temper, rudeness and uncaring attitude of the staff I have never experienced in this...

Went there in the afternoon and had tacos. The place was so nice, not crowded and our waiter was amazing. Totally enjoyed our tacos and decided to return in the evening for a meal as we loved our time in the afternoon. Would give it a 5 star rating based on our experience in the afternoon.

The evening was a nightmare. The waiter we got was sooooo rude. You'd try to talk to her, she'd cut you short and talk over you. Placing an order with her was a nightmare. She was just so rude. The meal that came was soooo cold. Like really cold. From the fridge cold. Asked if it would be possible to have it warmed in the microwave, to which our rude waiter took the food away so madly and brought it back still cold and said there's nothing more she can do about it. We didn't want to create a fuss, so we just tried to eat our cold food.

The presentation of the food was good. Both in the afternoon and at night.

I would recommend that one goes there in the afternoon as you are likely to get a better service then than at night. The place is really crowded in the evenings. We had to wait 30mins to get a table and a rude waiter. Was seated at a place where I could see the food being prepared and I could see them taking the meals from the fridge and hardly warming them, only to serve them on the plate, so I understood why my meal was cold. They were in a rush to put the orders out. I'd rather my meals take longer to come to the table and is hot, than have a cold meal.

My evening experience totally spoiled what I felt was an amazing place when I earlier visited in the afternoon. Wanted to give it a one star, but because I enjoyed myself in the afternoon, I added...

Really excited to eat here on a busy Saturday night but were unfortunately let down!

Servers were simply rude.

To begin the drinks order took 30mins to arrive - the server was apologetic but we still hadn't placed a food order - and then food arrived at the wrong time leaving one member of party still waiting to eat whilst others had finished. Nachos turned up after the main meals had been finished despite asking it to be served first.

Cocktails were lovely but we ordered 2 shots of tequila and requested salt and lime off of 2 different servers both of which told us they'd grab it but nothing turned up. No water given to table after requesting.

To end the night we wanted to grab another drink but servers ignored our eye and once approached one simply brushed us off. Decided to skip the last drink and leave but the app wouldn't work for us to pay so continued to chase down a member of staff - unfortunately we removed service charge as we left frustrated and slightly annoyed at the service we received.

Both of us work in the food industry and appreciated it was a busy Saturday night but would've preferred to have eaten elsewhere with better service than feel like we were chasing servers to spend money and pay the bill after a long wait!!

Would return but only mid week - maybe they will have enough staff (and hopefully they'll be...