Zufa Hatch End — Restaurant in London

I would like to preface this by saying that I attempted to follow this issue up privately when I was in the restaurant and afterwards by emailing the restaurant on the email they provided. Unfortunately I received no response so it has resorted to writing a google review - which is something the restaurant appears to respond to.

This is regarding an experience on 7th August 2020, 7:15pm booking.

I attended the restaurant with my friend on recommendation from a friend and we were very excited to eat here. Upon arriving the setting was lovely unfortunately this was not supported by good customer service.

Drinks and food were ordered, however much to my dismay our vegetarian mezze (sharing platter) arrived before our drinks had arrived. Given that my friend had ordered tap water and I had ordered a mojito this was very surprising to us. I mentioned this to the waitress who brought over our food and she seemed pretty nonchalant in response - however she did return 5 minutes later with our drinks.

Shortly after the manager (Diana) approached our table and asked how we were getting on and I quote, she asked "Any problems?". To which I casually made her aware that our drinks came after our food. To which Diana ( the manager) responded "Well it takes longer to put hummus on a plate than making a mojito" using a tone which was aimed at making us the customers feel stupid. My friend and I were absolutely shocked and disgusted by this sarcastic comment which frankly had no element of humour whatsoever. I tried to explain to her that still the delay is not reasonable- to which Diana ( the manager) responded "Well I will have to check my cameras" she then stormed off.

Absolutely horrified by this encounter we continued with our meal which had been ruined by this poor customer service. Whilst eating, 5 mins after this encounter Diana (the manager) returned with the following statement "I'm sorry, you were right, it took 15-20 mins for the drinks to come, the drinks are on the house" with very little remorse in her tone - this was clearly much more of a formality for Diana who clearly lacks knowledge of what good customer service is.

It would be prudent to note that after this incident it seemed the whole wait staff had been alerted as we were constantly approached by different wait staff who would be overly attentive asking us if we needed anything- highlighting that Diana was clearly on the back foot here and trying to overcompensate.

We finished our food and given the nature of the whole experience we really did not want to order any more food and extend this ordeal unnecessarily. We swiftly asked for the bill upon which I asked to speak to the Diana ( the manager), I wanted to alert her to the fact that her disgusting behaviour and appalling customer service had made the whole experience miserable. I tried to alert her that with the hummus comment referenced above she was mocking me, and the fact she checked cameras means she was accusing me of lying- but instead of simply accepting fault she seemed to think it was acceptable to tell me that her humms comment was a joke and saying that I cannot take a joke.

Overall this experience was frankly the worst customer service I have come across and for this reason I would not recommend this restaurant and I have alerted all my family and friends to this and they will no longer be attending. In a time when supporting the hospitality industry is important it saddens me to do this – but I would wish this experience on nobody.

The rest of your wait staff were lovely and the food itself was wonderful, it is the actions of Diana (the manager) that really ruined it all for us. Such a shame as the people I have informed about this experience have been shocked and said they will no longer be returning to Zufa and nor will we...

Lunch, 2:30pm Sunday 09/07/23. Booked a table at Zufa having confused it with a different Lebanese restaurant we’ve eaten at before and were so glad we decided to stay.

Party of 3, we were sat at one of the tables for 4 on the enclosed terrace which was lovely as the weather was so nice and because of the open roof, there was a pleasant breeze but with very little ambient noise from the street. The restaurant was probably at about 50% capacity despite I’m assuming the main lunch rush being over.

Immediately given both food and drinks menus, asked if there were any dietary requirements in the party and after a few minutes our server discreetly returned to take drinks orders. We’d already chosen food so ordered both at the same time. Drinks (mojito, pint of Cobra and Voss mineral water for the table ) arrived promptly followed by Mezze: Calamari, Kebbeh, Za’ atar bread, lamb & chicken houmous and Lebanese flatbreads with homemade tomato and yogurt sauces. All were excellent and clearly freshly made.

Had to chase up missing drink order (mango margarita) which was promptly brought over with an apology. No biggie. Staff attentive in checking we were happy with the food.

Following a short break, main courses were brought to the table. Cubed lamb kebab with Fattoush, one lamb and one chicken shawarma wrap, both with fries. Again, food was hot, fresh, bursting with flavour; absolutely outstanding with wonderful presentation. Choice of sides available to cater for all culinary preferences.

Portion sizes were extremely generous and we were unable to fit in dessert. Dessert menu presumably ‘bought in’ as seemed like a generic menu but understandable to keep costs down and eliminate expense of hiring a separate pastry chef.

Ordered another round of drinks to take advantage of the pleasant ambience. Eventually asked for the bill which we considered very reasonable for the amount of food and drink consumed.

Presented with a small plate of bitesize Baklava which was delicious. Asked whether this was made on site and told it’s produced by a local Lebanese bakery. Appreciated honest answer and couldn’t fault as they obviously know what makes financial and culinary sense to do themselves and what to outsource.

2 birthday celebrations taking place during our visit so cakes were presented to recipients along with ‘American diner’ style music over the PA and staff- singalong; not my thing but didn’t disrupt what was fundamentally a thoroughly lovely, leisurely lunch provided by courteous, attentive and unobtrusive staff and a kitchen which is obviously passionate about what they do.

We were asked to fill in a short feedback form, knocked one ‘star’ off service for forgetting to bring my fiancé’s cocktail and having to remind, and one star for cleanliness as the floor could’ve done with a quick sweep up of crumbs after a couple of tables had departed from around us.

Ambience and decor very tasteful, comfortable seating with tables far enough apart from one another to afford privacy and conversation with your party at normal volumes. Staff very friendly, the FOH manager in particular (lady whose name I failed to note) was extremely impressive, striking exactly the right balance between professionalism and informality to put her guests at ease and build rapport which I have no doubt will result in many repeat visits, certainly from us. Lovely to hear the staff at one point talking in Arabic as this cemented my instinct that this is a Middle Eastern Restaurant operated by authentic, passionate and hospitable Lebanese staff which I have become so used to seeing on trips to Beirut.

Thank you again Zufa for a wonderful afternoon; you are now our favourite Lebanese and unanimously our number 1 Hatch End restaurant choice. Keep up the good work and we’ll see...

Very disappointed.

Went here because it had looked nice from the outside when we passed it several times, and the reviews on google were good. We eat at a lot of middle eastern restaurants and like trying new ones.

When we arrived, it was not too busy, just us and a large party winding up.

We we seated at a table and given menus.

Ordered a glass of wine and a coke....then waited.

Second waitress arrived and took food orders and then left.

usually when you arrive at a Lebanese restaurant you are presented with some lovely fresh bread and maybe a selection of dips...not here.

a couple of small dishes were presented. One contained few small pieces of chopped pickles and the other some sliced carrots. Sliced carrots??? what is that about?

drinks arrived...

For starters we had some Kebbeh and some Halloumi. The Halloumi was fried in oil with sesame seed. A nice size portion but not quite cooked enough in the middle, Also i prefer grilled. The Kebbeh was quite good, although as a dish it is quite dry. You expect something with it..maybe a small amount of Hummus or Tahini, but nothing.

Mains next. We ordered the Kafta. was a bit puzzled when asked if we wanted salad or rice. In a restaurant like this I would expect the meat to be served on a large bed of rice with a lush salad on the side in . beautiful dressing. What arrived did not look too appealing. a rectangular plate with some Kafta piled on one side looking like a small animal had been caught short in the kitchen. The salad was in a small bowl at the other end of the plate - a few limp leaves , some cucumber and a bit of tomato, all served in a lemon dressing. I have never had a salad like this in a middle eastern restaurant. Even my local kebab shop makes more of an effort.

The other main was the Chicken Shawarma - a house special !

i asked for the platter, but with chips rather than rice ( i had seen the rice go past on someone else's plate and it did not look good)

What arrived was the most disappointing shawarma ever. It looked like a chicken breast had been cut into irregular pieces and teased with a cheap shawarma spice. the meat should be marinated for hours and cut from a large chunk on a spit. This was a million miles from this. There was no taste. The chips tasted re-heated. Oh, I had a couple of un-dressed salad leaves too.

We declined dessert.

maybe we picked a bad night to go, but at the prices this place charges it was un acceptable. we will not be returning.

and what is with...