Mamas Soul Food — Restaurant in Manchester

My partner and I were very excited to try the food but unfortunately decided to cancel our order after experiencing hostile and unwelcoming customer service on the phone. We politely attempted resolve matters privately through email but we received a dismissive email in response that tried to push the blame back on us. This makes it clear that this business is not open to listening to the experiences of supposedly valuable customers. We pre-ordered a seafood boil with the intention of using the advertised Thursday 25% off discount and my partner called later after being unable to apply the code at checkout. Unlike their email states: my partner only enquired once if the discount could be applied retrospectively, which we were told no with limited explaination but nonetheless he accepted this anyway and moved on; when he asked if there was a reaon the discount count did not work for us earlier so we could ensure to order correctly next time, the employee dismissvely just replied "I don't know" and offered no further assistance; and finally, when we asked if we could cancel and re-order with the discount, contrary to their account, we were immediately shut down with "No. I'm very surprised you're asking this. Are you here for the food or a discount?." If we were told that re-ordering was a possibility, we would have done so as we were so eager to try this food but I can confirm that this was not the case. This interrogation of if we were here for food or a discount was repeated over throughout the call as well as being told "I don't know why you're asking this" and "The discount is free- we don't have to give it out you know". Whilst the company states that they a witness to support their prespective, I can honestly say that, from witnessing this conversation myself that this is not the case at all. My partner is a soft spoken and was nothing but polite despite the agressive tone he faced. We called with the intention of seeing through our order regardless if the discount was applied or not- this is why were willing to pay the full price upfront in the first place as we were eager to try food from this business. After the call we were left in complete shock at how we were treated and continue to be surpised at how this business treats potential customers. After this expereince, we then recieved an email notifying us that the order was ready, meaning my partner had to call up again to confirm that our order had been cancelled and that a refund was being processed as they failed to formally communicate this to us.

Edit: If my account alone isn't evidence enough please see the plenty of other bad reviews that are talking about the shocking customer service other people have...

The service was EXTREMELY poor. I saw online that they offer a seafood boil every Wednesday—the post had no expiry date written. I travelled an hour just to try this place, only to be told by the staff that they weren’t sure if the offer was still valid. When they called the owner, he was extremely rude and arrogant.

The post clearly stated “every Wednesday,” and I came on a Wednesday, yet he still refused to honour it. This was misleading, disrespectful, and a complete waste of my time. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

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In regards to your response, as it does not leave me an option to respond separately

I’ve just seen your response, and I’m genuinely surprised by the accusations. I’m not from Norwich, nor have I ever called your restaurant, so I’m not sure where that assumption came from. It’s disappointing to see a business respond this way rather than address feedback professionally.

You called me “entitled,” but that’s extremely unfair. The confusion came from how the offer was shown online. Most businesses clearly state when deals expire, ESPECIALLY if they’re shared on social media. Some even have REGULAR weekly offers, so it’s understandable I thought the deal was still active. If an expiry date had been included, NONE of this would have happened.

And if, as you mentioned, someone else called that same morning asking about the same offer, that actually proves it’s not just me who found your promotion unclear. It shows the issue lies with how the information was presented, not with the customers.

My review came from a genuine misunderstanding, not entitlement or bad intent. The sarcasm and personal remarks in your reply were unnecessary and reflect poorly on how you handle customer feedback.

I hope in the future your responses focus more on clarity and professionalism rather than assumptions and not valid remarks. This clearly shows your...

This is my first time experiencing a seafood boil. I paid £108 approx , this included an XXL boil, an extra crab, and mac n cheese.

Of course, I’ve tried seafood before so I know what it should taste like - unfortunately, the first smell that came over us as we opened the lid was fishy bad smell. After rooting out the problem, we realised it was the mussels and the lobster that had the unfortunate smell. After trying it to give it the benefit of the doubt, it was also an extremely bad fishy lemon taste. My partner is current up unwell since eating this.

Due to me not being a fan of spicy , I had the lemon and garlic, I am personally a bit biased as I don’t love lemon but I still can enjoy it in food but both myself, and my partner who does like lemon in his food agreed that the lemon was very overpowering in the food.

To add to this, when we arrived we ordered an extra crab, we did this on arrival, we where given 20 min wait, absolutely fine no problem with this, however we saw that the crab was frozen. I assume the mussels and lobster also where; I think this must be the reason why the fishy smell and taste occurred

To give the rest of the food a fair chance without the lemon overpowering , I made my own garlic butter to put with it. The prawns were nice and juicy, the crab was nice, avoiding the mussels and lobster. The rest was ok.

I’m gutted due to the price we paid, it not being the exciting and delicious experience we expected.

Unfortunately my partner is now feeling sick just a few hours after eating this. I avoided the mussels and lobster...