Thursday, February 16, 2006

Restaurant anti-recommendation

Last night on my way from the gym (5k, 22m51s, which I was quite pleased with) to compering at the Scabby Tabby (Gareth Berliner particularly on fire, Yianni, Phil Klein and Lloyd Langford, generally a great night) I dropped in to grab some food at a revolving sushi place called Gili Gulu. Now I can be a bit fussy about Japanese food, having lived there four years. But this place really is taking the mick!

Firstly the food isn't Japanese (as it claims to be). Half the dishes on the belt were spare ribs and Chinese things. They had Edamame (soya beans) served IN sushi rolls. They brought me very poor Miso soup (eventually) in a Chinese soup bowl with a spoon in (it's supposed to be drunk from the bowl, which is a lot easier if you have a Japanese-style bowl).

Secondly the food is awful. I asked for six plates and couldn't even eat them. The tiny shred of salmon was so flavourless in my roll I actually stopped to peek and see if it wasn't limp carrot or something. Very little fish was coming round on the belt at all, mostly just crab sticks and cheapo stuff. They do a 75-minute buffet option during which time you'd probably see about half a dozen pieces of fish come past if you were lucky.

Thirdly the staff were rude and unhelpful. At one point my waitress grabbed a dish (which I had taken off the belt myself) out from in front of me and wandered off with it, I have no idea why. Now I'm pretty used to staff in Japanese restaurants not speaking Japanese, but these guys didn't speak English. I had to go and ask twice for my soup before it arrived.

I had a look at other reviews on the web and looks like I'm not the only one who had a bad day there. Here are some of my favourite comments from London-Eating (link above on restaurant name): "The buffet, for what it was, wasn’t cheap- the food wasn’t fresh & the choice small.","Poor food that didn't taste fresh and the worst service I've experienced in London, ranging from curt to downright rude.", and my personal favourite... "The bathroom are just unacceptable, worth than Caffe Nero and McDonalds put together! It made a member of staff laugh when I did ask for soap!!"

If you want a reasonably-priced Japanese meal in the Soho area, with an all-you-can-eat option try Hi Sushi on Frith Street. Went there last week and it's great, although the dishes they bring are very generous, be careful not to over-order!

1 comment:

Christina S said...

Ha ha I like the idea of a restaurant anti-recommendation. I'm thinking of doing one for the Shapla in Bury St E. I know John Peel used to eat but hopefully their vegetable biryani was OK. Their sag paneer isn't. It's a spinach curry with grated cheddar cheese on top. When I complained, the waiter argued blind this is the way it's made in Bangladesh. Mr Ruby (who is of Indian origin) was nearly under the table with mirth). I wouldn't have thought they were that big on Cheddar in the Sylhet region, personally ...