Sofra (Mayfair)

Went to Sofra last night and can safely say that the experience left a bad taste in the mouth...in more ways than one. Yes, we experienced all the (evidently far too frequent) problems listed below - unhappy waiters/waitresses; hurried service; four different waiters to a table, etc...could have let this go as the food was good...but, astonishingly and really quite worringly, we were given meat dishes when we had very clearly asked for the vegetarian varieties. My friend - who has been vegetarian for over a decade - bit into her food in good faith that they had brought over the correct order (word of warning to anyone thinking of visiting Sofra...do NOT make this same mistake; please check your food first!!), and discovered that there was meat in it. She was understandably distressed; we alerted the waitress who 'explained' (with an attitude only marginally worse than her English..which was scarely existent) that it was the kitchen's fault. We received no apology; just our replacement dishes - thankfully correct the second time around. If we hadn't already ordered and drunk some of our wine, I think we would have left. On reflection, we should have done and I wish we had. Naturally, we refused to pay their laughable 12.5% service charge (does ANYONE pay this??!), but considering their serious error and subsequent behaviour, this just doesn't really seem enough.

Sofra's utterly unapologetic and dismissive attitude to someone who's just had the principles by which they live their lives undone by pure incompetance on their part is unforgivable. Yes, the food was good, but not sufficient to atone for the atrocious service. I for one will not be returning.
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Cat
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 25, 2006

Went to Sofra last night and can safely say that the experience left a bad taste in the mouth...in more ways than one. Yes, we experienced all the (evidently far too frequent) problems listed below - unhappy waiters/waitresses; hurried service; four different waiters to a table, etc...could have let this go as the food was good...but, astonishingly and really quite worringly, we were given meat dishes when we had very clearly asked for the vegetarian varieties. My friend - who has been vegetarian for over a decade - bit into her food in good faith that they had brought over the correct order (word of warning to anyone thinking of visiting Sofra...do NOT make this same mistake; please check your food first!!), and discovered that there was meat in it. She was understandably distressed; we alerted the waitress who 'explained' (with an attitude only marginally worse than her English..which was scarely existent) that it was the kitchen's fault. We received no apology; just our replacement dishes - thankfully correct the second time around. If we hadn't already ordered and drunk some of our wine, I think we would have left. On reflection, we should have done and I wish we had. Naturally, we refused to pay their laughable 12.5% service charge (does ANYONE pay this??!), but considering their serious error and subsequent behaviour, this just doesn't really seem enough.

Sofra's utterly unapologetic and dismissive attitude to someone who's just had the principles by which they live their lives undone by pure incompetance on their part is unforgivable. Yes, the food was good, but not sufficient to atone for the atrocious service. I for one will not be returning.
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Cat
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 25, 2006

Sofra restaurants owner doesn't pay the service charge to the staff. the service charge which added to your bill is going directly to the owner's pocket.
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navy
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, August 17, 2006

I have been a fan of the Sofra chain ever since my boyfriend took me, he is Turkish and found the food there to be of good quality and a high standard. We have enjoyed the food at both the Mayfair and St Christopher's Place branches. However on Saturday we had dinner at the Mayfair branch and were sadly disappointed.

We were seated quickly in a busy restaurant and ordered drinks and a waitress took our order. We had ordered diet cokes but upon tasting my drink I realised they had given us the full fat variety, which I don't like. Upon telling the waitress of our problem with the drink, she said in very broken english 'it's the kitchens fault' and made no indication of being able to change the drink. Eventually we persuaded her to change it and we settled down to our dinner.

The food as ever was very good, tasty and fresh and we were pleased although we did have to ask for more bread three times before anything was done.

Once we had finished dinner yet another waitress took our plates and immediately asked if we wanted coffee, tea etc. It was clearly apparent that they wanted to clear the restaurant before the 2nd service. We asked to wait for a few mins , my boyfriend then overheard her say to another waiter, in turkish, that he needed to get everyone out of the restaurant before 9pm. We had only been in the restaurant for just under an hour.

I hope Sofra smarten up their act in terms of customer service, the food is always of a good quality and is authetically turkish in style.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, July 10, 2006

I have been a fan of the Sofra chain ever since my boyfriend took me, he is Turkish and found the food there to be of good quality and a high standard. We have enjoyed the food at both the Mayfair and St Christopher's Place branches. However on Saturday we had dinner at the Mayfair branch and were sadly disappointed.

We were seated quickly in a busy restaurant and ordered drinks and a waitress took our order. We had ordered diet cokes but upon tasting my drink I realised they had given us the full fat variety, which I don't like. Upon telling the waitress of our problem with the drink, she said in very broken english 'it's the kitchens fault' and made no indication of being able to change the drink. Eventually we persuaded her to change it and we settled down to our dinner.

The food as ever was very good, tasty and fresh and we were pleased although we did have to ask for more bread three times before anything was done.

Once we had finished dinner yet another waitress took our plates and immediately asked if we wanted coffee, tea etc. It was clearly apparent that they wanted to clear the restaurant before the 2nd service. We asked to wait for a few mins , my boyfriend then overheard her say to another waiter, in turkish, that he needed to get everyone out of the restaurant before 9pm. We had only been in the restaurant for just under an hour.

I hope Sofra smarten up their act in terms of customer service, the food is always of a good quality and is authentically turkish in style.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, July 10, 2006

Myself and my wife had a meal at Sofra last night and I must say although it was not cheap, for Mayfair I guess it was reasonable. Food wise we had the mixed meze which proved to be a huge disappointment. Worst turkish meal we have had including one bottle of wine it cost £70.00 plus they wanted a 12.5% discretionary tip which I have to admit was not paid as the service was terrible. Bland food poor service waste of money.
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John
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, May 01, 2006

On my recent first visit to Sofra myself and my companion were astonished to be seated at a tiny table jammed right up against a huge mirror. There was no space for the settings to be opposite each other so I had to sit facing my own reflection - it was like being at a cheap burger bar! There wasn't even room to angle my chair round.

We were hassled for our menu choices and the service was chaotic. Food was OK, but I wish we'd gone somewhere else on Shepherds Market. The attraction of Sofra is that it's reasonably priced, but next time I'll aim to pay a little bit more and enjoy the elbow room!
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Great find. Tasty food for reasonable prices. We sat outside and enjoyed the good weather and the quiet and forgot for a bit that we were in the middle of a city. The food was nicely presented and the protions were large.
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Susan Ladner
Sunday, October 30, 2005