Arkansas Cafe

I ate in here on Sunday. We paid £16.70 for two cheese burgers and two diet cokes. The food was revolting, the burgers were chard on the outside and so dark on the inside that they looked like some kind of reconstituted wild mushroom affair.

The feeling of glutinous hot liquid oozing into my mouth with every bite made it impossible for me to finish.

There was no salad and no fries. Just a rather sad looking burger served on a normal morning roll on a paper plate. This despite an elaborate claim on the menu that the rolls were hand made.

The sign outside the stall said "Bubba can cook" from a review in the Evening Standard - a clear breach of the Trades Description Act.

A burger and a coke in nearby Petticoat Lane or Brick Lane would have cost under £4 and would, I suspect, have been edible.
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Lee
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 09, 2006

Possibly the worst food I have ever had, and then had to pay for the pleasure (if you can call it that).

My friends had burgers, and I opted for the chicken. If you like food that tastes like washing powder/tootpaste and soap then opt for the chicken, if you like your food to taste of charcoal then I would suggest the Burgers!

We have a burger club that we go to once a month, and this is by far the worst we have ever had.

Whilst I appreciate that this is a market stool, there is nothing worse than pre cooked burgers that are then recooked to warm them through!

Two hours later I am still left with the most vile taste in my mouth, and a constant repeating reminder of the one mouthful I consumed!

In all honesty Burger King and Maccy D's walk all over this place and at a fraction of the price!

p.s No chips either, how ridicculous is that!
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Emma Soon to be Vegetarian after going here
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Thursday, October 05, 2006

Just got back after eating horrible burger. Overpriced, rude, lazy staff, poor food. Avoid.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, September 14, 2006

THis is afabulous, rough and ready food stall in spitalfields market. SUre, you may balk at the prices at first, but you're paying for top notch meat, which is a rare luxury in london. At best service is brisk and friendly, at worst a bit rude, but get a grip, this is a market stall. My faves are the steaks and burgers, which FYI they dont serve on fridays (DOn't ask me why...maybe because these god fearing americans dont eat bloody cuts of meat on a friday, like good christians, more likely butcher availability). Also brooklyn and liberty ales are great and served good and cold. I wouldn;t go with more than four people, as its cramped and the waiters get annoyed at large parties who want to have long leisurely lunches. Plus i like it because bubba always yells at my boyfriend for having his meat well done haha.
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claire
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, September 10, 2006

A group of seven of us had lunch at Arkansas Cafe earlier this week. We agreed that it was the worst individual and collective 'restaurant' experience we had ever had.

It started with a surly, slow waitress who never managed to smile during the entire lunch and took forever to write down our orders. We ordered a range of dishes; all of the meat was more or less inedible. It had been pre-cooked, and then seemingly blasted in a microwave and finished off on the grill. It was appalling - dried out, chewy, horrid. The vegetable dishes were equally unappetising. One salad had plastic in it.

When we raised our concerns with the manager, she wasn't very concilliatory. She offered a discount. When the bill came it was around £68; she had graciously taken off the 'compulsory' 10% service charge and another £3. Big deal!

We were not prepared to pay that, and after another lengthly discussion paid less, though still way too much for what we got.

Our advice ... avoid this place like the plague!
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rachelc - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, September 01, 2006

A group of us went over there for lunch and it certainly was an experience ... and not one that we'd be looking forward to in the near term!

We were firstly greeted by a rude, matronly waitress, who told us to shut up so that she could take our drinks orders. (Okay, so there was a rather large group of us making what I would hardly call a racket, but whatever happened to service). Her domineering nature promptly took us back to our schooldays.

We all ordered differing versions of the platters ... all of them came with some lovely red cabbage, coleslaw and baby potatoes (or so we were told). What arrived in front of us, were 8 inch wide plastic plates containing a mess of red cabbage, coleslaw and luke-warm potatoes, with a slab of meat plonked right on top of the mess. I have never met such an unappetising sight before. (There must be three pots of veg on some shelf somewhere, where they plonked a ladle full of each concoction onto each plate before they plopped the meat on top). The only thing edible on the plate was the slab of barbequed meat (which was admittedly tasty) ... but surely, that shouldn't have to cost you more than £10 in a cafe should it?

It might be authentic, and it might capture the ambience of a traditional American cafe ... but whatever you do, don't be tempted to make a trip to the toilet during your visit ..... it's bound to leave you feeling a little weak in the knees.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, April 13, 2006

I work near Spitafields Market and frequent the Arkansas about once a month and have never had anything other than a brilliant steak experience, so much so that the Arkansas has become a beloved institution with friends and colleagues alike. In a nutshell, the steaks are great and the environment is wonderfully spit and sawdust. If you're thinking about going, I'd suggest you call to reserve a table, especially on Fridays. When you get in, sit down, order a Liberty Ale (one of the finest micro brews in the world based in San Fransisco) and dive into the Irish Steak Sandwich. One reviewer was correct in that the meat is cooked on the rare side so order one degree up. I usually order my steaks medium rare but go for medium at the Arkansas.

Side dishes are separate, I like the mash. Beans aren't that great but the coleslaw and baby potatoes are wonderful. Bubba doesn't do chips out of what I can only define as either pure stuborness or that fact that he can't get a deep fryer. Who knows.

All in, great steaks, great bbq sauce, really nice staff and the best painting in all of London.
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Peder
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, March 03, 2006