Trojka

The only reason my birthday at Trojka was enjoyable was because of my friends and had little to do with the food at Trojka and nothing to do with the "service" we recieved. First of all, on arriving I was told that I needed to pay for bringing in my own cake which surprised me quite a bit as I'd never had that experience in a restaurant before, even restaurants much nicer and more expensive than Trojka.

The food when it arrived was satisfactory but not remarkable although a few of my guests did enjoy the dishes, the portions however seemed small especially for the price that we were paying. Then I asked for my cake to be brought out and requested the right amount of candles to be put out and the manager smiled and agreed. So I was a bit annoyed that when they brought out the cake (that I was afterall paying for to eat in the restaurant), with about 10 candles short and not even in their candle holders, especially as I myself used to make more of an effort with people's birthday cakes when I worked in a fast-food restaurant.

The Worst thing however was when at the end of the night, me and my remaining guests were lumped with with an additional £17 service charge on top of the £10 charge for eating our own cake, despite the fact that their menu clearly states "no additional service charge." When I queried this I was spoken to quite rudely and accused of having a bad attitude! The manager told me that if I went into any restaurant with over 6 people there would be an automatic service charge! Obviously not any restaurant I have ever been in (and I have been to quite a few)!

Eventually me and my few remaining guests divided the sum between us. What realy put the whole sting into the situation though is that the manager and staff had watched many of my guests gradually going and leaving the rest of us money for their food without mentioning that at the end the whole table would be charged so much for service, a charge that I don't believe was even deserved for the "service" we recieved! All in all I was thoroughly angry with the way we were treated and neither I nor any my freinds shall ever be returning. Not once were we (a group of recent graduates and university students) treated in a welcoming way and it felt as though the management and staff would rather had the custom of the wealthier nearby Primrose Hill residents than us.

It is a great shame though as the decor is very nice but I expected more of the food (especially as I am Russian), and the service was shockingly inadequate.
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Yana E
2 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, December 23, 2010

The visit to Troika was a huge disappointment to us. Pelmeni is a scrumptious, easy to prepare peasant dish, but I doubt that what I got was freshly prepared. It looked and tasted as something that spend its fair time in resting in the freezer. My partner's schnitzel was dry, burnt and tasteless.

The decor of the restaurant, together with the Chagall style stain window is fantastic, but the atmosphere was spoilt by the staff having Basia (from Matt Bianco) on the loop in their stereo. I have nothing against Basia, but it is not music for a Russian cafe. Also, the wait for the waitresses to even notice us, let alone bring us food was far too long.

I will never go back again as this was one of my worst London restaurant experiences I have ever had.

It is a shame as under a different management, this place could be fantastic.
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, August 10, 2010

It's really great here - authentic Russian and Eastern European dishes served in an inclusive atmosphere at value-for-money prices.

Any dish with smoked salmon is great because they use such good smoked salmon. Same goes for egg dishes, must be organic/free-range if taste is anything to go by.

Best dish is a hard choice, but if pushed it would be Coulibiak, salmon fillet with buckwheat and (garlicky) spinach, encased in light pastry, in a tomato sauce well-seasoned with marjoram. Just magical with a side order of latkes (fried potato cakes). Dessert-wise, the baked cheesecake is always good, and keep an eye on the Charlotte (aka apple crumble) in the vitrine, always good with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, but especially good when there is a bit of plum in with the apple!

We don't drink vodka, but I can imagine it might be fun to come here and sample the many vodkas, if you had tomorrow off.

It's a great place - just give it a go!
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PaulH
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, June 19, 2010

Each of our three visits to Trojka have been spoilt by the unbelievably long wait for dishes to arrive. Although the food is good, the size of each portion is also a disappointment. This is a real shame as outwardly this looks like a really nice restaurant with a great menu and décor in a lovely neighbourhood.
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Ced - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, April 11, 2010

People between 0.008 months and 800 years can enjoy this place - the atmosphere is so inclusive and the menu so flexible. Coulibiak, sauerkraut and Pelmeni are highlights but it's all good. Anyone that doesn't like it here needs their head looking at!
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Paul Hackworth
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 05, 2010

It surprises me that a restaurant can keep going when it is run in this way. The decor is lovely, warm and inviting. The menu is extensive and traditional. The experience was terrible....

Two of the mains we ordered did not have the second most important ingredient, pumpkin. Instead of being told that this had 'run out' (despite another person we were with having obvious blobs of pumpkin on her food), it was replaced by cold bits of tomato. The result was a lukewarm meal that tasted predominantly of raw tomato.

We ordered vegetables on the side of a main, which didn't appear. We were told it was on its way, but it didn't turn up. When asked why, the waiter answered, 'what, and you've never made a mistake in your life?' Not a good response. A simple bowl of spinach isn't hard to get right.

The dessert was fine, but not remarkable. The waiter oh-so-kindly provided one cup of coffee on the house, despite three of the five meals being an obvious disappointment.

When the bill came, the printed text at the bottom 'Service charge not included' had been messily crossed out by the waiter and he'd written his own amount and added it to the bill. We paid for our food, stating we wanted to add our own tip. He had a tantrum. He asked us if we really thought £7 was such a lot of money (which really wasn't the point) and made us pay for the complementary coffee. He claimed not to need our business, or anyone we might have recommended the place to, as his restaurant was full. True, but the tables were occupied by an average age of 80+....so I think he needs to think again.
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403K - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, March 30, 2009