Mama Calabar

We went for a friends birthday meal; Very poor service, can't believe we ended up paying service charge for a very poor service. The waiter who took care of our menu was very rude, from my experience you don't scream at customers which she did, and we had to wait 2 hrs for the food. Even the manager was having a go at the guest. We went with a mixture of people with different backgrounds and nationality and they all left with a bad impression of nigerian food and nigerian restaurants. So far i've been to two nigerian restaurants for birthdays. the first 805 and our food took 2:30hrs the manager apologized and cancelled the service charge. I will not recommend this place to anyone. It's not like they care, nigerian restaurants don't care about reviews or there customers. That's why they can't make the cut in the industry.
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anonymous
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Monday, August 25, 2008

Am not pleased with the food.
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tomi
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 0
Thursday, August 07, 2008

I have been to Mama Calabar a couple of times and I must admit I am not impressed with the food. I am not African although my husband is and although I can only cook 4 Nigerian dishes - Jolof rice, Stew, Ogbono soup, Egusi soup and pounded yam my husband says I do it perfectly.

Mama Calabar you need to step up your act.

NB: Although your restaurant looks great - the food is zilch
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Afi
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

I would like to give Mama Calabar the award of being the worst African restaurant in London - poor service, poor food, poor waiting time! compared to others. I will never waste £1 in that place again. A pretty atmosphere doesn't make you the best!
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G.M.
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Saturday, July 05, 2008

I believe everyone has a right to write a sincere review about their experience.It is wrong to say that the other reviewer is lying, considering the fact that you were not there when it happened, so you can only speak for yourself. Thisi is not about giving anyone or restaurant bad name, it is about writing a review about YOUR experience.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 6
Thursday, April 24, 2008

Reagarding the comment i read about the person who didn't leave their name.You said that you went to mama calabar and te waiter/waitress refused to greet you as you entered and he or she pulled the chair hard then 10 minutes later you had to leave ,i think you are trying to exaggerate and try to give bad name to the restaurant.the thing i know is that the staff really try their best ,personally i always go to mama calabar with my friends every weekend and the staff are always nice and we always order our food before we get there and i would like to advise anyone who wants to go and have a meal there always order first then they will tell you the waiting time and you wont be disappointed.
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DEOGRACIOUS
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Myself and my partner went to Mama Calabar some time back for our annaversary. we where greeted with a member of Staff who firstly ignored us for the best part of 10 minutes as we stood at the doorway. she the dragged herself over with a face sour than a lemon and kissed her teeth when we asked to be seated. she literealy flung the chair back and then stomped off. we where left sitting there for almost 20 minutes before we decided to get up and leave.. One these restauants neec to understand is that WE are there business and if we stop coming to their restaurants then they will go out of business... why is it so hard to treat those ( who are paying your bills i.e Customers) with so much disrespect.. this is why we go to the chinese or itilian as weather they like us or not they give you great service "with a smile" . this is why we always go back... i have not been back to Mama Calibars since this has happened but am going to be going within the next week.. will update on my experience after this time....
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Blessed
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Friday, February 08, 2008

It's a shame that the poor comments started in 2004 and yet the waiting times and prices have not improved despite being at the back end of 2007!

I love the food here - it is fantastic don't get me wrong. However, waiting times are an issue because they take way too long to bring your food. Not good if you're starving or have to be somewhere in a couple of hours.

The waiters/waitresses are miserable too. You almost feel bad for calling them to take your plate. Many times they have forgotten to bring drinks to the table and they always seem bored and de-motivated. However, some (I stress only "some") are apologetic for taking forever to come to your assistance but I was stunned not to be offered any discount on the meal or free drink to compensate for the unacceptable service. Well, I guess if they gave a discount for every complaint received about service, they probably wouldn't have a business!

Its also very expensive but in defence, the portion sizes are quite large.

Inside, the decor and furnishngs are pleasing to the eye and you forget that you are in fact situated within quite an unsighlty office block but that's the 21st century for you!

It's a nice restaurant for the food - so many compliments to the chef....it's just all the other rubbish that goes with it.

Change your staff, change your prices, reduce waiting times but keep up the excellent work on the tasty food!
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abc
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, November 11, 2007

I went to Mama Calabar yesterday and I was deeply disappointed with the service this was my first experience and I went based on reviews given to me years ago. The wait for the food was over 2hrs by which time I had lost my appetite. The food was nice but not worth the wait.
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Khandie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Saturday, September 15, 2007

Went to the resturant for my cousins birthday, there was a party of twenty. We arrived just after 9pm. Food did not start arriving until after 11:30pm and when it did finally arrive it came in dribs and drabs and some of it was cold.

I order Stock Fish, Fried Yam and Efo riro, my dish was vey nice but because it arrived so late I could not eat much. My friend ordered Jollof Rice and Chicken. The Jollof Rice was over cooked and very dissapointing.

For years I have wanted to vsit the resturant and if the truth be told it does not live up to the hype. The manageress was very abusive towards her staff, which I found very uncomfortable. There was one waiter trying to serve twenty of us, despite the fact that there was several other waiters just standing around doing NOTHING. Errors were made, but I would not blame the waiter. He was very helpful and tried his best.

My experience is not a positive one unfortunately and I cannot recommend the resturant to anyone. African resturants are no longer as exclusive as they once were 10 years ago, so nobody has to tolerate that kind of service. Also foud the prices to be higher in comparison to other African Resturants. I would not have minded paying extra if the service was good.

There are so many good african resturants in London, my advice would be to avoid this one.
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Tyra
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, September 15, 2007