Mama Calabar

I was at the Restaurant for the last time in Oct. 2010 (even though I used to patronise the restaurant almost every Friday from 2006) because of the Manager who has no customer service at all.

The waiting time is long, I however ordered well in advance to mitigate this so that by the time I get there, the food was ready. I sometime have to wait when I get there even after ordering 30 minutes in advance.
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6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Friday, December 30, 2011

I have eaten in Mama Calabar several times both in Henden and in Wembley. I have always enjoyed the meals and do not hesitate in recommending it to anyone who wants to have a good African meal and drinks in a very good environment.
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MKM
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Saturday, November 19, 2011

Here's the brief story... Visited Mama Calabar last Friday. Waited 15 minutes to be asked for my order... waited 30 mins for my starters... nothing arrived... asked a passing waitress how long before i could expect my food... assured me 5 minutes... bearing in mind that i had been in a restaurant for 45 mins without a morsel i advised that i would be leaving if the starters were not served in 5 minutes as promised... waited another 15 minutes... still nothing... left after an hour with not even a glimpse of starters... was charge £4 for two fruit juice... i'll leave you to make your own minds up...
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Sirion
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Monday, October 31, 2011

I have been in Europe for about 8 days and was home sick because I have not "swallowed" in those beautiful days. In Paris it was always bread and it derivatives and Rome Italy was worst with their pasta.

Upon arriving London, the first thing I did was to google "Nigerian Resturant" pronto Mama Calabar came up located in Wembley and I was staying at the Jumeirah Hotel in Knightsbridge. Distance will not be a problem when you are hungry for "Mummy's food".

I was not disappointed! My wife will never give me the size of pounded yam they gave me because I eat very little at a time. You know what? I finished it and almost ordered take away. It was so nice. I slept off on my way back to the hotel in the train. I guess I was snoring. Who cares!

Today is my birthday and I am going there once again to spoil myself a little.
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Daniel Osazuwa
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I was out shopping with my hubbie at Ikea and we decided to go to mama calabar to eat some nigerian food. The food, environment and service was great and i will go back again.

The not so positive comment is that the entrance and lift is not so nice so the companies in the building should get together and refurbish the communal areas.

i heard that friday night is entertainment etc so i am looking forward to going there again one of these days.
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Amaka
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, July 15, 2011

On our last night on vacation in London, we wanted to taste some food from our old home and tried mama Calabar.

The starter took more than 35 minutes to arrive, and there were only 3 tables of customers. We finished the starter.. and then sat patiently waiting and waiting.. and waiting. 45 minutes later (We had been at the table for more than 1 1/2 hours), I finally told the waiter to put our food in a bag. Our baby son was getting tired, as we did not plan to stay there this long. When they finally brought the food, they said it had been ready for a while but they were waiting for us to tell them bring it.. Me and my wife lived in West Africa for years, and we have travelled all over eating in various restaurants in the world.. never have I seen this, without first being told that is the procedure.

When we finally got our doggy bag back to the Stansted airport hotel after 10pm and a long drive, one of the dishes was not what we ordered.

On the plus side, the food was tasty and authentic, and it was quite easy to find by car. Overall, extremely disappointed, as we had been looking forward to this on our vacation, because my wife is African and had not eaten authentic African cuisine in nearly a year.
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phmw - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Monday, June 20, 2011

the environment is very welcoming and the staff are always at your service. yes, you do have to wait a little before you get you meal and that's because it's been cooked from scratch. Trust me, the taste of the food is worth the wait. As for the price, it's good value to me. In a nutshell, this is the only Nigerian restaurant in London I feel proud about and I always and would continue recommending people to this lovely restaurant in wembley.
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femi oladokun
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, April 28, 2011

Very disappointing. No children menu. Had to wait over 30mins for a starter and only two other customers which had been served were in the restaurant.

Had jallof rice and beef stew with beans, they did as a set menu for 1 person that cost £15. At that price I thought it would be enough to share with my 4yr old since no children menus, I was wrong. The portion size is worth about £6.00 in other restaurants for a set meal. You would think this restaurant had 5 Michelin stars the way they were tight with the food.

Taste was standard couldn't get over the wait for starter an main so was a lil tense especially after the child size portion.

Only for people who want to impress people that they have money to waste to be honest. Best to go to your local at least you get what you pay for.

Will not recommend or go back due to the fact I left hungry and felt robbed for what I paid for.
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2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Friday, April 22, 2011

The entrance is less than breathtaking, but once you walk into Mamma Calabar you're in for a treat.

Friendly, attentive and refreshingly honest staff who cater to your needs but don't lie about slight inconveniences. For example,we did have to wait about 15mins for our starter and a further half n hr for the main (we were advised to order both together) but we were assured up front that this is because EVERYTHING is cooked from scratch, and, trust me, you can taste it. :)

The presentation and service was top notch, portion sized were generous and they even play Nollywood movies during your meal. The bar was understocked but with the lovely atmosphere (and the excellent range of authentic Nigerian Malt drinks) we didn't need alcohol :) All in all it was a lovely dining experience and I'd love to go back...perhaps on the weekends when they lay on a buffet :)
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Baybii Ayo
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The first time I went to this restaurant was 7 years back when it was in Hendon and even though the service was absolutely and enormously TERRIBLE the food was excellent...just to elaborate, terrible in this case meant horrifically RUDE staff. My flatmate and a few others have been there and experienced the same service so maybe I didn’t have a right to complain!!

However out of passion for the food and lethargy of having to travel far to eat African food I revisited it again sometime 2 years back and I was thoroughly disappointed. The food tasted stale like it was defrosted and warmed up although they did take 2 hours to MAKE the food leaving me to believe how amazing it should turn out since its being made from scratch. Perhaps they just wanted us to think that its fresh that’s why it took too long to bring out....at that time I had sort of decided that I might never visit this place again. Although again out of greed a few weeks back I felt like giving this place another chance as I refused to believe that a restaurant that served such delicious food at one time could have deteriorated that much in quality. So I ordered take away from here and surprisingly I wasn’t as disappointed as my pervious visit..the food was not amazing but very decent and the staff wasn’t rude over the phone. So now I thought this place is changing slowly but steadily. So I ordered again and this time for delivery. The lady on the phone was nice took my order and explained exactly how much the bill was, which was £18.50 and even suggested what I could order. I was happy until AN HOUR AND A HALF later I still don’t have the food. I called back to chase it and a man picked up and said it’s just on its way and I will have it in 5 minutes (as its a 2 min drive and a 15-20 min walk from their restaurant) 20 minutes later I still don’t have the food so I call them back so now the lady says I should receive it anytime and the bill was probably £19.50 AND.... here comes the shocker I have to pay for deliver!!!

I was shocked and I asked WHY this wasn’t mentioned before so the lady conveniently says that YOU DIDNT ASK.... also she adds that she asked me wether I ordered from there before so I obviously said I had...because well I had...and now when I asked her why wasn’t I told there will be a delivery charge she has the audacity to say that this isn’t a Chinese takeaway or a pizza parlour and I ASKED YOU IF YOU HAD ORDERED FROM HERE BEFORE....and to make things better the cab driver is now downstairs ringing my bell who hands my husband a bill of...wait for it £20.50 and charges £7 for delivery...£7 for a distance which is approximately 0.7 miles on Google maps!!!!!!!!!!! Then the Grand Finale when the woman on the phone, after approximately 2 hours of ordering the food, when I haven’t eaten anything all day, asks me to either pay for the cab or return the food to the cab driver to send it back....WOW I could NOT have had a better experience with any restaurant. I don’t need to say anymore.....
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Sonali
3 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Sunday, February 27, 2011