Chef Collin Brown Caribbean Restaurant

One star because I had to - I am all for supporting black business, but I will never step foot in this place again - nor will I recommend it.

We had a table booked for 8:00 for a party of 5. Two of us arrived first, were left standing in the "reception area" the so called manager (ahem) looked at me a number of times before being inconvenienced by having to come over to assist us.

After checking the booking, we were told to "go and stand over there" which was then turned into "or you can sit at the bar", great customer service hey!!

After 10 minutes of being ignored and not a single offer to take our coats etc, I asked for a drinks menu. 5 - 7 minutes later I was still waiting.

Meanwhile the others arrived. We were still waiting with our coats on and sat at the bar for another 10 minutes before being offered a drinks menu.

We ordered our drinks 3 mojitos which for the record are not made with freshly squeezed lime but jif and cost £7+ (but big up to the bar man - he was very nice and professional unlike the so called manager) and decided to go to our table ourselves as we were being totally ignored...

There were only 3 chairs. We had been there for at least 35 minutes already - How was this table STILL not ready??!

We decided that we would keep our hard earned money and go elsewhere - we were not prepared to be treated like rubbish in this place for the whole night. We paid for our drinks and asked to speak with the manager.

The so called manager is rude, obnoxious and far from professional. In fact, the mind boggles as to how she is the manager. (cough cough...)

We kindly put our grievances towards her, and unlike most normal managers who usually have wonderful customer service skills, this woman did not even offer up an apology.

She then proceeded to act as if she was working on the till while one of us spoke, minimal eye contact or response at times. Very rude and unprofessional, and rather spiteful in my opinion. This woman has ZERO people skills.

When asked if she felt to apologise for how we had been made to feel she replied no and carried on working. She then walked off. She had nothing but an unpleasant attitude from the moment that we first walked in there. It actually felt like I was in Nandos being given a sassy attitude by a spotty teenager, I am quite embarrassed for her. This is not something that I expect from what is meant to be a fine dining restaurant.

Never again, if you want to be left feeling demoralised and if you like below standard customer services, this is the spot for you. Dear chef Colin Brown, believe me I am all for supporting our business but with women like this fronting a so called Caribbean business, NO THANK YOU!
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Anne Hector
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, December 11, 2011

Absolutely wonderful, great to find a resturant with class in food and atmosphere
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Andrea - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 08, 2011

This was my first experience of Jamaican food and what an introduction it was. The food was absolutely superb. We went on a relatively quiet evening so we had special attention with regard to service, although i can imagine that this standard is maintained even during busier periods.

I highly recommend a visit, I will be going again!
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 25, 2011

Having read some negative reviews about this restaurant, I was more than a little apprehensive about going there but I'm so glad I decided to try it for myself. The food, atmosphere and overall experience was fantastic. I had lobster to start, which was amazing. My main meal of curry goat was delicious and my dessert of rum cake also tasted amazing. The cocktails were devine!

If you want a cheap 'all you can eat' type carribean restaurant then this is not the place for you, but if you want to enjoy some fine dining with amazing carribean flavours then I 100% recommend this restaurant and I will definitely go back again.
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londongilr8 - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, February 13, 2011

I have eaten here several times this year and i was impressed with the quality of the food served. Caribbean food does not get any rave reviews being put in a takeway bag. Colin has expressed the food in a different way not known to many peoe form the Caribbean and he must be applauded for his efforts. I did get to speak to collin after one of my meals ,on his outlook in developing the rang of our cuisine. He said that he was 'taking the caribbean cuisine to another level' This is shown in his Seabass on a bed of mash and surrounded in a delicious sauce, my favourite. The famous black cake with a hint of cinnamon. He has more meals to offer given the chance. i feel he is holding back! The flavours of the Caribbean are endless and what he has achieved so far is a great feat in fine dinning arena. As a young chef he has served us well -tell me you can find a fine dining Caribbean restaurant in London ?

The prices are reasonable and if kept at these prices you can spend £50.00 for two which i believe is pitched just right. The ambiance, music and decor is fitting for an evening out .

I wish him all the best for the future.
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Glenda Trew
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Hi, I too do not normally write reviews but I was so moved to do so having read the previous drivel!!

I have had the privilege of dining at Chef Colin Brown’s restaurant on numerous occasions and would like to take this opportunity to applaud his efforts to bring quality cooking at affordable prices to all.

A previous review stated: “as is quite clear - the chef takes no pride in his cooking, and has no idea how to cook Caribbean food.” This is a very interesting statement considering Colin is one of the foremost Caribbean chefs in the UK and is three times Caribbean Chef of the Year as well as being shortlisted for the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs Awards in the United Kingdom (UK), known as the Chef’s Oscars!!

The fact that Colin has been able to create an imaginative menu consisting of three courses for under 30 quid, especially when Caribbean food is so notoriously expensive to buy, is a tribute to him and his staff.

I think Colin’s dream was to bring the “fine dining” experience to all, alas I fear that there are those that will always prefer the £5 ALL U CAN EAT @ Charlie Chans!!! ................. No great loss!!

WELL DONE COLIN!!
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Baz
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 12, 2010

I don't normally write restaurant reviews but felt I should after dining at this restaurant. I would have to say that this is without a doubt one of the worst meals I have ever eaten. Firstly the menu is very small which is not really a problem however, they did not have one of the starters - Lobster - which appears to be one of their main features, instead I ordered a vegetable fritter. What I was given was a very dry, salty fried dumpling with a slight twist and very little sauce to moisten my pallet. The next course was Seabass with potato and spinach, although this meal was acceptable it was not what I would expect from an award winning chef. Very basic with no caribbean flavor at all. I finished with a banana cake and custard which was cold, though this was to be expected as the plate was equally cold. The flavor itself was OK.

For a meal that costs £27.50 for three courses I would expect more, especially when you take into consideration that caribbean food is sold at many takeaway outlets with higher standards than this so called restaurant. I would not advise anyone to visit this restaurant because - as is quite clear - the chef takes no pride in his cooking, and has no idea how to cook caribbean food.
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Friday, June 18, 2010

Last night my daughter took 38 people to Chef Collin Brown's restaurant for her 25th birthday celebration. I had visited the restaurant previously and was concerned to note there were just TWO serving staff. I spoke with the manageress and confirmed with her that there would be more servers. Needless to say there were only TWO servers for a restaurant that had approximately 60 people dining through out the evening. The service was slow. The food luke warm and mediocre at best. They ran out of coca cola (?!), gingerbeer, guinness punch... ONE fried dumpling was cut into SIX pieces and charged as a side at £4.00 (doesn't that cost about 5p in total to make - including labour?) Do they not check their diner listings for the week to come? The ladies loos were filthy. Of only two cubicles, one was broken. Two wash hand basins one was broken and had no tap. Grubby. Yuk! The chef was RUDE RUDE RUDE and will NEVER see a penny of my money again, neither I dare say will any of the other 37 be gracing his premises again.
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vivienne
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, May 29, 2010