Sabor

Went to Sabor as a large party on a packed Saturday night. The staff welcome & service was warm & friendly throughout. However, tables were insufficiently spaced out, & noise levels were deafeningly high, partly due to the loud music being played & partly due to customers having to speak up in response. This made the atmosphere feel more like that of a popular canteen than top notch restaurant.

However, noise & layout issues aside, the food was both unusual and delicious! Special mention must go to the Sweetcorn Fritters with Avocado Salsa, & Chorizo Colombiano...both were savoured by fellow guests with much gusto! For the mains, the star dish of the evening was without doubt the Conejo en Salsa de Chocolate - a tender, succulent rabbit stew made with chocolate sauce! And the cassave chips (Yuca Fritas) are not to be missed - crisp on the outside & beautifully fluffy on the inside...we could not help asking for seconds! Portions are generous, so many of us could not manage dessert, however those who did very much enjoyed the Alfajores con Helado de Café. At around £45 per head for 3 courses & wine, it was good value for money.

My only criticism of this restaurant is that service really should be much faster -drinks were slow to arrive (about 30 mins) and each course took about an hour to be served! My feeling is that too many tables have been crammed into a long narrow space to maximise the number of covers, thus overwhelming the small kitchen in the process.

Overall, despite the slow service, the quality of the food was very high, so I would certainly like to go back at a quieter time!
Comment on this reader review

NT
7 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Saturday, September 18, 2010

We had an amazing evening at Sabor on Saturday the 21 August,2010.

From arrival at 7.30 p.m. to departure at 11.15 p.m. we were greeted by very warm friendly knowledgeable staff. The dinner was exceptional, the menu extremely varied and the taste of the food was both interesting and enlightening.Great food. excellent latin vibe a romantic and fun place. We will definitely return when next in London.
Comment on this reader review

Jaqueline
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Went to Sabor last night and absolutely loved it. The staff were friendly and hopitable.I had Ceviche to start which I loved, my BF had the brazilian moqueca (a fish stew)which he loved. The rabbit for main was stupendous. This has just become one of favourite restaurants!
Comment on this reader review

Monica smith
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, July 26, 2010

Ate here over a month ago and was looking to go back - hence my use of the site.

Had great meal - Steak really was medium, not medium rare which so many places cock-up. Tried empanadas and yucca frites both for the first time - spot on!

A decent selections of wine and beer.

I didn't dessert - but friends did and said they were very good.

Waiters were attentive, polite and quick - despite it being very busy.

Great food, atmosphere and service: I am not one for tipping but here I felt it was deserved.

If I have to be negative - I had to go outside as I couldn't get a phone signal at my table - but I do not think anyone else minded! :-)
Comment on this reader review

Mike Shaw
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Had dinner on Friday for my birthday. Atmosphere was great, romantic table. The service was perfect, attentive without being over the top. My partner had the Scallops with passion fruit for starter & it was delicious. I had the cod ceviche, which was nice. For main I had the Ropa vieja, a cuba beef, which were very nice & my partner had the brazilian fish stew and that was superb. The wine list was mainly southamerican and all in all it was a lovely night out. Would definitely recommend it for fun dinner.
Comment on this reader review

George
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, March 02, 2010

I was at Sabor on Saturday night for my second time and they did it again...They blew me up again... Firstly I don't understand how they could recognise me as i have been there only once. They treated me as a king. They let me feel like if I knew every single person in the restaurant.

Food excellent, venue even better and the music is great

They are definitely doing something right as is one of the few restaurants in Essex Road that was packed.
Comment on this reader review

Giles
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 26, 2010

I visited this restaurant for the first time last night, deciding to visit after walking past a few times and liking the look of the menu and the atmosphere. Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment. My friend and I decided to order lots of little starters to share kind of like tapas which the waiter seemed to think was a good idea. We had Chorizo, sweetcorn fritters, empanadas and prawns with garlic. All of the dishes tasted like they had been frozen for months. The Chorizo was dry and flavourless, the sweetcorn fritters were something even Birdseye would be ashamed of and the prawns were horrible - crumbly and bitter. The empanadas were the best of a bad bunch but still tasted like something you might buy in a supermarket. The cocktails were not great either. All in all this was really not up to scratch and I'm really suprised that this restaurant still exists in London where people are becoming increasingly more demanding about what they pay for in restaurants. I will not be going back again and I urge you not to bother either.
Comment on this reader review

Kate
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Friday, November 13, 2009

This is a poor quality restaurant masquerading as a fine dining establishment,

The food was of poor quality which made the extortionate amount they were charging extremely difficult to justify, also they get quite nasty (aggressive) when you refuse to pay the 10% service charge and make it quite clear that you are not ever welcome in the restaurant if you do not pay the charge.

Overall, BAD food, BAD service, OVERPRICED and a confused restaurant.
Comment on this reader review

Timothy
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, April 10, 2009

Nice staff. Food was superb. We had the 3 courses for £17.50 and loved the salt fish croquettes, fish stew & ice cream. Great list of South American cocktails too. Will be back to this cute local restaurant.
Comment on this reader review

8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, April 02, 2009

I decided to take my parents, who were visiting, out for a great meal on Saturday night. I'd heard fab things about Sabor and it sounded like the ideal place to soak up some London atmosphere. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The service was appalling – it took 25 minutes for drinks to arrive then we were hassled to keep ordering more. Our food order was wrong in several ways, serving us more expensive dishes than we ordered, for example the £19.50 fillet steak instead of the requested rib-eye.

The starters had been tasty so we were looking forward to the mains. Although after an hour and fifteen minutes we were beginning to wish we hadn’t bothered. When it eventually came my husband’s was inedible, my mother's fish stew was adequate at best, and the expensive fillet hardly worthy of a greasy pub menu - all of it was luke-warm.

My husband's food was taken off the bill and he was offered an alternative but his appetite had failed by then. The manager was gracious in his apology but seemed to lose sympathy when I pointed out the other mistakes on the bill.

I left feeling like I had endured the worst meal I can remember eating in London, was severely disappointed and with a significantly lighter bank balance. In credit crunch times one expects good food and good value. This was neither.
Comment on this reader review

JK
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 08, 2009