Chakalaka (Putney)

A late review, however worth noting. The waiter service was shambolic with a new waiter managing our table every 15minutes. Our drinks order was slow to arrive. When it did, the bottled beers were warm and i gave up asking for a glass of water.

Three curries were ordered, and the advertised sides didn't appear. When chased, only one portion was delivered. The fish was lovely.

Synopsis: Shambolic & disappointing experience
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Adrian
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Monday, November 29, 2010

I have eaten here on many occassions but on my recent visit, I was so disappointed by the service in the restaurant. The food was lovely as always, however, everything I ordered off the menu was not in stock (at least 3 different items). The waiter wasn't clued up about the food and there was some confusion as to what was on my plate. On a quiet Wednesday night, I had to wait ages to ask for the bill only to have to go up to the counter 20 mins later to find a staff member and pay at the desk, rather than settle the bill at the table. I think Chakalaka needs to jack up their staff if they want people to come back. To travel from Essex to eat here is a special treat for me, I wouldn't like to be disappointed again by the staff.
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5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Sunday, October 17, 2010

I attended on Saturday 9th October having been highly recommended. Initial impressions were the place was very rustic. It was extremely noisy both upstairs and down with two very large parties. We were not informed of this when we booked. We decided to skip the starter and went straight for the main course, we shouldn''t have bothered because the main was starteresque in size anyway. The meat was tough to say the least and the whole experience was an unfortunate and expensive mistake. The noise was so deafening we were unable to have a conversation and left after the 'mains'

Our table was situated upstairs where the walls were adorned with crude african paintings for sale at various prices. These poor quality amateur attempts at art characterised the essence of our dining experience. On the plus side, our waiter was very pleasant and apologetic.
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john hart
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 11, 2010

Being from South Africa my partner and I were really looking forward to dig into some delicious South African food. It is one of those things one really misses when so far away from home.

We ordered the T-Bone steak, Spatchcock chicken and a side order of pumpkin cakes. Like many South Africans, I take my steak very serious. It has to be ripe, tender and cooked to perfection. The menu boasts that the steak comes from Namibia but it is obvious that the chef has no clue what he is doing. Asked for a medium rare and managed to get a medium with black scorches around the edges. Crispy steak. Utter disappointment. The chicken had the wrong sauce and the pumpkin cakes arrived late and cold. Somehow they managed to burn the pumpkin cakes as well.

Not recommended.

If you want to set a reputation as a South African restaurant, please make sure you do it properly.
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2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Chakalaka Wimbledon: I was really looking forward to supporting an SA restaurant with Namibian steaks and home cooked food. My starter arrived - Peri-peri chicken livers - my favourite. But these were hot and as I ate I realised that they were far too hot as if it was a mistake. I began sweating and made a comment to the waitress. When our mains arrived, one of our party had ordered peri-peri ribs. These were even worse and when eating them you had to decide - do I stop eating and complain or just try carry on and if you did you had to choo quickly and swallow - a nasty experience. My steak was full of sinew. By this time the table joking about each others meals turned to annoyance. When we asked to speak to the owner he did not know what sinew was and when I explained he still didnt get it! He made an excuse about staff not arriving at work - a porter which we then found out has never worked at the restaurant. I asked him if he had tried the peri-peri sauce -he hadn't. If I was English I would have caused more of a stink. You dont serve food that hot without warnings on the menu! The owner never took us seriously and offered my friend a stater to make up for running out of ribs on an all you can eat offer. He was only after the BBQ ribs after the awful peri-peri experience. This is coming from someone who lived in Durban, eats vindaloos and other hot food. Overall it made the expereince very unpleasant and I walked out of the place angry and felt ripped off. How can South African food be worse than a hot curry? I am all for supporting other South Africans starting a business here, but if they are going to be this bad, why bother - I am ashamed to think they give us a bad rep in London cos they just dont care!
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Craig
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Thursday, February 25, 2010

Our experience at the Putney branch was not good. Its not good value for money.

I wouldn't go back to this restuarant. They served us food, but no one came to do a check back on us. If they had to do a check back then I would have told them my opinion. The gravy was very salty, the mash (I think it was caramelised parsnip mash) was too sweet and too much cinnamon. The meat was excellent.
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Emilda
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 05, 2010

Had table for 6 there last night.

Starter of Boerewors was basically a small sausage with some bland side (I thought Boerewors were a large round sausage??)

Main was the rump skewers which was not only tasteless, but chunks of meat varied from one large lump down to a peanut size piece of gristle. All covered in a cheap BBQ sauce.

Best bit was that it took about an hour for the mains to come after the starter. It takes 5 mins to charcoal grill a skewer medium rare - what the hell were they doing in the kitchen?!

Advice - stay away from this place.
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Will - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, October 09, 2009

the food, atmosphere and service at this restaurant was excellent. BEWARE however that the owner of this restaurant has the cheek to demand 12.5% for service - not discretionary. Given recent media attention to restaurant owners doing this to pay staff wages we objected to paying this - although we did leave a tip of £4 for a table of 2. Unfortunately for the staff they are put in the position of trying to persuade diners that they must pay this, though im not sure of the legality of it - as its on the bill the tip goes straight to the owner. This put a bit of a dampner on our evening - we felt really sorry for the staff as i think they took it personally however its a matter of principle. Maybe something to check when you book.
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darren
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Sunday, April 26, 2009