Baroque

Admittedly after reading some really bad reviews for The Kiwi Kitchen I was a bit worried about taking some Americans, English and other Kiwis there for a birthday party. However, we were blown away by the service and our waiter was amazing. He was friendly, helpful, quick and also a Kiwi!! The food too was amazing and I was really impressed with the great range of food and all the NZ terminology on the menu was great for those who aren't from NZ. I had the pork which was divine and lots of kumara chips!! Everyone else really enjoyed their meals and we had a great night. The only thing we found a bit off putting is all the dodgy locals that turn up for the odd disco later on and we all left to go somewhere else. I think maybe the Kiwi Kitchen should branch out somewhere on their own away from Baroque. Doorman were very helpful though in ordering us a cab.
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Vick
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

great
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Joe
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, January 18, 2007

After looking forward to visiting this restaurant for so long we were highly disappointed with the overall experience. The staff were very slow and did not use any initiative when clearing the table, we were left with empty dishes from our previous course leaving a rather cluttered table. We were also left waiting to place our orders when it was not busy. The cocktails were a little disappointing - not good value for money.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Went along to Kiwi Kitchen for my birthday celebration. I had read the mixed reviews about the place but was keen to go there and have a good bit of kiwiana food. Had read previous reviews regarding the poor service, however nothing quite prepared me for just how shocking the service was. The restaurant wasn't overly busy during the evening and the two waitresses certainly spent a significant amount of time standing around at the bar chatting with the bar man and now and then, cleaned some glasses.

We were greeted in a friendly manner by the waitress who showed us to our reserved table. Menus were promptly presented and about 5 minutes later were asked for our drinks order which we gave. We were asked if we wanted to order our starter to which we asked for some more time. Wine was brought to the table, I was asked if I wanted to taste it, to which I replied yes, and then the waitress poured me a whole glass, I tasted, said it was fine, to which she plonked the bottle on the table without bothering to fill any one elses glass. After a long 25 mintues, I finally managed to catch the waitresses eye to come over and take our order. Ended up having to gather up our own menus as she never bothered to take them away. We asked if we could have some bread or something to nibble on while we were waiting for our mains. Waitress said she would have to check if that was possible and came back and said we could have some maori bread- great. Waited another 20 minutes- no bread in sight- asked waitress if it was coming- she went to check in the kitchen and then came back and asked if we wanted our bread toasted or not- obviously nothing had been done about it. We didn't bother with having it toasted as didn't want to wait another 20 minutes, so finally received 3 pieces of heavy and very salty bread.

Mains came out- and definately can't complain about those- we all had the same-lamb chump- great presentation and very tasty. Waitress came to collect plates as soon as last persons fork had hit the plate and she stacked the plates one on top of the other at my boyfriends place setting- managing to spray jus from the plates onto the table cloth and very nearly on us as she slammed on plate on top of the other. Have never seen anything like it in my life. We were asked if we wanted dessert, yes, menus brought over, given ample time to make our choice and orders taken, once again we were left to gather up our own menus and leave them at the end of the table for the waitress to come and collect. Desserts brought out. Waitress obviously expected us to eat icecream with our fingers as no spoons brought to us. Waited a few minutes before boyfriend had to get up and go and request cutlery. Waitress brought over spoons- handing them out like we were toddlers, with her fingers holding onto the part you actually eat off. All quite comical by this stage. So no, we didn't leave a tip as felt that we had received such bad service. Must add that were generally impressed with the food but would not go back due to shocking service. Training of waiting staff would be of huge benefit.
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Emma
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Friday, September 29, 2006

I arrived expecting little, and to my surprise got exactly that.

I love whitebait, appreciate the difficulty getting them blah,blah, blah ......but for Puha sake - make them without egg yolk and in fritters like piklets if you are indeed going to call them fritters, otherwise call them otherwise. Notwithstanding this I think £20 is totally fair food cost for a delicacy like this and congratualtions for sourcing them and putting them on your menu.

Full credit to your Paua fritter, delcicious, read above for same fritter/ fritters moot point - please.

Service - well for a start I have 200 things to do today above typing this - but feel compelled to make comment.

We had a new waitress - who was very courteous and fine, in fact she was more than pleasant - however the maitre'd was simply awful - management are you looking at who you are employing / sizing their uniforms correctly? She barked down orders at the apprentice, demanded she take our menus after ordering, which we had asked to retain as we had simply ordered entrees and were trying to get our head around the menu - simply too much information. Then she glared at us when we asked for no ice in our water, and make a song and dance about getting a new glass.

Wine list - if you are a kiwi restaurant do not be afraid to offer some decent wine, at c£25 a bottle I would have brought anything, and certainly was not in the slightest enthused by any of the offerings , so went for a Argentinian Malbec, something i never do.
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Jase Fleming
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 7
Friday, August 25, 2006

I went there for dinner with 6 others and had heard comments about the poor service but was pleasantly surprised. I had the salmon as my main and enjoyed it thoroughly. The mussels I think would have been more enjoyable served with less chilli and corinder as it over powered the mussel, the pavalova was delicious and a good sized serving. It would have been nice to hear some NZ music playing instead of the usual generic fare dished up at these types of bars/restaurants and also where was the NZ beer?
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Monday, August 21, 2006

All I can say is this place is fantastic, the food is wonderful - awesome ingredients and beautifully presented. I think some of the other reviewers on this site must have gone to the wrong place - it isn't a nasty theme bar, it's a really friendly restaurant with a taste of home! I went with a group of friends on Saturday night - we were over half an hour late and there was no drama, we were served water while we looked over the wine list and the waitress was helpful and obliging - even the chef came over to see if everything was ok. It's good to see a young kiwi passionate about his food and doing something about it - long live the kiwi kitchen!
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Jeanine
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, July 30, 2006

Went to lunch at the Kiwi Kitchen to surprise my Kiwi girlfriend who has wanted to go there since she arrived in the country.

It's quite a trek to get there - you have to be deliberately going there, because it's in Ealing. Still, I wouldn't have minded if it was good.

Unfortunately, it wasn't really up to much. When we arrived the place was almost deserted except for three staff members who were standing around chatting. One of the waitresses told us that our table was outside with some menus on, so we wandered outside and sat at a table with menus. A few minutes later the same waitress came out and told us that we were on the wrong table - but how were we supposed to know? Given that none of the staff were doing anything when we arrived, I would have expected to be shown to our table.

When I asked for a Kiwi beer (as I had never sampled any) I was told that they don't have any. Now that I find a bit silly - you're the only Kiwi restaurant, but you don't have any Kiwi beers? My girlfriend advised me to order L&P, which I did, and when it eventually did come it was very nice, much better than Coke or lemonade.

We looked at the menu, and were rather disappointed - the only Kiwi food was kumara chips and paua fritters, and some NZ mussels and Maori bread. The rest you'd see on any menu in any British pub. Not that I know much about NZ cuisine, but is this really all the food NZ has to offer?

The food took an age to come out, and when it did we were vaguely disappointed at the size of the portions - far too much empty space on the plate. The quality was so-so. Not bad enough to complain about, but not what it should have been. The two blonde Kiwi waitresses were top-notch in the friendliness department, though.

The tills were on the blink, so I was asked to pay the wrong bill, which I was quick to point out (it was twice as ours). The people paying their bills in front of us were kicking off about several things (especially the speed of service), so I guess they were having a bad day at the Kiwi Kitchen. Still, reading the other reviews here, we see several recurring themes - bad service and mediocre food.

Considering that this is the only NZ restaurant, I would expect it to be pretty damn good. If the owners read these reviews, I'd suggest the following to them:

1. Get some leadership on the floor - there didn't appear to be any direction or efficiency of service.

2. Invest some time in training up your staff.

3. Take more trouble over the presentation of your food.

4. Of the reviews on this site, 9 are positive, 8 (including this one) are negative, and 3 are so-so. Also note that the old reviews were good, and many of the new reviews are bad. That's just not good enough for the long run, guys.

We were staying in Mayfair, and it took 3 hours to get there by tube, eat and get back, and that includes over two hours spent at the Kiwi Kitchen - we only had one course!

I'm not slagging the place off - it's got potential. But if this is the only real NZ dining experience in Britain, then you need to make an effort to impress your customers, even only if out of national pride.

Note to potential customers: don't expect a 'proper' restaurant - it's a pub.
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Matt
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Saturday, July 29, 2006

As a 21st birthday present from my boyfriend he took me (a kiwi lass) to London. He always knew i had wanted to go to the Kiwi kitchen so we went all the way to Ealing to have lunch there.

Both my boyfriend and i have considerable work experience in hotels and food&beverage sector so are really keen diners.

We were told our table was out the back but we were not lead to the table so we intitaly sat at the wrong one until we were corrected. I know that might seem a little picky but it is standard in most places, especialy in London.

I did feel at little cheated that we were not served by fellow kiwi's but thats no biggie.

I have to say when i saw the menu i was a little bit disappointed. It was mainly the fact the menu did not seem very kiwi. The majority of the food was something you could get anywhere, but with a kiwi side dish eg. kumara chips.

We had to wait a condierable amount our time for our food even though we were one of the first people there. I did enjoy my meal but i just wished there was a little more to it.

My britsh boyfriend was keen to try our famous kiwi beers, but surprisingly it turns out they do not supply any at the kiwi kitchen. We were glad that they did have L&P though.

Overall i was glad that we went as i managed to full my urge to eat kumara (which i have been without for 3 years). The main reason i enjoyed my meal is because i was with my boyfriend.I did want him to have a really good kiwi experience as well as having one myself. I was relishing in the oportunity to show off my homeland but i did not have that oportunity.

I fully understand that some items have to be imported and there can be hold ups in the kitchen or with service but it did not seem they had any reason or explaination for what happened at the kiwi kitchen.

It also appears that they did not have any floor management to keep things organised as well.

As the only kiwi restaurant that i know of i thought they would aim to be the best but as they do not have any competition they can do what they want and still get customers (a bit like a road side hotel i think as they are a below par, still get customers but do not rely on repeat custom). I know that if you complain or are disatisfied you should say at the ASAP but most of the things i have brought to attention obvously cant be changed at the snap of a finger.

The kiwi kichen is fine if you want a 'Weatherspoon' like experience but it is definatley not some thing to get your hopes up on.
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NZ- Jade
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Saturday, July 29, 2006

I ate at the Kiwi Kitchen this evening, and let me preface this review by saying Id spent an hour on the tube (an hour 30 total, making for for an unpatient patron) to get there with my beautiful kiwi girlfriend. What we discovered was a non-descript but pleasant eatery that has rocketed to the top of our "food in London list."

Service: friendly, and if anything, over helpful, but well worthy of their tip at the end of the night (friendly, and knowledgable in London? Yes).

Food: In London for three years, and this rates as one of the best meals in all my time here. Meat perfectly done. Sides delicately arranged, and finally, dessert to die for. Where else can you get a real feijoa outside of NZ?

Drink: amazing wine list. Gold medal wines.

Entertainment: Live jazz band kicking in half way through the meal? yes please.

Final analysis: If you want medium priced, excellent, unique food - find the kiwi kitchen, You'll see me there.
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Travis
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, July 27, 2006