Waltham Forest
Marmelo Kitchen

Marmelo Kitchen

169 Francis Road, E10 6NT, Waltham Forest, United Kingdom

Cafés • Seafood • European • Vegetarian


"It is with a heavy heart that I shall not be returning to Marmelo Kitchen. I've had several brilliant brunches and evening meals there, but the place has completely gone downhill. At brunch today my boyfriend ordered the chicken. A very small quarter came out that was hot on the outside and stone cold in the middle. I tried a bit and immediately spat it out on my plate frightened of food poisoning. We told the waiter, and the chicken was taken away, to be replaced. We were amazed when the same bit of chicken minus the piece I had spat out was returned to us a few minutes later (presumably after being put in the microwave). It is incredibly dangerous to reheat chicken unless it has been completely cooled and then reheated and I don't believe there could have been time for the chef to have put it in the microwave, turn it halfway, check the temperature in the middle with a thermometer and return it to our table in the few minutes the incident took. I asked the waiter to take the chicken away again saying we didn't want it. He was very apologetic, asked if we wanted anything else, we said we didn't, we would just share my meal. Then the woman who seemed to be in charge came over and without a hint of an apology said she thought we just wanted the chicken warmed up. I said it should seem obvious we would want a replacement. Unperturbed, she just said no problem (her meaning being as in, no problem we didn't want the reheated food that hadn't been properly cooked in the first place). Also worth noting that the fresh fruit juice is no longer squeezed fresh at the restaurant our orange juice was nothing more than what you get from an upmarket supermarket none of the froth that comes with freshly squeezed juice. The glasses are also very small at £2.50 each, the size has been reduced from what it used to be. Again, the coffees are much smaller but still to die for, I shall miss them very much! My sausage and egg muffin was delicious, no complaints there, I really enjoyed it, and my only complaint was sharing it with my partner so he didn't go hungry. I want to make very clear that the young man who served us apologised several times about the chicken, acted in a most professional manner, and clearly understood why we were perturbed. The woman in charge really needs a refresh or maybe a beginner's training course in customer service. The risk of food poisoning is a very serious one, especially how popular the place is with young families and pregnant women! Marmelo Kitchen is now so popular that it's hard to get a table (good for them, but if you can't cope then reduce the number of tables), they run out of food on the menu within an hour or two of opening, and I feel very .sorry for the staff who are rushed off their feet and seem to be very badly managed. I've recommended this restaurant to dozens of people. I am now rectifying that with this review. There are lots of great places to eat in the area and new ones opening all the time. Try somewhere else which has the business capability to serve all covers with safe food, and has the humanity to apologise when things go wrong. Once again, thank you to the young man who served us who did his best to make it up to us. Hence our still leaving a tip. Needless to say it shall be my last visit to Mamelo Kitchen."

Jerk Fusion

Jerk Fusion

4 High Street, Waltham Forest, United Kingdom

Pizza • Cafés • Chicken • Barbecue


"Ever since my first Jamaican meal, I have truly fallen in love with Jamaican cuisine. My favourites have to be Jerk chicken and goat curry with rice and peas every time I have it. I discovered Jerk Fusion when I was at Walthamstow so had...a look at their website which was very detailed. It had the usual items like goat curry and Jerk chicken but then there was Jerk Chicken Sausage. The Jerk Chicken Sausage is their own unique creation of the European Favourite with a Caribbean Twist. They are made fresh daily in-store using 100% Chicken meat, and Sausage skin from Lamb with their secret Herbs and Spices. On the online menu, you can get the Jerk sausage hot dog or have the meal which is served with rice and peas. JERK SAUSAGE MEAL5 Large 2 A Jumbo sized Jerk Sausage served with Rice n Peas or Hard Food, with Plaintain and Fried Breadfruit. Went to Walthamstow again just to dine at Jerk Fusion, when I went in the shop, it was smaller than it looked because it is only half of what you see from the outside. Luckily they accept cards so I got the Jerk Sausage with rice and peas which was literally what I got because I forgot to specify the meal because I would have liked to try the breadfruit. In a way, I was glad I looked at the website beforehand as I thought the menu was clearer and more informative online so I roughly knew what I wanted. My Jerk sausage with rice and peas was definitely worth travelling all the way there for it and it was really thoughtful that the sausage was sliced which made it convenient to eat. Jerk sausage hot dog is also a good choice but I didn't feel like using my hands that day so I had the rice and peas but then I love rice and peas. The Jerk sausage was tasty as it was made with chicken which is always nicer than pork. There was some gravy on top which complemented it nicely. Adding some spicy sauce enhanced it all but I think Jerk sauce would be the best sauce to add. Will definitely be back for the ox tail and other items when I am in Walthamstow and the owner is really nice and friendly."

The Bookstore Cafe

The Bookstore Cafe

The Old Library Erith Library Museum Walnut Tree Road, Waltham Forest, United Kingdom, DA8 1RS

Cafe • Cafés • Fusion • Fast Food


"My sister has visited here a number of times in the last year and so it was the perfect place to go for her birthday brunch especially when we were catering for different tastes and preferences in the food. Firstly it's a great venue, spacious, light and airy. The tables are a great size and although communal the seats aren't crammed together so there's space to eat. The staff are lovely. The brunch menu was varied and had plenty of veggie options. The food was cooked really well and plated up beautifully with a nice salad dressing. Between us, we had scrambled eggs on toast with smoked salmon, smashed avocado on toast with feta cheese, sausage and cheese toasted sandwich with onion marmalade and ham and cheese toasted sandwich with piccalilli. The ham was thick-cut ham off the bone not thin and plastic with little flavour. The bread used was toasted sourdough and some of the best I've ever tasted. We all said that we could our meals over again... or as one of my sisters said... it was so tasty you didn't want the meal to end. They are also licenced and so you can get a glass of something to go with your food. If you live near Erith this is well worth a visit, they also do food in the evening cakes etc. And afterwards why not go for a walk on Erith Pier? I thoroughly recommend The Bookstore in Erith and I'd love one of their sandwiches now... At £6 it was a really well priced brunch and some of the dishes were cheaper."

Basement Galley

Basement Galley

Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum 10 South Access Road, Waltham Forest, United Kingdom

Fish • Meat • Cafés • Coffee


"Hopefully, this review will be balanced and fair.....I was so excited about this evening, a meal on a tube for an underground enthusiast on her birthday. I think you need a mix of great food, service, ambiance and value..... I know my daughter had emailed...ahead and asked for specific seats... when we arrived, we were not even on tube seats, but rickety, incredibly uncomfortable wooden chairs and a table at such an angle, we kept having to rescue the food. We asked (we were pretty much the first people on), if we could sit on a table that was actually a tube seat and the woman was really rude to us. The service was mediocre... the food was slow (i do understand this isn't a commercial kitchen), and the only warm course was cold. We were not asked throughout the meal how it was (I suspect due to our initial request to change seats). The guy in charge was friendly though The food did taste good, but I would expect that for the price. The menu was interesting and we cleared our plates each course A lot of the time, the serving staff looked bored and redundant when they could have been more proactive...(they never once tried to offer additional drinks which would be a lucrative opportunity) When we were offered bread to start, she barked just take one' which was quite amusing.... We had too leave as soon as the food had finished as the chairs were so uncomfortable our backs were hurting and legs gone numb (first world problems i know). The music was so loud too. They did make an effort at the end with a candle which was a nice touch I think this is a sound concept, and. with some finesse of the timings, service and comfort, could score a 5...... I wouldn't go back, The thing that makes me sad is that my 19 year old daughter had spent the £100 on this meal for us and was gutted as she felt she had let me down... which wasn't the case at all"

Petch Sayam

Petch Sayam

682 High Road. Leytonstone, Waltham Forest, United Kingdom

Thai • Curry • Asiatic • Seafood


"Such a shame about this place as the food really is very good, the corn fritter starter and red and green curries are real highlights, with more heat and overall depth of flavour than what you can expect outside of real high end thai restaurants such as Patara, but unfortunately the shocking attitude, ineptness and plain rudeness of the staff let 's down the whole affair.The first time we went we started by ordering a bottle of wine which went something like this:Myself: Could we have a bottle of the sauvignon blanc please? Waitress: We don 't have any. Myself: Oh ok, do you recommend any of the rest on the list Waitress We only have the house wine Myself Oh? So out of the list of white wine 's you just gave me you only have 1? Waitress We have red wine Myself Yes but you only have 1 white wine in the whole restaurant out of a list of about 15? Waitress let me check.... After disappearing for over 5 minutes the waitress came back with a bottle of the Sauvignon blanc I had asked for in the first place and said We do have this . She then left it on our table (without anything to keep it cold) and walked off again so we poured it ourselves.Once this wine ran out, I asked if they had any more but was told it was the last bottle they had so went for the house white wine. When this arrived it turned out to be a different sauvignon blanc (cheaper and actually much better than the first one) so it was very strange that we hadn 't been advised the house was a Sauvignon Blanc when ordering the first bottle to begin with.When it came to ordering the food we had a few other items we wanted to order only to be told they did not have any...We should have taken the warning signs from these shaky exchanges with the staff and not returned but the food was good enough to make us crave it and want to go back for the corn fritters the next week.So, upon our return, after waiting about 10 minutes to be seated we decided to order some of the house wine. Conversation:My girlfriend Could we order a bottle of the house white please? Waitress Yes Myself Is it a Sauvignon Blanc? Waitress Yes Myself Excellent! When it was brought over to our table I had to call the waitress back and ask her to bring something to keep the wine cold.Another exchange on this second visit with a different waitress worth recapping went like this:Myself Excuse me, we ordered our main courses about 40 minutes ago, do you have an idea on when they might be ready? Waitress I don 't know, it 's only my first day Myself Does that mean you 're not allowed to speak to the kitchen? Waitress Sorry what? Myself: I don 't see how it being your first day affects you finding out how long our food will be? Waitress Let me go and talk to someone The waitress then came back holding a bowl of something that I couldn 't identify as she was stood up holding it above my head.Waitress: Is this it? Myself: I don 't know, what is that? At the point the other waitress came over and grabbed the bowl from her and took it over to another table. Our food arrived about 10 minute later.After getting through 2 bottles of wine, 2 courses of good tasting, well executed thai cuisine and a few more embarrassing exchanges with both waitresses, we were presented with our bill. Straight away we noticed that we were being charged not for the house white wine, but for the sauvignon blanc from the wine list which was over double the price. I called the waitress over and explained that we had ordered the house wine so this was a mistake but she insisted that they had brought us the more expensive sauvignon blanc. I explained that whilst that may be the case, we had quite clearly ordered the house white wine (another sauvignon blanc) and it 's not out fault if they had misunderstood the order. After disappearing for 5 minutes the waitress came back and asked if we could meet them half way and pay for one of each. Almost unbelievable. Naturally we refused to do this and paid for what we had ordered.All Petch Sayam would need to do to completely turn the place around would be to put on some nice quiet music, get rid of the two waitresses and employ some front of house staff who actually care a bit about what they 're doing, then they would be on to a real winner as the food really is very good. Sadly until these things do get addressed I will not be returning."

Cyprus Meze Bar Restaurant

Cyprus Meze Bar Restaurant

524 Lea Bridge Road, Waltham Forest, United Kingdom

Kebab • Greek • Turkish • Vegetarian


"I am a well travelled person. Not only have I been to countless places in the world I 've eaten out more times in my life than I 've had home cooked food. So it is fair to assume I know a good restaurant from a bad one. Well, no not really. In fact my idea of a poor restaurant fell way above the standard of the Cyprus Meze Bar and Restaurant in Leyton. Maybe it should have been obvious something was wrong the moment me and my complement of friends walked into the place. The venue was deserted, apart from one table at the very back. On a Friday evening for a restaurant that seated about two hundred at full capacity this was concerning. Oddly, despite how unattended the place was, the manager had decided to hire a DJ to blare out music at nightclub levels of loudness. On top of this there were strobe repeating lights which were irritating and blinding. It absolutely killed the atmosphere. Our hosts seemed unwilling to let any sense go unaffected because the cutlery was rough and there was strong incense passing through the restaurant at intervals. The staff were slow to react to our presence. It was almost as if they were just as surprised as we were that we were actually eating there. We were told there was a preset menu which would come to £25 per person. All we needed to do was sit and wait for the courses to be brought to us, one by one. This seemed fine at the time but two hours later we hadn 't yet had something warm. When we did eventually get a warm plate which was a kofte each I was so underwhelmed by it I took a picture. The lighting was poor and it was blurry but I refused to retake the photo on the basis the kofte just wasn 't worth the effort. In fact, the picture serves as an effective metaphor. In summary I 'd say the food was bland. Taste was the only sense that was not molested during our experience. Over two hours later and my party decided we didn 't want to spend another second at the Cyprus Meze Bar. We called for the bill before our main course and explained our disappointment. The waiting staff responded by taking five pounds off our bill. So, by their own admittance, were they suggesting their cold starters of vegetables and coleslaw was worth four times as much as their main course?! Good thing we didn 't wait to find out ourselves then! Eventually the restaurant arrived at a compromise, and we spent £15 each on something we could have bought for just £5 from Tesco. In summary between the awful smells, sounds, lights and textures were bland tastes. If I wanted to replicate the experience I 'd bring a sandwich to a nightclub and save myself some dignity."