The Calabash Restaurant & Bar

We were excited to visit Calabash restaurant on 19 March 2023 and drove over an hour from Brentwood to Greenwich to try their food. Unfortunately it turned out to be a really disappointing experience and we would not recommend this restaurant. I visited Calabash restaurant with my mother and three children and we were warmly welcomed by who I assumed was the restaurant owner but his countenance changed as soon as he realised we had a Groupon voucher. It was then that we were turned away from the restaurant despite having a 3pm reservation, which I booked three weeks ago because my mother was visiting from the USA and I wanted to treat her to an African restaurant on Mother's Day. However, we were discriminated against because we had a Groupon voucher. I made the reservation at the end of February and spoke on the phone to a man who made the booking. At no point during this booking was I told that I would not be able to use Groupon until 6pm. Yet, we were told on Sunday 19 March that the restaurant did not accept Groupon vouchers until 6pm, though it was not mentioned anywhere on Groupon, on the restaurant website or on social media, and it definitely was not mentioned when I phoned the restaurant to make the reservation. Secondly, I explained that we had travelled from far and had nowhere to hang around for three hours until 6pm. We couldn't drive another one hour home and an hour back to the restaurant, and there was limited parking in the vicinity, with most roads being resident permit only before 6pm and a maximum of two hours of paid non-resident parking. The restaurant made no attempts to accommodate us and claimed there was no space for us to sit, and that the downstairs area was full, yet immediately after we left, another customer who was dining there later told me that there was indeed empty tables/chairs in the downstairs area as the restaurant had allowed another family through after denying us. It was clear to me that the restaurant could have chosen to be helpful yet they chose not to. The male restaurant owner was brash and dismissive of me in front of other customers. He seemed uninterested and unwilling to help and then tried to blame me for not adhering to the restrictions that were in place which was not written anywhere or communicated to us prior. I have never been more humiliated in my life. We had planned a nice afternoon out for Mother's Day, only to be denied and treated so poorly by the restaurant and embarrassed in front of other customers. I strongly believe that it is wrong to discriminate against customers based on their payment method and I left Calabash restaurant feeling disrespected and devalued. No customer should ever have to feel this way. This experience has certainly soured my view of the restaurant and we will not be returning there in the future nor will we be recommending anyone we know to visit. Parking: Restricted parking,. Residents only also on Sundays.
Mar 13th, 2023

When we arrived we had to wait a bit before finally being greeted and seated. The rice balls were nice, very tiny though. I had the cassava leaves soup with pounded yam. It wasn't that great, I just ate it because I was hungry. The pounded yam was nice though, with a nice texture. My Sierra Leonean friend said they skimped on the cassava leaves and that it tasted more like peanut soup. Imagine, he asked for boiled yam and they gave him fried yam instead! There was plastic bits in my wife's crain crain. The homemade ginger beer was decent, very fiery. Even though the waiter poured it out from what I think was a 500ml bottle into a glass in front of me, they charged me for a jug. This was not amended when I brought it to their attention when paying. We were disappointed with the whole experience and found it.a bit cheeky when the woman (the cook I think) told us to spread the word to others about the restaurant. They did apologise for the aforementioned issues but should also have made the necessary amendments such as giving us what we ordered and!/or taking money off the bill
Mar 12th, 2023

Food : 5/5 | Service : 5/5 | Atmosphere : 5/5 More
Mar 2nd, 2023

It was OK when we entered and quiet. Nice waitress, I had 2 vouchers from Groupon so I expected 2 seperate starters for each course of meal but we were served just 4 main meals , at the end I asked for the starters?? The one who took the orders aid he forgot to write it for te kitchen, so it was packaged as take away?? The voucher said it included desserts worth 3?? No desserts was served us but we ate the jollof and fish. It was just an ok simple experience, unfortunately, I won't travel all that way for that ok experience, they were not organised and the restaurant can do with some refreshing or renovation to be more modern. Thank you. Kid-friendliness: To me its all crowded, chairs and tables so not a place when you have baby or small kids.
Feb 26th, 2023

Amazing food and service - cant wait to come back!
Feb 21st, 2023