LAST Saturday night Rob and I went with friends to try the new Shaka Zulu restaurant in Camden.
The restaurant opened at the beginning of August 2010 and is located in Stables Market in Camden. It is on two subterranean floors and we needed to go by escalator down to the restaurant and bars. The decor was interesting with walls displaying handmade mosaics, tribal masks and hand carved traditional scenes from the Zulu nation. There was a ‘Warrior Wall’ where King Shaka himself stands amongst a group of warriors sculpted into 60ft high statues. Shaka Zulu is destined to become an icon within London’s restaurant and late night scene - I could see how it is advertised as 'a stunning and unique venue'.
The restaurant layout was interesting with a number of circular tables, long tables and bar areas inter mixed. We were seated on a circular table with large comfy chairs. There were some chairs which looked very uncomfortable and metallic but luckily we didn't have those. I was reminded a bit of Rainforest Cafe but I'm not sure why - I think it was the huge statues! As well as the interesting interior, the clientele were equally interesting, beautifully groomed and wearing not a lot!
Lucky we had a lot to look at as we had about a 20 minute wait until we were given menus and a further wait until we were asked what we wanted to drink. I didn't really like the escalator in the middle of the floor or seeing large dustbins being carried out past our table. The waiters seemed uninterested in us and really had no knowledge as to the dishes on the menu. We were inadvertently given two different menus and it was difficult finding out which was correct - in fact we were told one was describing the cod dish correctly and when we ordered it and it arrived it was in fact the other version! We asked about the difference between 2 bottles of wines and it was clear the waiter had no idea although he blagged his way around it - I would much rather he told us that he has no idea or better still say he would find out!
We decided against starters. For main course, Rob and I had a chicken curry which was quite tasty. Our friends had the cod which they liked although it wasn't the one they had been told they were getting. We also had a few side orders to share which were ok but nothing special. For dessert we shared a fresh fruit platter which was good and a lemon meringue pie which was tasty but tiny.
The bill came to £135 for 4 main courses, 3 side dishes, 2 desserts and a bottle of wine. We all felt it was pricey - especially for the tiny lemon meringue pie. I'm pleased we tried it but I'm certainly in no rush to return. Maybe it is catering for a younger richer market. It was an eye opener to see a restaurant full of people trying to pick up a date, waiters sitting with and chatting up diners, and people just standing in crowds around the restaurant.
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