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Shaka Zulu

South African·
££££
·

SquareMeal Review of Shaka Zulu

You have to admire this huge South African-themed pile for its pluck. To the sound of drumbeats, we navigate our way to the lounge bar at this gastroplex, which must be seen to be believed (once will do). With wall-to-wall tribal carvings, ethnic prints and images of statuesque warriors à go-go, this overwrought subterranean kingdom feels more Sun City than Camden. For £9.50, you can sample the Shaka shakers’ finest efforts. The pick of the ‘Zulu cocktails’ are angel face (African Mishale brandy, fig, lemon and apple juice), Ketel dawa from Nairobi, and a vodka and kumquat thirst-quencher called sufrica. Ten wines by the glass include Kloovenburg Merlot at £7.50. In similarly ‘classy’ bars in Cape Town, £10 will get you three Bellinis. What’s Zulu for ‘taxi to Heathrow’?

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - £30 - £49
Cuisines
South African
Ambience
Fun, Unique
Perfect for
Group dining [8+], Special occasions

Location

The Stables, Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town, London, NW1 8AB

020 3376 9911 020 3376 9911

Website

Opening Times

Mon-Fri 6pm-12M Sat-Sun 12N-4pm

Reviews

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20 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Anon

16 December 2022  
Food & Drink 0.5
Service 0.5
Atmosphere 2
Value 0.5
Discretionary Service Charge of 12.5%

we visited Shaka Zulu on 10/12/2022, run a bill of £505.50 and was charged a service charge of £63.19

Next day, i found a statement from them stating that "A discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be added to your bill.

The waiter made it seem like the service charge was mandatory. There were no notes on the bill to say it was discretionary.

The pork ribs were rock hard. The peri peri fries were cold. The chicken wings statrers were cold and tough. The overall service was lackluster for the price of their foods.

i was extremely disappointed at the Shaka Zulu.

I have since emailed Shaka Zulu a second time for a refund of the 'service charge' buy they have gone very quiet.  I have not had a reply back since.

This is very Disgraceful!!!

michelle

Chloe B

06 August 2019  
Amazing night out for friends and couples great food / better cocktails!

Anon

27 May 2019  
Unprofessional / rude/ undertrained staff & Customer Service

Received Absolutely terrible customer service from the waiters to the manager in charge! My partner sat on a seat that had chewing gum which got stuck to his trousers, when complained to the waiter and showed the unhygienic cleanness to their seats the waiter told my partner he should of looked before sitting with an attitude! When complained to the manager & asked for his name she persisted in not giving his name. This place is certainly undertrained when it comes to CUSTOMER SERVICE if anything a customer has the right to take the name to make a formal complaint. In this case looks like they have ILLEGAL workers working with a stinking attitude I also confronted the manager. I run my own business & never have I experienced such behaviour!!!! I definitely will be taking this further.

Julia N

13 May 2014  
Food & Drink 3.5
Service 2.5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 2.5
Amazing atmosphere as you go down the escalator into this venue. The staff were all polite and courteous. There were eight of us who had the menu with the shared starter (wonderful selection), had the best steak that I have had for some time and then had the shared pudding (could have done with a little more). Service was reasonable. Overall had a wonderful evening the venue is truly spectacular, despite being full and busy it still felt quite intimate. Loved the dancing later on. A little bit on the pricey side but that's London for you.

18 February 2014  
Food & Drink 1
Service 1
Atmosphere 3
Value 1
The decor is fun but service and drinks are very poor for the prices charged
Walking into Shaks Zulu is a bit like being on the set of Indiana Jones but the great decor can sadly not make up for the exorbitant prices charged for the very poor quality of wine and service. We were there for drinks so I cannot comment on the food but the party we were joining did eat but the meal was very delayed (by about 2 hours). We also found it funny that they should sell Cambodian beer when it is a restaurant championing South African culture and cuisine. The venue appears to be an upmarket place but after a certain time(i think 11pm) they can only give you plastic cups and wine is decanted into a plastic carafes which is not in-keeping with the venue's decor and prices charged. The staff are also rude with the managament in particular not caring about the overall customer experience nor about championing a return visit. London is packed with novelty restaurants and bars and I would whole heartedly recommend going somewhere else.

David G

26 November 2013  
Food & Drink 4
Service 4
Atmosphere 5
Value 4
Cool venue
Took my wife and children and loved the venue. The kids thought the Zulu warrior figures were fantastic and kept staring at them all night. Wife and I had a good bottle of SA wine to share and the kids had non-alcoholic cocktails. We decided to have a ‘sharing’ starter and ‘sharing dessert’ and each of us had a separate main course. The steak I had was great. Would come back with a few adult friends and family as the vibe was cool and the staff were friendly and knowledgeable. The bill was about right for what we ate and drank and is typical of London prices, so no complaints from this family!

Sarah D

20 March 2013  
Food & Drink 0.5
Service 0.5
Atmosphere 0.5
Value 0.5
give it a miss
I'd only recommend this place for the ambience and decor – in good company this place can been enjoyed. Absolutely awful service, the food was only slightly better than the waiter's attitude.

Lola T

25 February 2013  
Food & Drink 2
Service 2
Atmosphere 2.5
Value 3
Overall an awesome night
I went to Shaka Zulu over the weekend to celebrate a girl friend's birthday and it was overall an incredible night. The ambiance and decor of the interior is elaborate and beautiful, none of us had ever been anywhere like it. The cocktail list is extensive and the music was great. We stayed until 2am and danced all night. I am so happy we chose Shaka Zulu and look forward to bringing all of my friends to this venue!

Varuni G

26 October 2011  
Food & Drink 2.5
Service 3
Atmosphere 3
Value 2.5
This is the kind of place i envisage is what the makers of the Lion King musical would dream up! Very VERY OTT inside plus an escalator leading into a huge african themed room. An escalator i tell you!!! We had gone there as a small group – and were told, if we were more than 15m late, the table would be taken given they were so busy. I did wonder about this as when we were finally seated, there were a lot of empty tables! I was told later it is often on Groupon so i did think it couldnt be that good if they have to advertise for custom. Food itself wasnt as bad as id expected as id read the reviews on the web only an hour before i came. I had lamb samoosas (not sure why its a moo rather than a mo) with harissa spiced mayo. My main was the spit roast of the day – quite a nice beef spit roast accompanied by fries and a south african style mayo laded coleslaw. My friends had a mix of seared tuna, tagliatelle with lobster, and ostrich steaks – all of which was relatively nice. My spit roast wasnt medium rare as they insisted, but cooked to the max so a tad dry. Unfortunately i was also sick with a dodgy stomach the next day – i dont want to blame the food but im pretty sure it was that. This isnt a restaurant so to speak – its essentially a club trying to sell food and masquerade as a club. Its not a place for foodies. Its a shame as Camden always had that kooky feel to it, whereas this place just seems to be another Tiger Tiger and completely sleazy and souless. I do think it would work well if you are with a big group who want the whole food, club thing all in one but keep in mind its full of TOWIE types by the end, plus a packed dancefloor. If you're idea of a good night is this, plus checking out ladies in bikinis serving shots, then this is good for you!

Lila G

17 April 2011  
Food & Drink 1.5
Service 1.5
Atmosphere 1.5
Value 2.5
Shaka Zulu is such a disappointing dining experience that I felt the need to review it at 9am on a Sunday (the morning after I dined here with my girlfriend). I bought the Groupon voucher which entitled me chose from the limited ‘Taste of Africa’ menu. For starters, we both chose the deep Fried soft shell crab…mistake! This dish was so horrendously greasy (think KFC if they did crab) that you couldn't even taste the crab meat. For our mains we had one trout and one beef. The trout which was surprisingly OK, however, the beef came as a lone slab of meat on a vacant plate, served with a small bucket of chips. We didn't have an option to order any greens (or any sides) as a supplement. Presentation was poor and so was the taste. Nice! For desert we had the coconut creme brûlée and passionfruit with didn't sit well together at all, a complete messy mush of food.   The decor of this place looks like a Vegas themed restaurant gone wrong, it does have character but it lacks any originality ( please visit the female toilets for the 'watering hole experience). The service was also poor, we waited 30 mins for our mains and they didn't clear our greasy starters until I flagged the waiter. I hope that you stay behind after dinner for their ‘club’ which looked like a scene from ‘The only way it Essex’ , chavtastic!! 

Sorry, you cannot spend SquareMeal vouchers here yet.

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