805 Restaurants - West African Restaurant, Old Kent

Great restaurant serving traditional West African food in a sleek and modern environment. We went on a Saturday evening and - although very busy - managed to get a table for two without reservation. Staff was friendly and explained the dishes to us. The grilled fish was excellent- but order only if you are OK with bones. The Asaro was very special, spiced and hearty. Would recommend!

I was a bit hesitant to try this place at first, given the mixed reviews, but all of my concerns were quickly put to rest. We visited around midday and were warmly welcomed by Yetunde, who provided excellent customer service from start to finish. Our food arrived quickly and it was absolutely delicious. Big shoutout to Chef Ben! The portion sizes were generous, even if they looked smaller at first glance and the interior was surprisingly stylish and comfortable, much nicer than you'd guess from the outside. Overall a fantastic experience. Highly recommended!

I came all the way from North London to Old Kent Road 805 to get food. I asked for seafood Okro with poundo and Edikaikong soup with poundo. This decision was my worst nightmare. Absolutely disgusting food, seafood what? Waste of time, effort and money. The vegetable I was served, first wasn’t Edikaikong, secondly it had no flavour whatsoever. The worst food I ever ate. I called the store once I got home and realised that it wasn’t Edikaikong I was served, I heard the chef saying it was, then, the man who answered the phone, instead of asking for a phone number or something to be able to request a photo, I insisted that I called back the day after, then they can give me a mobile number to send images to because it’s store closing time. NEVER AGAIN!!!

I have been a loyal patron since 2004, and this restaurant remains one of my all-time favorite Nigerian dining experiences in London. The rich flavors and authentic dishes always transport me back to the heart of Nigeria.

It is always a very pleasant experience for us whenever we come here, be it together or with others. The attentiveness of the staff is always 10/10. They ensure that everything is okay with our food and are always accessible if we need them for anything. The food is delicious and full of a variety of flavours and spices.👌🏾 As we are both lovers of art, the decor always really stands out to us, especially the beautiful portraits. They depict a West African tale. Simply magnificent! Overall, the restaurant is exceptionally clean and we never have any issues when we dine here with food, cutlery, the atmosphere or the staff. 805 has continued to uphold their high standards over the years hence why we always come back!

The food was delicious and full of flavour, and the restaurant itself was very clean and hygienic. Drinks were great too. However, the service left a lot to be desired , we waited around 45 minutes for our food, and the overall experience felt slow and disorganised. Unfortunately, given the steep prices and poor service, I wouldn’t return.

We had a really good time here. Chicken wings were delicious. I'm new to most Nigerian food, so I can't say how each dish tastes compared to usual flavours but I really enjoyed the Ogbono stew was delicious, (not spicy but an usually texture, very tasty). I went for goat, but there was chicken or beef etc. available. There were a few of us in the group and we all loved the suya starters too. The prices may be a little higher than you're expecting for the area, but the portions are big and lots of things can be shared. The service was good and not hovering or pushy.

Everything I had at this restaurant was extremely tasty! My partner and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I am Italian and he is Nigerian and I had only tried Jollof rice and some other dishes like moyin-moyin, puff puff, plantain, beef suya. But today I tried egusi soup with pounded yam for the first time and let me tell you…the best thing I have ever had. Not only everything we had was cooked to perfection but the service was impeccable. Yetunde has been extremely nice and accommodating, and her lovely energy made the experience ten times better. I definitely recommend this restaurant and I will certainly come back!!

This place is beautiful. The food was amazing the fish was amazing cooked and huge both.. we had one that started with a P and it was seasoned to perfection and the tilapia was also great! The pepper soup was OK not spicy but still delicious. I saw this photo and decided to find who made it so if anyone is interested here he is. The service was also impeccable. We had a very colorful experiment. Definitely will be back. Love from Houston TX to UK

If I could give this restaurant zero stars I would. My family and I, are visiting from New York, and were excited to try this Nigerian restaurant in London, recommended by a local family member. As a Caribbean family with Ghanaian roots, we were really looking forward to it. They charge high prices for low quality service. When we ordered our drinks, the waitress got it wrong, and our daughter's soft drink took about 20 minutes to arrive. Even the ice came much later. In addition, we were initially told that they did not have goat meat, so we ordered oxtail. However, after waiting for forty-five minutes for our food, we were then told that goat meat was indeed available and would be ready in a few minutes. Those few minutes turned into another 15 to 20, and when the food finally arrived, it was the wrong order, and the meat was tough. It was clear that the young waitstaff were unprepared and overwhelmed even though there were only 5 tables. In total, we waited an hour and forty-five minutes for our food, and the overall experience left us disappointed and frustrated. We do not recommend this resturant and we will not be returning.

805 is a full on intro to Nigerian dining. When I arrived, the road was filled with cars, closely parked together. A few fancy ones, giving the impression of Nigerian bling diners. Many people come here with their children. I would advise to feel it out first - it would be a matter of preference. Its pretty full on here and if you really want the Nigerian experience, this is the place. Food can take some time to arrive. Possibly 1/2 hr...or more.

Food and service was excellent very safe clean and delicious. Drinks are good plenty of drink options, crowd smart and sophisticated.

l went to the restaurant yesterday 06/03/2023. l ordered Egusi and pounded yam. The assorted meat beef was tough. The portion size of the meat did not reflect the huge price they charged me. lt was outrageous and tough. I was charged £48.00 with a glass of pineapple juice including their peppered fish. To me this is rip off. l will not be going there again. I really felt cheated.

With the caveat that I had never had Nigerian food before this, I found the food at 805 very delicious. There are also huge portions as other reviews have said - myself and my friend both got takeaway boxes that could be another whole meal! We got the Jollof rice (slightly spicy according to someone who can't eat spicy food) and the Eforiro with yams (delicious but notably spicy by someone who loves spicy food). The palm wine is interesting to try but very very sweet. I have to contradict a lot of what other reviews have said about long wait times and unfriendly staff - Our waitress was very nice and happy to answer questions, and I would say while wait times were perhaps a bit longer than I'd like they weren't over the top. The only negative I'd say was the very loud music on in the background. It was around 8pm on a Thursday when we arrived, perhaps earlier it isn't as loud. In sum - Delicious food and would return! Am glad we went in the end as some of the bad reviews made us hesitate. Loud music, but friendly service. Recommend.

Naija food proper!!!! Had me some Eggusi soup with Aballa Tried the Jollof rice with beef, the Pounded yam and Okra soup & washed them down with some Super Malt. I lived in Nigeria for quite a while and i gotta hand it to the cook. Everything was on point. The service was awesome too. The older lady treated us like royalty even though the actual service was trying to juggle more tables than he could handle. Love it Love it Love it!!!!

Normally I would give 805 a 4/5, but my experience today was sub-par. 805 prides itself on being a stylish and contemporary option for lovers of West-African cuisine. While their food is always great, their service is lacking. This afternoon, we had to practically beg for our drinks, which came minutes after our appetizer. Now if this was a pasty shop I wouldn't be too bothered, but let's be real here, West African food is SPICY. Sadly, we had the opposite problem with our mains. They simply arrived too late, and the kitchen made two people in our party wait for an additional fifteen minutes. The devil really is in the details, and while I think 805's mission is great, it would greatly increase its appeal to non-West Africans were it to address some of its pitfalls in service. Despite my disappointment, I will of course be back on my next visit to London. I've loved their food for the past two years- joloff rice w/ mixed meat is my staple- and their sticky toffee pudding (!!!!) is simply unparalleled.

Esquire Lounge And 805 Restaurant When there with the taste of London meetup grp Comments From The Night "I really enjoyed the evening, lots of interesting conversation. Plus delicious Nigerian food :)" "Was a pleasure meeting you guys, hope you all got home safely." "Great event, thanks for organising! Nice to have spent the evening with a lovely friendly group of people. Hope to see you all again soon" "Enjoyed the Okra, fish and Garri." Leslie (West Africa Cooks

Been here many times, and I can't say I have ever had a 5 star experience. Though I have continued to give it the benefit of the doubt and go back. I don't think I'll be going back anymore. The lengthily wait for your food waiter errors, lukewarm-cold food and rude service is not worth their ever increasing prices. £13 for rice and meat???!!!!! Been there on a few occasions with birthday groups. On one of these occasions- because we were quite a young crowd the owner (male) felt the need to babysit us, he would sit on a chair very close to us and stare us down. He kept telling us off for silly things and telling us to be quite or leave. Erm... We were paying customers! When I was pregnant I had a very strong craving for moi moi... I made the mistake of deciding to buy a takeaway moi moi from 805. I ordered, they swiftly took my money and I told them I'll be back in 10 mins... I came back like 15 mins later, the moi moi still was not ready, I decided to take a seat, I was told I'd have to get up as the seats are only for eating in customers - bare in mind I was heavily pregnant. A good 30 mins after ordering I got my moi moi. Got home the moi moi was cold, tiny & tasteless. Nothing like eggs, prawns, meat in it.. Nothing ! What a waste of £10! The toilets are dated, smelly & rundown... On a good day there is toilet roll on there, last I used them I had to use serviette tissue. With you outrageous prices they charge, they can surely afford to give the toilets a major revamp. I don't even recommend this place to people who are in town from abroad or new to London. It's a shame.

I love this place and have been going for years. Simply put, it's authentic Nigerian food, cooked well and serves enough to feed the 5000. I really really really wanted to give five stars but sadly we had a few uninvited guests join us... we had some ants running around the table. :o( As I said I have been going he for years and this I am assured is a one off. I would still recommend this joint to anybody and if you have never tried "Nija grubs, arhh, I go be very 'appy to take you der to try some fine fine chop!"

Gorgeous Nigerian food. Service can be quite hit-and-miss. Last time I dined here several of my friends waited ages for their food to arrive only to ultimately told that the dish they'd ordered was in fact not available - they then had to wait even longer for an alternative order to arrive. Wine choice is horrendously limited - expect to be offered Jacob's Creek. The best idea may be to opt for Palm Wine instead. But the food is usually absolutely delicious, authentic and cannot be faulted.

Had the peppered fish and plantains. It was just okay, nothing to rave about. However, the rest of my party seemed to really enjoy their food. The ambiance was nice but the service rather slow, we had to remind them of our order and remind them to bring out drinks, check etc. Love the setup and I would try it again but they need to get the customer service and service together.

I live in the States so wasn't sure what to expect at this Nigerian restaurant, bu I was very impressed with the food, service, and ambience of the restaurant!

805 was a mixed experience. My meal was excellent and there was plenty of it, BUT there were ants on the table, the service took an age, half of what was on the menu was not available, and our waiter kept telling me I "wouldn't like" what I was asking for. I know and love okra. Don't tell me I wouldn't like something unless I ask for help. Be aware, the menu you can download from their website is either a lunch menu or an old menu--the prices are about a third higher at the restaurant. Also, if you don't know Nigerian food and don't want to be too experimental, maybe stick to one of the jollof rice based mains. "Assorted meat" in the stews is tripe, pig ear, trotter, and other odds and ends! Just what I wanted, but not what my partner had in mind--luckily they will wrap your leftovers to go, so I'll get to have his meal tonight at home. Having a hard time resisting til dinner time!

After hearing mixed reviews about 805 myself and my partner decided to try it out for ourselves. When we arrived we were seated pretty quickly. We ordered chicken and beef suya to start and pounded yam with egusi for mains. The suya came fairly quickly. The chicken suya was practically all bones, very moist and sloppy, with far too much chilli and not enough actual seasoning. The beef suya however was...ok. My main then arrived and 10 minutes later after asking the staff twice my partners finally arrived by which point mine was almost cold. However it was very nice with plenty of meat and flavour. This was only thing which saved the whole experience. Overall all for the service and food we received it was largely over priced despite the main being quite tasty. I won't be going back anytime soon.

It's my first time and the food lived up to expectation. I enjoyed the meal. It's not my best Nigerian meal in London. It was a busy day for the staff and they started mixing orders up at some point. I 'd go back there once a while.

Nice atmosphere and service compared to other Nigerian restaurants. Can be slightly noisy at times, especially when people are celebrating their birthdays! Service is very good and staff are polite. As for the food, it is very nice . However, the roasted fish sometimes seems to lack taste. I would recommend any other dish on the menu except for the roasted fish which I think is over-rated.

It was so disappointing to say the list with the food I bought from 805 yesterday. The vegetable soup was salty, the leaf strong and absolutely no protein inside it. He the charged me separately for extremely soft cow foot taken from stew, all together the food is not value foe money at £15 per plate? I could have eaten good two meals somewhere else for that amount. I will not be eating there anytime soon and will not recommend to anyone I know.

I went to 805 about a year ago and it was my first time trying Nigerian food. The food was great. We ordered fish and spinach with spicy sauce, pounded yam, and fried plantains (dodo) and they were spectacular! It was not particularly expensive either. If you want the Authentic Nigerian experience, you are supposed to eat with your hands, grap a small piece of pounded yam, dip it in your main dish, and eat! I loved it. It was a lot of fun~I would go back to London just for 805.

My parents took me here for my birthday and I was a bit sceptical about the menu choice, but actually the menu range is wide and authentic. My very Nigerian father was spoilt for choice. The food was great the portions were massive, so you definitely won't leave feeling hungry. The service was perhaps the only sticking point, I get the feeling that my waitress was trying to serve more tables than she could handle, so things were a bit slow in terms of getting food to us, or even getting the bill so we could go. We were also there on the hottest day of the year and came to realise that the aircon on the wall is just for show. Many African restaurants get a bad rep, I reckon 805 can claim to be an exception, the bad things weren't too bad, easily rectified. Delicious food, polite service, family friendly atmosphere.

I was visiting London from America and I kept looking for Nigerian restaurants in London. I'm really happy that I went to this one instead of the other one. Yes, the service is a little slow, but I can forgive them because they are Nigerian. But please still do better. I could see that the waiters were busy, but none of them checked on you and you had to keep flagging them down for help. Aside the customer service issue, the food and ambiance is excellent. The jollof rice was cooked well with the Nigerian party smell. The meat and the fish were excellent. I had asaro and it wasn't the best. It needed a little bit of salt. I plan on going there in the future. I really loved my experience and good there. It was nice being around my fellow Nigerians. Also, this has nothing to do with food, but the toilet was a little disgusting. It was so wet everything. Please clean that up. Your bathroom is still part of the dining experience. You need clean facilities!

Great Nigerian restaurant in South East London, Old Kent Road. A place to get a true taste of Nigerian Food & Culture from Pepper Soup and Fried Fish to Ground Rice, Okra Soup and Fried Rice, Plantane and Chicken.

Loved the food and the service I had an excellent time would highly recommend it Signed Native Jamaican

Excellent place that offers interesting and unfamiliar food Nigerian. Everything was so strange for me when I went there for the first time. But then I got used to the decor and the food and started loving it. The meals are great and would be a shame if you haven't tried the place, even once.

I went to the branch at Hendon Central. Good atmosphere. Clean. Good customer service. Polite staff. Delicious food. We felt at home. I have already recommended this place to another person and they can't wait to visit. The grilled fish dish was delicious. Would definitely visit again!

We got told about the 805 restaurant by a friend we went to the one in reading we turned up and was allowed to sit where we wanted a waiter came up to us and said we would have to wait 15 minutes for anyone to take our orders 2 more groups came in after us and they automatically served them so we was left waiting for a waiter to take our orders, we were not best please that other people got served before us when we had arrived first . After waiting 45 minutes for drinks we were then told after we had ordered our food that we would have to wait a further 45 minutes, I did not want to wait but my husband was hoping the food would be worth the wait so we stayed we had arrived at the restaurant at about 2pm and did not receive our food untill half 3 by that time our childre. We're over hungry and loosing patience the waitress didn't come and assure us that our order was coming and not much of a apology was made we complained but at the end we had to pay full price with no compensation for lack of service when we finally got our food it was cold and defenatly not worth the wait we ended up having to pay £87 just for 2 plates of jellof rice and a small bowl of chips and small suya it was a very big disappointment and as much as I absolutely enjoy Nigerian food this restaurant is putting Nigerian food to shame I am not going to recommend anyone go there at all it is not worth the price or effort you will be waiting to long when we did ask where our food was all we kept hearing was there busy from what we could see there was only 2 waitress staff and one cook not good do not go there

I am surprised that this got five stars by the other two reviewers. The standards are the usual from African restaurants. Not very organised, rowdy atmosphere, the menus are very 'tired' with crude adjustments made to some prices by hand. The food is good Nigerian cuisine no doubt but definitely not great. 805 can only rank by comparison: compared to many other African restaurants in London, it does a decent job. But that's it; once you take the comparison beyond African restaurants, 805 does not rank at all. 1 star at best. And yes, I am Nigerian, born and brought up in Nigeria so I know what I am talking about.

Went here and totally loved it. Def the best Nigerian food I've had in UK. Highly recommended is the pepper soup with fish, if you can take it.

Nice restaurant, good food. I went there with my brother at about 4pm so we got our main course in about 20minutes, starters came out on time. Place was clean but easy to miss(very dark). Excellent service!

Just came out of there...it was perfect..totally worth it. I had jollof rice and assorted meat...hmmm simply the best! better than all the rest. Big ups 805..!!

This was the worst customer service I have ever experienced in a restaurant: simply chaotic with no organisation and no management oversight to ensure customer service and quality. I went with a group of three and we were seated in the so called executive lounge where we had to wait at least 30mins for our drinks and an hour and a half for our food. When the food eventually came out they only brought out two of the three dishes we ordered. Dishes came out with no cutlery for which we had to wait another 15 mins. They completely forgot my dish which I received after complaining and waiting for another half hour. The rest of my group had already finished eating and there I was eating my dish at the end. The food wasn't even worth the wait as I have had as good if not better Nigerian food just a few minutes down the road. The meat in the Egusi soup was not cooked properly (cow leg was hard and chewy). All in all, I wouldn't recommend as it spoiled our night out! Do some research before booking, you can definitely find better Nigerian restaurants in London!