Shaka Zulu

Interesting place.
I would have to agree with the general tenor of some of the other reviews: 1) The place itself is pure eye-​candy and a sight to behold; but 2) The cuisine itself is lackluster for the price.
Regarding the venue: Carved wood, high ceilings and dramatic lighting all combine to make this restaurant an «African-​theme-​on-​steroids». It’s definitely worth dropping by for drinks, or to show a friend something new.
Regarding the food: The cocktails are fruity and fun. And the crocodile appetizer was the best thing we ordered. But the other items… basically gazelle and wild bison… were both relatively flavorless, and both accompanied with the same slightly-​sweet meat-​sauce. To be perfectly honest, I could barely tell the difference between one meat and the other. They could have just as well been steak and lamb, for all I could detect. There was definitely nothing particularly unique about either of their flavor, texture or preparation. I assume it’s because it’s likely difficult to get ‘fresh’ game meat from Africa all the way in London.
So, that’s the basic score. Good location and vibe, but mediocre food that is considerably overpriced.
Recommendation: Go for happy hour, order some drinks and appetizers at the bar, and take in the setting. You’ll get 90% of the dinner-​experience at 20% of the price. And if you want to really try some authentic, well-​prepared game-​food, use the money you saved to head over to «Rules» in Covent Garden.

I’ve been meaning to sample the delights of Shaka Zulu for a while, although it’s proximity to the excellent Gilgamesh has always been it’s downfall, until today.
We arrived with no booking and were seated immediately. I’m talking about lunchtime on Christmas Eve so this probably isn’t a good bellwether but the place is huge so I’m guessing it has to get pretty busy before you have to book.
We kicked off with a couple of servings of biltong. The portion size wasn’t huge but the three varieties (droëwors, sliced biltong and chili snaps) were tasty and well presented.
For me the whole point of visiting a restaurant like this is to try the indigenous cuisine, having dabbled quite heavily in South African meat dishes in the past I went for the Mouflon Haunch Steak as it was the only variety of may I hadn’t previously tried, and very good it was too. I had buttered kale and piri piri fries as sides. The kale was to die for and the fries really hit the spot. Chloe had opted for fat chips and she was green with envy.
It’s not the cheapest, but the atmosphere and décor are really good and the food was up to a good standard. I’m not sure if I would choose this over Gilgamesh if I was only passing once, but I would certainly alternate between the two if I was in the area regularly.

On the positive side, this place has the novelty factor. If you want to be daring to impress a date (or some mates) then take them here and show off about how you are brave enough to try ostrich, springbok or even zebra.
The décor is incredible. There are two floors of carved wooden tables and pillars and it feels like you’re eating in an African Palace. For the décor alone this place is worth a visit and if I went again I would go for drinks rather than food. The cocktail menu is pricey but the drinks are satisfyingly strong and there’s a Champagne and oyster bar if you’re feeling flash.
However, if you are at all fussy when it comes to food then you should stay away from Shaka Zulu. Also, it’s not ideal if you are an animal lover as all types of zoo animals are on the menu and some would say they’re better alive than dead.
In fact, the cooking was not the best. Crocodile straws had more pastry than crocodile while the biltong made from some wild beast was hard and salty. Zebra was really really chewy, which made me upset that a zebra had died for this.
Take my advice — go to the bar, have a cocktail, look at the food menu and then decide if you’re brave enough to stay or whether you want to finish your night in another of Camden Town’s fabulous dining establishments. In Camden Town, there are better options for food than Shaka Zulu.

Huge subterranean exotic meat emporium restaurant.

Not an enjoyable dining experience at all. My sister bought me a gift voucher for a meal for two here, and after I looked at the website I felt pretty excited about the experience. Upon arrival, we found that the service was pretty negligent and uninterested. The fact we had a voucher maybe had something to do with this? But it was for a full priced, two course meal with a cocktail, that was paid for upfront, so it’s not like they were losing any money. I don’t really understand.
We weren’t entitled to the full menu because of the voucher, and were offered three options for each course — the cheapest ones on the menu. Figures. Although, judging from what people around us were ordering, it’s not the best value for money. A £50 steak arrives at a table and it’s roughly the same size as the palm of my hand (my hands are very, very small!). Yikes.
I opted for the vegetables potjie for a main — this isn’t a dish that’s difficult to get wrong, but somehow this well renowned restaurant managed it. Oil bubbles were visibly floating on top, and the overall taste was incredibly greasy and without much flavour. I was still hungry afterwards too, due to the tiny portion size. A very underwhelming experience.
I had a crème brûlée for dessert and the most pleasant thing about this was the fruit adorning the top. Again, a very small portion, which didn’t fill me up. The «cocktail» was actually just a bellini, the only choice we were given was which fruit compote we had in the bottom of it.
It was overall a really unpleasant meal and I was grateful to be out of there. The only thing I’d give Shaka Zulu any credit for is the décor of the restaurant, which is actually very impressive. A pity the food and service aren’t of the same standard.

Food was good — personally I would say 8/​10, a bit on the pricey side but it’s central London so what do you expect! The service was excellent, we had a lovely tattooed lady who was super helpful and very friendly. Cocktails were massively overpriced and very weak. They tasted like Capri sun. £11 each and they are 80% ice!!!
The décor is AMAZING, and they had African singers/​drummers/​dancers which was really entertaining. Overall better experience than Gilgamesh which is next door and even more pricey! Chocolate tart desert was OUT OF THIS WORLD and was worth every penny — about 850 of them I seem to recall!

Restaurant is excellent. You can try crocodile, ostrich, zebra, boerewars, springbok, etc. Portions are well sized and I was given a complimentary chips as my food was later coming out then the rest of the table (minutes). Décor is amazing, every inch is covered in Zulu themed carvings.
Late at night the restaurant is overpowered by the nightclub and the two story venue gets incredibly crowded with people. The bars are incredibly slow, while waitresses carrying cheap vodka can be quite pushy.
You also have to give up your table for people who are eating if you are only drinking. Not cool.

My friend and I went here for dinner on a groupon voucher, since we live only 20 minutes up the road. The décor was very interesting, and I definitely think it’s a destination for groups who want an experience out of their meal. The hostess told us they have live performances on the weekend, so maybe go then if you’d enjoy a dinner show. They had just changed their menu that day, and the food was actually very good. I think we lucked out with our waitress who had only recently started working at Shaka Zulu. She’s from a small bay town in South Africa and runs a restaurant there with her parents. She was so nice and attentive, and it was great hearing her story about coming to London to experience the summer season here. I would say the groupon menu is quite limited, as you have the purchase your own sides, but the mains were delicious.

I can highly recommend the venue and food but not so much the staff. My husband took me for a birthday treat where we sat upstairs as downstairs was closed. The service was quick and bar food was delicious but attitude of the waiter was awful. At first he looked down his nose at me because I don’t drink champagne (not my fault I get a headache) and I thought the customer was always right. After this incident he was rude and abrupt And slammed the bill on the table as we didn’t want any deserts who got all shirty. The décor and ambience was perfect though even though we visited in the day. It is pricy so that’s why we opted for the bar menu. I won’t be visiting again based on the awful waiter. If it wasn’t for him I would go again for a special occasion.

We have the most A-​mazing night here on Saturday!!! My mum has been here before and we went back for a b-​day treat, three floors of intricate south african design carvings, escalators and large bars, the loo’s are something else?! Lol
It’s def a once a year visit for us being that the prices are pretty high but your paying for a whole experience, we have a shared sea food starter which arrived as two tiered platter of oysters and massive clams mixed with prawns, cockles, sauces, winkles (how cute even though not my fave) and swirls of liquid nitrogen and stacks of ice to keep it all cool and fresh and looking pretty impressive.
We tried the capaccio which is a type of south african deer? Really good!
Highlights were trying my husband’s Zebra! I think it tasted somewhere between pork and steak and you actually probably wouldn’t know really but it’s all about novelty here, the south african dancing and singing throughout the restauraunt, the Shark Ally cocktails and most of all this fab after dinner drink which name slips me but blew your socks off and comes with a waiter who explains it and turns it into an event,
Later it turns into a club and fills up with the young and beautiful looking fab and we admired from a far and took our pretty tipsy arse’s home!

I got a groupon voucher to go here. If i was given the chance to go back and pay full price i probably wouldn’t take it.
On entering the premises you are welcomed by the staff and the vibrant «authentic» south african décor!
The décor was pretty good to be fair!
I was expecting to eat crazy foods that i wouldn’t normally go for. I wanted the springbok but told they had none left. So i had venison to start with and a steak for main. So not anything out of the ordinary. Id say go there for the experience as it is slightly different to the usual. It a one time occasion i think.
We had to ask twice for our drinks as well so that prob didn’t help the experience.
Dress code id say is as dressy as you want. I wouldn’t go in wearing trainers!
To be fair the food i had was very tasty just not what i expected to have eaten.

I love the atmosphere here. The décor is lovely and its a great place to have an event that does not involve the food.
Besides that theres nothing else to it. The food is just not good. Came for bday party and had to pay to get in even though we were on the guest list.
Overrated! The end.

Shaku zulu it was a good dining experiance for my friends and i great décor food tasted good and friendly atmosphere

Shaka Zulu tries to be a restaurant and club and as a result, both elements suffer.
I had an office party here and I think we went for a fairly budget set menu so perhaps the a-​la-​carte menu offers better quality. Nonetheless, food wise everything was average. I had a three course meal and opted for smoked salmon to start, lamb for the main and a chocolate tart for dessert.
The smoked salmon tasted like it was just from a supermarket. the lamb was very decent but unspectacular, likewise for the dark chocolate tart.
Towards the end of the meal (2230ish maybe?) they cranked the music up and it essentially turned into a club. It was completely the wrong crowd level for the volume of music though (and continued to be throughout the night). Music was, like the food, decent — generally popular electronic songs from the last 10 – 15 years with the odd bit of rap/​pop thrown in and a weird christmas mash-​up for the last 30 minutes.
All that being said, I had a really fun night. The décor is gaudy and ott but definitely interesting and certainly a talking point. Our night started with a drinks reception at the upstairs bar which had a chill vibe.
I wouldn’t ever be brave enough to suggest this as an option for fear of others not enjoying it but if you find yourself here, you’ll probably have a good time.

Verdict: A decent restaurant when longing to be in Masai Mara while you are in London’s Camden Town!
Pros:
— What amazing venue and ambiance largely due the elegant and lavish décor and design.
— Spacious and grand.
— Unusual and exotic and imho opinion exciting menu or meat on the menu.
— The lounge.
Cons:
— I for one expected more gamey-​taste. As Scandinavian I am quite used to moose, venison and wild boar tasting gamey!
— Price. But I guess a big chunk of it goes to cover the cost of this grand décor.
— Separate and overpriced sides!

had lunch here with friend whom i met in south africa. so it was nice to be in this surrounding and catch up. the meal was quite good. flavors i remember from south Africa.
we used the Groupon deal so we had app, entrée and dessert included. there is also a drink included but we opted to go with the wine instead. their pinotage rose was delicious. i introduced her to pinotage and now she’s a fan. i’m a huge fan!
my app was a tuna tartar which was very tasty. not really s. African in my opinion but that was fine. for the entrée i had the vegetable potjie and that had s. African flavors. nice. and for dessert i had the panna cotta, also pretty good.
restaurant is in the heart of Camden town but we were there on a quiet day so it was a lovely atmosphere. restaurant is quite dark inside, that’s the ambiance. since London doesn’t get much sun i would not recommend coming here on a sunny day. stay outside. but on normal London grey days, come here if you feel like having some s. African food :-)
they have free WiFi but you have to sign in. no cellular signal in the restaurant because you have to go underground for restaurant.

I recently visited South Africa with my wife, to meet the majority of my family for the first time. It was such an amazing experience! So when we got invited to Shaka Zulu — a South African restaurant, with some friends we were really excited to give it a try.
The first thing to note is it’s size. Split over 2 (possibly 3?) floors, it is vast. It is also part restaurant, part nightclub, so don’t be surprised if it ends up being a late night!
The menu is quite exciting. From my experience ‘braai-​ing’ with my Cape Town, South Africans do steak exceptionally, and there are 5 steaks available to order here. Ranging from run of the mill sirloin, through to the beastly T-​bone; a proper South African steak!
We were however, more tempted to try something a bit more exotic. We opted for Wildebeast Ham Hock and Snoek paté to start us off, with Zebra and Crocodile for our mains! We then rounded things off with a trio of African desserts, one of which was Koeksisters, a new favourite of mine.
The food was all presented superbly and tasted very nice. So why only 3 stars you ask? Well…
Our table was booked for 9pm, pretty late as it is, but we didnt actually get seated until 9.45pm. Our waiter was terse and impatient when we tried to navigate the exotic menu, at one time actually telling me to «just pick something».
When we did choose what to eat, it tasted very nice, but we had to take their word for it that we were in fact eating what we ordered. The snoek paté could have easily been smoked mackerel, the zebra was great, but could have easily been beef. You get the picture. You also had to choose your side dishes separately, and pay about £8 each for the privilege!
Then there is the price in general. The final meal ended up being £60 per head + drinks! That’s a lot of money in my book, but considering how cheap everything seemed in South Africa because of the exchange rate, it was particularly difficult to swallow.

Qui aurait pu croire que dans les sous-​sol du Camden Market se cachait un tel sésame? Entrée cachée entre un vieux disquaire et une autre échoppe incertaine, longue descente vers l’obscurité… Mais une fois arrivé, c’est sûr, l’endroit né paye pas de mine ! Une énorme boîte avec deux étages et des décors nous plongeant en pleine savane !
En journée, c’est les plateaux de tapas et cocktails qui défilent, tout a l’air délicieux, mais on sent qu’il faut payer le décor qui va avec…
Oui, c’est beau, mais c’est également excèssivement cher! 11 pounds un cocktail !
A aller une fois juste pour visiter, sinon il y a meilleurs endroits où se ruiner!

I feel really bad when people come back from a restaurant I’ve been to where I personally had a great dining experience and they had a really bad one. It seems Shaka Zulu is one of those places. Reading through previous reviews most of them are either really good or really bad and it is a combination of food and service. It seems to be a place that lacks consistency depending on what day you go and what you order. However this was my second dining experience using a Gourmet Society card and I can honestly say on both visits I had an amazing experience with lovely, attentive service and delicious food.
We went there on a Wednesday night and found it to be pretty empty. It didn’t bother us at all as we enjoyed the company of the statues and was too ‘wowed’ by the African carving on the walls of African warriors and animals, beautifully crafted tables and the rest of the luxurious décor. It was a two storey restaurant connected by indoor escalators and big enough to hold two groups of Kizomba dance lessons downstairs which we enjoyed watching as we ate.
Although there did seem a shortage of staff, the one waiter guy we kept seeing was awesomely fast paced at getting round to everyone and making sure our needs were met. Couldn’t fault on his service either as he was approachable and friendly.
We started our meal with Crocodile cigars and Ham Hock and Wildebeest. Our intention on visiting was to try out exotic meats and although that is what we ordered, the starters did not allow us to explore it’s original flavour and texture. They were great as they were though. For example the Crocodile cigars came as spring rolls, light pastry and lightly spiced and if they were just originally spring rolls I would have been very pleased. But knowing we’re paying double to taste crocodile meat it did fail us as there wasn’t enough in there to taste what crocodile is or get the texture. The curry spices also hid it’s original flavours. Wish they could find another way of serving the meat. Ham Hock and Wildebeest was more successful as it was more meaty, coarse and generously portioned. The meat was juicy, lean and well seasoned But I still had trouble distinguishing what was pork and what was wildebeest. But if I was judging on the flavour of these starters rather than my intentions they were very decent and tasty and it is only fair to review them that way.
For mains we shared a zebra fillet and springbok loin both cooked medium rare as requested. All the steaks were served with shoestring fries and a little side of salad although they were more for décor and texture rather to fill you up as the portion was teeny. As lovely and crunchy the fries were it was just the crisp end. But it was all about the main event and I can honestly say it was one of the best steaks I’ve had.
The zebra was incredibly tender and soft, more spongy in texture compared to beef and sweeter tasting. For a fillet it wasn’t very gamey but more delicate in flavour and sweet. Springbok was more firmer probably because it was the loin but I preferred the texture. It was still incredibly tender, effortless to cut with the knife and had a richer deeper meaty taste compared to the zebra. Both were very succulent and cooked perfectly pink inside. I highly recommend both.
For those with a big appetite like us it definitely wasn’t filling and so for sides we ordered celeriac mash and roast cinnamon butternut. Both were amazing with the butternut beautifully grilled till soft so some of the sugar caramalised. The celeriac mash was also seasoned nicely and creamed till smooth. It had more taste than the usual potato and I much preferred it.
For dessert we decided to take the full advantage of trying African cuisine so we ordered the trio of South African dessert. It consisted of a African milk tart but the filling with not as creamy and milky as I would have liked it. It was quite actually dense and rubbery. More successful was the koeksisters which resembled very much like a Turkish doughnut with it being coated in syrup, spongy, sticky and sweet. The last dessert was more a African cocktail made from icecream mixed in Kahlua to give that coconut essence. The alchohol could have been stronger but that’s my personal preference. I do love coconut and ice cream so enjoyed it nevertheless. Altogether the dessert platter was average but it was nice to get a taste of what African dessert is.
I would highly recommend Shaka Zulu as a place everyone must visit at least one. Of course I do hope everyone experiences the same level of quality of food and service as we did that evening but just for the amazing eye catching décor it has to be visited. I would advise everyone to stick to the steaks as they did not disappoint. There is usually a 50% offer on Toptable across mains made available to everyone because without it the damage can be quite bad. But this is no ordinary restaurant and definitely one I put on the ‘romantic’ and ‘birthday’ venue list.

I’ve always been hesitant with restaurants that have so many Groupon deals or even simulataneous Groupon, KGBdeals, TimeOut deals, etc, etc.
I had £50 Red Letter day voucher which was meant to be a credit towards my bill. Instead I got some lame 3-​course set menu. Firstly, they «lost» my reservation. Then we got pestered by 2 waiters to select our courses. We were happily enjoying our pre-​dinner drinks, until the one waiter must’ve gotten fed up and said we HAD to place our order because it’ll get busy later. Isn’t a restaurant meant to get busy?
Our starters came within 5 minutes of the waiter taking our order. It felt as if the chef just wanted to clear the food off a conveyor belt. The rest of the food came just after my last bite making me think that ‘voucher-​customers’ have food sitting on warming racks in the kitchen.
As a South Aftrican, there was nothing South African about the set menu. I didn’t even want the set menu… I was meant to go ala carte!!!
Very disappointing. Shame on you for being unproudly south african!

Great décor, but the compliments stop there.
This place has received rave reviews from many people, but it’s near enough the worse restaurant I’ve ever been in.
Upon arriving, we handed in our Timeout voucher, and expected things to run smoothly from there. We were given menus and the staff took our orders. 10 minutes later, there was apparently a confusion and we were told that we were given the wrong menu for our deal. Convinced we were on the «last​minute​.com» deal, there was no real choice, and we had to opt for 4 cocktails (which was correct), but instead of the two course menu, we could only get a sharing board. After some negotiation, we were told we could get two sharing boards.
The food itself was not even average. The seafood had a fish that was too salty. The smoked salmon was decent enough, but requires no work on their part. The crab very fishy and not that great. The meat board was very boring. Just lamb samosas and some crocodile spring rolls. There was no real flavour to this. The cocktails that arrived were okay, but nothing special, and definitely not worth the £11. Basically when you dine here, you’re essentially paying for the décor. The staff were perfectly pleasant but there seemed to be all too much confusion. Honestly, if you going to offer multiple voucher deals, make sure you understand YOURSELF how these work.
The real icing on the cake was the 12.5% service charge at the end. The voucher clearly stated that this was only applicable on any ADDITIONAL items ordered to the voucher deal. Since we hadn’t ordered anything additional, and DIDNT get our expected two course meal, but some cheap sharing boards it left a bad after-​taste. One of the waitresses noted our unhappiness and went to get the manager. However it appeared that they seemed to be understanding that they were in the wrong, and we quite rightly were spared the service charge.
Honestly, even without the confusion and inability to honour the advertised TIMEOUT deal, the food and drink was nothing special. I will never be back, and would suggest if you want to experience the décor, which is quite stunning, just head to the bar for a quick drink. The food is disappointing to the max and at full price, terrible value for money.
One to avoid. Seriously.