I would seriously advise anyone NOT to bother with this placeThe manager has to be one of the rudest, arrogant, most incompetent individuals I have ever dealt with. He clearly lacks any client service skills, and is simply quite horrificIn addition, the food is average, way too pricey, as are the drinks. The music is far too loud. On a positive note, the staff, generally, are trying their best in a difficult environmentYou will get more for your money by going to multiple other venues in the area. Just forget BBS, Shoreditch!!!!

Was at BBB for new years eve, the whole night was a catalogue of bad service, I arrived on time, only to have to wait for my table for half an hour at the bar. When finally seated, no one came to offer us a drinks menu, asks us what we wanted to drink or anything at all.....we waited for a whole hour before the pre-starter came in, I took it upon myself to go to the bar and leave my girlfriend on the table to get drinks myself from the bar so we had something to drink on the table.

Once we ate the pre-starters it took another hour (11:00pm) for the starter to come in. Next came the wait for our main and lo and behold I spent the new year on an empty table waiting for my food whilst all the staff were running around dressed up kissing and wishing each other happy new year. I had planned by then that we would have eaten and gone downstairs for some champagne and cocktails way before midnight to celebrate, but no, it was already past midnight 2012 and I am yet to see a main course served......totally unacceptable.

Around 00:20am I complained to someone that it was past midnight and still no sign of us being fed despite the fact that the food had been paid for 3 days earlier (£150 meal for 2 people-no drinks) and the food order was placed days earlier as well. Now bearing in mind my table seating was booked for 9:30pm (2011) and here I am chasing my main meal at 00:20 (2012), it litterally took them a year to serve us the main.....in the end they still had the cheek to ask for a hefty service charge of £18+? What service may I ask?

Get a grip BBB, you could not run this place any worse if you tried.

I visited here on Saturday for a friend’s birthday party being held in the basement bar area. The place itself looks very cool, especially the restaurant and bar area upstairs, and the staff were for the most part very friendly. However, I think they must have spent all of the money on the décor and run out when it comes to staff numbers and training. The waiting time downstairs was a joke, even with table service getting a drink took over 20 minutes. What made it more annoying was that the drinks were made up and left to sit at the bar on a tray for 5 mins, with me trying and falling to get a member of staff to bring them to the table or at least hand them over. Upstairs the service was quicker, however serving flat gin & tonics and then charging £10 is not on, especially after I’d asked them to remake the drink, and was then presented with the same flat drink after a 4 min wait. In their defence they did supply a complementary glass of house red, but only after I’d kicked up a fuss, and wasted 10 minutes at the bar. This could be a great venue, but not at the prices they are charging with the current bar staff they have.

Went along to the restaurant for dinner with a group of girl friends last Saturday and had an amazing time, food was very tasty and pricing was good, and after dinner we carried onto the lounge for cocktails and dancing, which was very busy and fun.
Would definitely recommend if you are looking for a fun night out in east London.

BBB as a venue for Saturday night birthday drinks? Don’t bother! Apparently the drinks are amazing, difficult to agree after waiting +30 minutes for them!! Should you get a drink they are over priced, with a service charge added on for buying a bottle of wine at the bar!! My friend ordered vi, a the waitress, 50 minutes later his drinks never arrived, to add further insult his credit card had to be almost forcibly removed from the staff who seemed reluctant to keep hold if despite no drinks ever turning up. There is no excuse for such terrible service.
My only conclusion can be that the owners have so much money they have no desire to take money from their customers which were quite literally queued around the bar trying desperately to secure a drink!

I get it, we live in London, so we expect to pay high prices for things, but I fear this place really took it to the limit. We paid £59.00 for a bottle of wine (WTF)...and to top it, we were charged 12.5% service charge, even though we were at the bar as they have a policy of charging SC for all bills over £20.00. So for a bottle of wine, a beer, and a coctail, our bill came to £82.00, of which £9.00 was SC. I am pleased to say that we will not be returning.

Good start, Bad end. Started out with drinks while waiting for our table and got chatting to some french bar tenders and glass cleaner who were very friendly and stylishly made our drinks. We finally got to our table after being delayed with no reason from the manager and sat down to our table. Ordered our food that didn't taste at all good and after talking about it to the manager we got a poor excuse and had to leave for a later engagement we were late for because of how long it took to sit us down. From what I could tell the manager just spent time lighting sparklers in cocktails for the bigger groups and not didn't take care of the other people seated such as us. Could have been good but disappointing for how much it cost and poor service from the manager gradually dragged the evening down.

the food was crap. the drinks are good. the scene is trendy. and i left wanting to strangle the manager who tried desperately to convince me that his tomato salad was not supposed to be ripe but in fact crunchy like an apple because that's what they were going for. he may need to put the drugs down for a couple of minutes and actually read what he is serving in the future. also, they may want to actually sear their seared scallops and don't get me started on how tough and and lacking flavor the short ribs are. a very disappointing experience, especially considering how good the mother restaurant is in notting hill.

the food was crap. the drinks are good. the scene is trendy. and i left wanting to strangle the manager who tried desperately to convince me that his tomato salad was not supposed to be ripe but in fact crunchy like an apple because that's what they were going for. he may need to put the drugs down for a couple of minutes and actually read what he is serving in the future. also, they may want to actually sear their seared scallops and don't get me started on how tough and and lacking flavor the short ribs are. a very disappointing experience, especially considering how good the mother restaurant is in notting hill.

went there yesterday (on a tuesday) for dinner with a group of 5. We were welcomed extremely friendly and felt very welcome. The waiters were relaxed and friendly, the drinks could have been a bit faster but the quality of the cocktails made up for that. Same for the food: we had to wait a bit too long but the quality was excellent. The venue itself is worth to see by itself, I would definitely recommend the place and will be back soon!

We went to eat last night and found it to be one of the most charming buildings i have seen in east london, lit up with twinkly lights and sexy decor, we had the most amazing food off the set menu, i had the goats cheese to start and it literally melted in my mouth, a ten out of ten. my partner had the salmon as a main and was perfectly pink in the middle just how she likes it and it sat upon a bed of bean sprout salad with a sweet soy sauce and lime dressing, totally to die for.
I will be coming back for my birthday as it also looks likes a really fun place to party.

Recently went here from my friend's birthday, what a huge disappointment of a venue, incredibly overpriced, the staff was rude and pushy, absolutely no respect for their customers (and it was a birthday!) the bread on the table was literally warburtons, they tried to rush us off the table because they had "other guests" and wouldn't allow friends to bring a birthday cake unless a fee of 30 pounds was paid, absolutely ridiculous, I don't know who manages BBB shoreditch but SHAME ON YOU.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ANY COST.

Recently went here from my friend's birthday, what a huge disappointment of a venue, incredibly overpriced, the staff was rude and pushy, absolutely no respect for their customers (and it was a birthday!) the bread on the table was literally warburtons, they tried to rush us off the table because they had "other guests" and wouldn't allow friends to bring a birthday cake unless a fee of 30 pounds was paid, absolutely ridiculous, I don't know who manages BBB shoreditch but SHAME ON YOU.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ANY COST.

Came along to this venue a few weeks ago, and loved it!
Staff were all really friendly and service was great, as are the amazing cocktails, will be returning to this place lots this summer :)

x

What a terrible place I went to bbb last night in shoreditch. I booked a table at 9pm originally to be called and told it had to be moved to 7pm as they were actually over booked. We arrived at 7pm were seated straight away, I am not joking when I say they rushed us through all 3 courses in a record 33min! The starter came literally after he took the menus away, I am presuming it is already prepared and sitting out. They tried to clear plates before we had even finished. The waitress was in such a rush she spilled a raspberry martin all over my cream dress, did not apologise or offer me another one, but just walked off leaving a £8.50 half empty cocktail for me to drink. On top of it all I have woken this morning at 5am to start vomiting with food poisoning, I guess the fish was not cooked properly as they were in such a rush to get their next seating. This cost my friend and I £127 for the pleasure, they will be hearing from me when I can manage to talk to someone on the phone for long enough without having to run to the loo to be sick. Beach Blanket Babylon Shoreditch does not even deserve the one star I have had to give it!

I came here on Saturday night for a friend's birthday drinks and was not impressed. Firstly, I'd just like to say that I think the place itself is really nice - big open spaces with high ceilings and luxurious decor, which could make for a really pleasant night out.

My problem is that it is massively overpriced. I paid £12.70 for two bottles of Corona and an orange juice (which was poured from a cheapo looking carton). My friend ordered a bar snack - it said on the menu 'mini burgers' - it was in fact one mini burger, with 5 chips, for a whopping £7.50.

I didn't find the service bad as such, but it certainly wasn't up to scratch - a bit too slow, and not particularly welcoming (except for the doorman who was polite).

The place was half empty so there wasn't much of an atmosphere. There are definitly better places than this to spend your Saturday night - and your cash.

I booked a corporate event for my company conference banquet which we held in the private gallery in Beach Babylon last Thursday. My directors were incredibly impressed with how fantastic the venue looks in itself and even more impressed when I showed them up to the gallery where we had our private dining.
We had a 3 course meal with pre-dinner champagne and after dinner coffees & chocolates and the waiters and other staff were so attentive, nobody ever had an empty glass!
After dinner we went down into the main bar for more drinks and the only thing I would say is it would have been nice if there were a few more sofa areas to sit on downstairs as it was full with restaurant diners.
Other than that we had an absolutely fantastic night and can't wait for the Christmas party which we have now booked in their sister branch in Notting Hill.

I had a brilliant birthday party @ BBB Shoreditch last weekend!
There seems to have been some changes around that place! Perhaps a new manager or something but everyone had their A game on and tried really hard to make sure my birthday party was an amazing night for me. Being a PA I regularly need good venues for company events and things so I will have an easy decision next time! Thanks to everyone @ Beach Blanket Babylon!

Avoid this place like the plague! Super shame as the interior is just gorgeous but the staff and service so let this place down. After complaining to a super unhelpful manager, he even agreed with me about how appalling it was and offered no resolution.

I really wouldn't go there!

The most appalling service I have ever experienced. Reading the reviews of others on both this website and elsewhere, there's no need I think for me to elaborate on the details of my experience - you get it. Don't bother. Mangers, bar staff - learn some manners.

We had a 30th and 15th birthday booked in for 9 people @ 7.30pm. We arrived and were seated promptly. We were told we HAD to order from the set menu (which was a poor choice of starters and mains). This was due to our party consisting of more than 6 people, and the kitchen not being able to cope with a la carte orders from its main menu. This was after we asked this question when originally booking the venue and were told that we could order what we like. We then came to an agreement with the most obnoxious and rude manager, that 2 people would have the set menu and rest could choose from the main menu. Although, when we finally ordered over an hour into being seated, we were told the reverse of what the manager had stated. Only 2 people could choose from the a la carte menu and the rest from the set menu. (By the way, none of the food choices were intricate nor timely - Burger and chips was on the a la carte menu and would take 10 minutes to cook, so why that was not on the set menu escapes me!) We decided that we had enough and did not pay for the drinks they had provided us with, only to be confronted by the manager who's attitude was absolutely disgusting and language incoherent.

Overall, the staff did not communicate with each other and their customer service was in the least desirable. The manager: Was a vile excuse and bad representation for the restaurant. Not only would i definitely not recommend this place, but would also go as far as to say, it was the worst experience i have ever had in restaurant!!

If the owners of BBB are reading this, then you really need to fix up with this one. The interior is beautiful, it is a real shame the staff or management do not fit the bill!!

This restaurant had the worst service I have ever experienced. I had a table booked for 15 people at 9pm with an area at the bar from 7.30pm onwards. In a nutshell, they refused to take responsibility for their mistake in managing tables/reservations and blamed me saying the booking was for 9.30 not 9. Then they couldnt get us seated until 10.30pm and we had to re-order our main course which i pre-ordered 3 days before even coming to the restaurant! The manager was the rudest most arrogant, I've ever come across and his team were like headless chickens with no sense of communication or system. I would never go back - spend your money elsewhere.

What a shambles! Went on Saturday for a friend's 30th birthday and it was nothing short of appalling. The table was booked for 9 people at 9pm - we were finally seated after 10pm and the table was laid for 8. We waited a good 10 minutes between the first starter and last starter being brought to the table so mine was cold by the time we tucked in. The main course was just plain unpleasant - overcooked seabass from the grill, which was advertised as coming with fries and salad, but we got a bowl of soggy veg and chunky wedges instead. The chef’s attempts to hide the black tops of the absolutely charred cannelloni did not fool us - and most of the meal was left uneaten. The manager said we should have sent the mains back - it was 11pm by this time and we would have eaten our own shoes we were that hungry!! His excuse for the cannelloni? "Cheese has to melt..." Having called ahead to tell them it was a special celebration meal we left after the main course without even having dessert or coffee and all in all felt it was the worst meal we have ever experienced, ever. And no, we didn't pay the tip. Do not go here. Repeat: DO NOT GO HERE.

Have been to BBB in Bethnal Green twice and unfortunately have to go for friends birthday tonight. The staff are so rude and poorly trained. Downstairs all the tables are always reserved to no one can sit down, even though people dont turn up till late. This means shocking atmosphere, when we asked if we could sit down and leave as soon as the reservists arrived we were met with a aggressive no. Eventually we got the manager to agree to let us sit down whilst we drank our £9! martinis.
The first time I was celebrating a purchase of a first house andbought some champagne. I was give a hot bottle and two wine glasses. When we asked for a chilled bottle and champagne glasses the bars staff was exremely rude.
Had to get a barman to remake a martini four times as kept making wrong time, had to be shown in the end.


Style over substance, avoid at all costs, purely for posers. Go to redchurch for much better cocktails or loungelover for a better place.

I have been here a few times now and would not recommend it. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt but the service is slow and I have always been left waiting - even when its not that busy! There is a 'greeter' at the entrance but they don't smile when you arrive, nor do they ask if you are here to eat or drink which is the whole purpose of having a greeter. Thoroughly unfriendly atmosphere.

Was there on Saturday 06/02/2010 with a friend and was surprised by poor service from a Bar Manager (Greek, told us a barstaff) in downstairs Bar. I asked him what bottled beers do you have and without answering got me two beers that i have never seen before , so promptly asked for £8, i didn't have enough cash so was asking him while counting quickly if he accepts cards and replied that cash is easier to pay with! (again without answering the question). When i concluded that i haven't got £8 in cash and i offered my card than he replied that their minimum card charge is £20. What came to me as surprise and asked how come is such high minimum he nodded like eeee... and unfriendly manner said that i have to pay by cash and i have to pay it! I asked my friend for cash and fortunately he had cash so we payed. This guy was very poor sort of a bar manager as unfriendly attitude from very begging not to mention his poor costumer service, english and unprofessional for a manager. After 2 minute in disbelief i asked two other bar staff separately how much was their card minimum and both told me that is £7.50, not £20 as i was lied by their manager, who now has left the bar. My friend speculated that he might have needed the cash to cover something up, a misconduct apparently, because he was acting as such. I was i no mood to wait for him to ruing more of my saturday night so we dumped the beers (which came up as no good at all, it wasn't my choice or was offered one!) and decided to go to another place.

unorganised inexperienced and chaotic. i asked for a sherry and the bar staff had idea what a sherry was. i was made to like a fool who cant keep up with the trendy drinks. the fact is that i work in a bar and understand that its important to have a wide range of drinks for sale and at least know what they are..even if you don't sell them.
wont be going back.

We booked a table for 2 at 7:15. We arrived late at 7:40 and the reservation was still active.

We were taken to our table, our coats were taken to a cloak room by a member of staff. We placed a drinks order a few minutes later. 5 minutes after That we got the drinks and ordered food.

I did not even think about checking the time, because they were bringing everything just in time. There were plenty of people serving the clients, asking if meals were satisfactory and they even made sure that my glass of water did not stay empty.

The main meals Pear and Gorgonzola salad as well as my lamb were very good and done as requested. I also recommend their Eton Mess and very good cocktails.

It looks like they managed to correct whatever was wrong before or we were lucky. Next time I will take all my friend there!

I booked a table for 4 people at 9:30. When we arrived at 9:20 we were told our table was not ready yet, which I thought was OK as we were a little early.

We were told to go and drink at the bar whilst we waited....... By 10:15 we were taken to our table handed menus and left and left and left and left........

Finally we managed to place a drinks order and our food order......... we waited..... and waited........ by 10:50 we got our drinks........ we waited.... by 11:15 we got our food which was certainly not worth the wait.

My friends burger was well done and he asked for medium. My husbands bangers and mash was warm and the very most and my tuna, of which i asked for medium, was well done.

No body came to check if our meals were satisfactory. We needed more drinks at this point so we eventually managed to order some re-fills which, after not receiving, we then cancelled.

We asked for the bill of which was a printed receipt dropped onto the table by our ill-mannered and inattentive waiter. Unsurprisingly I requested that the 12.5% service charge be removed from the bill.

The lady on the door explained that they were short staffed and then told me to try again during the week for a better experience.... I explained that I would never step foot in the place again.

I will be telling all of my friends to avoid this place at all cost.

One of the most awful bar/restaurant experiences ever. Booked a table of six for 9.30pm.

We arrived promptly to be told by the very rude girl on the door that the table was not ready. It then took us half an hour to get a drink at the bar before being seated an hour later than our booking with NO apology.

The waitress then gave us the 'hard sell' trying to persuade us to buy a £100 bottle of vodka for the table, as we would apparently get mixers free. Bargain, apparently - ha ha.

Two of the main dishes were cold when they arrived and a third (a goat's cheese salad) was unbelievably poor quality. The two cold dishes were returned to us (roughly around the time the rest of our party had finished their meals) tepid at best.

Regardless of the temperature, the taste was distinctly average. To top it all off, half our bottle of wine was then given to another table, due to sharing an ice bucket.

The general manager had the look of a broken man about him and agreed with no fuss to discount three main courses, the wine and service from the bill.

Overall, a massive disappointment. Not worth the money at all. Avoid at all costs. I would rather go to KFC than go back here.

Not a nice place by any standards. Disappointing night with really bad service and over priced food and drinks.

The menu selection was very poor and products did not taste fresh. This usually happens when a place is not busy and the keep the ingredients for too long.

The night we were there it was really soulless and the waitress did not help by being so cold. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Beach Blanket does not provide anything that it promises on its website.

There certainly wasn't four floors of glamour and fun to let our hair down as they over hyped this dreadful place on their website.

The only people there were from some suburban county on a day trip who were probably as disappointed as we were.

Only the ground floor was open and the toilets were smelly in the basement. We only had mains from the very limited menu and did not bother to stay for desserts or coffee as it was as dead as a Dodo in there.

We decamped to a far superior place nearby.

Avoid this miserable place at all costs as it really dampen our evening and it was costly mistake as we took a cab and over paid for the drinks and food.

I really wanted to like this place as it looked interesting from the outside. Once inside that all changed as we encountered the worst staff ever. These ordinary looking people think they are superior to us just because they work in a place that download images of models (which is really naff, never mind breaking the copyright laws) on their menu covers.
Come back to earth, you are not Cindy Crawford or Heidi Klum or else you would be strutting your stuff on the catwalk, you are just our waitress in Bethnal Green Road in the worst restaurant and bar on planet earth. So behave like a waitress and enough with the attitude.
Bad service combined with really awful food and diluted cocktails made this the worst expensive evening for us.
The recession is biting hard here as there was only another table of 3 in this vast empty room. I am not the least surprised by the welcome we got.

I live around the corner from this place and have always stayed away as the whole neighborhood has been against this venue as they are inconsiderate and awful to the local residents from day.

Anyway i thought i will go in with my wife to try it out as its in our neighborhood and we are intending to stay for quite a few years here.

The place was nearly empty and i can see why. The staff are completely disorganised and down right rude.

When we entered, nobody greeted us and we had to find someone to seat us. Even though it was nearly empty the service was really slow and uncaring.

I suppose people are more choosy where they go to in this recession. Everytime i pass by the place is empty except on Saturday when there is a bunch of trashy tv invited by some tacky promoter.

There is always cheap bottles of plonk lying around on the street left by these trashy people who are drunk before they enter the venue.

I can understand why real foodies avoid this place like the plague. The food was very over priced for the small portions and the terrible taste.

Overall this place is a really bad addition to area and it brings the wrong sort of people. I can' t see it lasting much longer as its always dead there and the only times its busy its with wannabes out for a freebie from the promoters.

You can tell when a place is on its way out when they have to rely on promoters to bring in the punters. Shoreditch will be better of without this tacky dump.

Beach Blanket Babylon has a fantastic and unique air as soon as you step foot in it!

The music is great, the staff are always friendly and the drinks, lets just say, that it was not my finest hour!

Overall, It's a great restaurant that cuts out all the usual atmosphere of west end restaurants but it also provides us with a great night out.

Big disappointment, really bad service and awful greasy food. The food is really bad quality and tasted of cardboard.

I am sure if you went to Iceland to buy the bread (which is probably where they buy it ) mash up some cardboard with a knorr beef cube you could produce a better meal than Beach Blanket.

The 'chef' ought to be shot. All five of us agreed its the worst meal we had ever eaten in the civilised world.

The cocktails are no better and service is the worst ever. Where do this people come from? What makes them think that they can be rude and arrogant and think that they will have repeat clients.

They are really thick as the place is nearly empty and they still can't provide a decent service. I think the staff are just uneducated and should not be in the catering industry. Avoid at all costs

Beach Blanket Babylon Shoreditch, is a must for anyone wanting a great night out. All the elements are there.

Big bar for before dinner drinks, fantastic restaurant i had the duck which was amazing, Dj was wicked dealt with all our requests, dancing till late.

Food, drinks and service were amazing. I went there last weekend and it was one of the best nights out ever in London!

I find it incredibly sad when you go somewhere when you are badly treated.

What are these people doing in the service industry, surely you take on a job for survival and even if you don't like it, you should have some brains to realise the clients are the hands that feed you.

Do something else if you have the talent to otherwise grin and bear it!!

What shockingly bad service and attitude from very surly unattractive staff from this dreadful dump.

The food is off the cheapest standards but you end up paying for premium products.

This is not on and beach blanket babylon should not get away with it. The fair trade association should check on them.

Spend your money elsewhere. Looking at all the reviews about bbb, i am not the only one who believes this place is bad.

The cheap decor is also a put off but will impress the out of towners who only goes out on pay day to get trashed and not know about standards.

DO NOT BOTHER to come here as its the pits. Went there with some friends, hardly anybody there, two other tables of twos only in this huge room.

All the other three floors were apparently out of bounds. Staff really rude and stupid, did not know anything at all about the small rubbishy menu.

VERY DISAPPOINTING meal, a total rip off, really small portions of tasteless chewy,bland food.

VERY WEAK watery cocktails. Smelly toilets, freezing room with a huge draft coming in from the windows. This place is way over hyped and everyone has caught on about how bad this place is as the proof is in the empty room.