Salt Bae’s London restaurant, the Nusr-Et Steakhouse, is getting absolutely roasted on TripAdvisor by disgruntled customers.
The steakhouse itself gained loads of traction when it first opened in London, namely for the prices, which I can only describe as ‘extortionate’.
For context: a ‘giant tomahawk’ steak costs £630 or AUD$1,172. In fairness, the steak is wrapped in gold leaf but, still. That’s a lot of money for a slab of meat.
Plus, who can forget the guy who managed to spend a whopping £37,032 (or AUD$57,902) on one night out at the London restaurant?
You’d hope that with those sorts of prices, the experience of dining at Nusr-Et would be akin to a one-on-one dinner with Beyoncé, or being served some sort of rare mushroom which only grows every 12 years under the beam of the waning moon.
Alas, apparently that’s not the case. According to TripAdvisor – the angriest place on the internet – the London restaurant only has a rating of 2.0 out of 5.0.
One of the top reviews was dramatically titled ‘insult to humanity’, which I’m lowkey obsessed with.
“Worst food, worst service, paid over £1800 for 3 of us,” the reviewer said.
“Poor quality, smelly meat, small portions, rather spend £50 in the local restaurant will be better! Never again! Stay away, it’s a death trap!”
I don’t know what’s worse there: the phrase ‘smelly meat’ or the fact that one meal cost £1800, aka AUD$3,351.
Another was titled ‘avoid like the plague’ and, once again, loving the drama and verve coming out in these reviews.
“I travel all over the world conducting my business and have eaten in many many restaurants but this is the worst one yet,” they wrote.
“I dined here with some business associates and felt embarrassed afterwards that I’d chosen such a god awful place to dine in.
“This place is all hype and no substance give it a miss or dine at your own peril”.
According to this reviewer though, Salt Bae’s restaurants in L.A., Turkey and Dubai do in fact live up to the hype.
In defence of Salt Bae – real name Nusret Gökçe – the London restaurant did have a handful of five star reviews, including one which is maybe the wildest recap of a dining experience I’ve ever read.
“There is an aura around this place and it looks very exclusive from the outside. The staff are very attentive from the second you enter to the second you leave. Everything about this place is a theatre show,” the reviewer wrote, starting out incredibly strong.
“You’re not paying the exclusive prices just for some meat and chips, you’re paying for the attention, the whole show. Staff show you and talk passionately about each steak.”
Personally, I cannot think of anything worse than someone talking passionately to me about steak, but I can accept that I’m not Salt Bae’s target audience.
Plus, some of the reviews did seem a tad harsh.
One was titled simply “too much seasoning”.
“Decor nice, waiter service good, evening ruined by the work experience boy sprinkling too much salt on the dish,” it read.
It’s literally Salt Bae’s restaurant: the work experience boy was probably just inspired by the master of the salt sprinkle himself.
That being said, if a Salt Bae restaurant ever makes its way Down Under, I refuse to foot the bill.
