Cabana

My first impressions of Cabana were good! We decided to go there as we were at the O2 for a gig anyway and it was a restaurant neither of us had been to before.
We were seated straight away although it was quite early at this time and given our menus. We got a pineapple and mint Caipirinha each (as they were buy one get one free) and yo start we ordered Guaca-​Molho which was homemade guacamole and tortilla chips and the Pulled pork sliders which is exactly what it sounded like. The pulled pork sliders were really tasty and soooo moreish! I wish there was more on the plate! The guacamole and chips were good, but they’re literally guacamole and tortilla chips!
For mains I ordered the Chilli Chilli Lamb Lamb skewer which came with Biro-​Biro Rice and Rio beans. Not being a big fan of beans, I asked if I could swap them for some Stir-​Fried Garlic Spring Greens. My partner ordered the Pork and Papaya Sausage Wheel which came with the rice and beans. We also ordered another round of caipirinhas but the chilli passion flavour. I preferred the pineapple and mint one. The chilli passion one wasn’t great.
My lamb was okay. A bit tough. I liked the rice though. The Spring greens however were literally spinach with garlic. I was a bit disappointed as I’d expected maybe some broccoli or another green in there. My partner’s food came and we started eating until we realised that the beans hadn’t come. It took us a while to flag a waiter down and tell him however when we did notify them, they bought it over straight away.
Overall the service was okay. A couple of times waiting staff would come over to have a look to see if we had finished, and even though we had, they didn’t take our empty plates away. Also when clearing the table the waitress dropped half the rice that was left on my plate back onto the table as she didn’t stack the plates properly. We had finished but the table was a bit gross. Not a bad place, good for a quick meal before a gig or the cinema.

Just what we needed after a thrilling concert by Ennio Morricone. Ale, food and a little more ale. It was a very pleasant surprise. If your at the O2 for a concert or a movie don’t miss this place.

O dear…
Cabana was before this visit one of my go to restaurants, one I suggested to visitors and a rare chain I liked. unfortunately after this visit I certainly won’t be suggesting it any more.
We were at the O2 for an event and went for food before the standard rush, so the restaurant wasn’t busy. However the service was terrible.
Next came the food and drink, rushed out, and not at all fresh. I went for the chicken, which was not as good as it used to be, and tasted like rubber. The steak was different level and was on par with a value steak from a supermarket, but worse. Whilst I don’t expect it to be the best steak in the world, I do expect it to be edible, and 50% of this was not.
The sides and starters were just as disappointing, and it was a memorable meal for all the wrong reasons.
Cabana needs to go back to what it was, it used to be fresher, nicer and have a great vibe about it. Now it seems to have fallen into the trap of becoming a chain, and caring more about getting people in and out than actually the quality of the food.
The O2 menu is also more expensive, again from a business point of view fine, but £15 for some chicken and chips is pricey when you can get the same at everyone’s favourite chicken restaurant for less, and it’s nicer! I have no problem paying for food that is worth it.
If we weren’t going to an event and had time I would have send the food back and left, but we had little choice but to fight through it…
These guys need to think about what they want to be, as this wasn’t good enough to stand out in London’s thriving food scene.

I always go to the one on Upper St. I went to this one because of a concert at O2. The enviroment is nice and there are a lot of seatings inside. However i do feel like there is a lack of stuff because we always have to wait for really long to be served when we need help.

We visited this location on a Friday night, holding our taste card with excitement as it was our first use! We said we had about 40 minutes before our movie started so they sat us down quickly, brought some Brazilian beer (Amazon! yea!) and rushed our food at an unbelievable speed for any restaurant at this side of the pond. The food was really satisfying and tasty and even better, they have many options to choose from so we know our next movie night will involve Cabana dinner as options are pretty large!

After going to Cineworld, we noticed a voucher for Cabana on the back of the tickets, so we went here for a post cinema meal. It’s a chain, but was still pretty good.
Our server Wilson was super attentive and friendly (he asked us to mention him by name if one of us wrote a review, guess he gets a bonus or something…). We went for the all of the meat to share… beef steak, lamb, pork, ribs, chicken… and some prawns. It also came with a couple of sides (beans, rice, fries). The steak was very good, and the sweet potato fries were very tasty.
Considering it was an event night (there’s a special more expensive menu), with our voucher were managed to spend around £15 each including tip between the three of us without drinks, which was pretty good considering we managed to get pretty much all of the meats. Other branches accept Taste Card (this one and the TCR branch don’t), so you can save 50% if you’re going there.
It’s on OpenTable too, so you can get yourself 100 points for dining (I reserved it from outside the restaurant, it wasn’t busy when we got there)

After a trip to the cinema, we wanted some dinner but we weren’t hungry enough for a full meal as we’d smacked on peanuts and chocolates throughout the film. We wandered around the o2 looking at all the menus not really knowing what we fancied for a light bite. We were about to give up and just head home when we saw Cabana near the entrance/​exit.
Their menu seemed to be largely filled with big meaty dishes but the section of street food/​starters tempted us in and was just what we were after.
It was pretty empty (but so was the whole of the o2 and all the restaurants that evening). The waiter was friendly and explained the menu to us recommending some dishes too — they happened to be some of the most expensive ones too!
We went for chicken wings, cheese filled pastries, pork sliders, beans and slaw. It ended up being quite a lot of food considering we weren’t hungry. The cheese filled pastries could have done with a bit more cheese but they had a good crispness to them and came with a refreshing salsa. The pork sliders had a nice little kick to them but they were a little greasy, the slaw was delicious with a hint of mango, the beans were ok but the star of the show were the wings. They had the perfect amount of sweet and spice, and crispiness and stickiness. There was a fair amount of meat on them too.
By this point I’d forgotten that I’d been snacking through the film and wasn’t hungry and ordered dessert as well (the waiter had recommended the two most expensive ones again!). Caramel frozen yoghurt with a choice of as many as you want out of about 8 toppings! I had caramel sauce, peanut crunch, peanut brittle and Brazilian truffles. It was delicious! The truffles were quite large and were really rich and sticky so not the easiest to eat in a frozen yoghurt but they were soooo good.
Some of the food was a little pricey for what you get but overall it wasn’t bad value and pretty standard for London. I feel that it doesn’t quite live up to other places I’ve given four stars to but it deserves more than three.

We were hungry and walked around The O2 to find a restaurant for our pre-​concert meal. There were long queues at other restaurants. By chance we went to Cabana because it looked very lively! Yes, the people, the ambience and the music were all lively! Truly Brazilian!
The staff at the door were friendly to welcome us. After we sat down the waitress explained the menu to us and recommended some popular dishes.
I had the Spicy Malagueta Chicken (£8.95). This dish is one of their best sellers. It is a skewer of spicy, sticky chicken, marinated in their Spicy Malagueta sauce. The taste was indeed as decribed, spice and sticky!
I also ordered the Brasilian Homeslaw (£2.95) made up of coleslaw of carrot, red and white cabbage, crushed cashews and a hint of mango. Light, refreshing and completed my vege portion for the day!
French fries (£2.95) were tossed with rosemary and garlic. Very crisp. The aroma of rosemary and garlic blended very well.
Biro-​Biro Rice (£2.95) the long grain rice fried with garlic, herbs, spring onions and shallots. It is named after the famous footballer who loved it. I love it too. Will they name it after me???
We asked for some tap water. The waitress brought a ½ litre jug of tap water with a thick slice of lemon. How thoughtful!
I would definitely return to try more of their BBQ selections.