805 Restaurants - Reading in Reading

Dirty place , stay away from this place….!

My husband and I had dinner at the 805 restaurant in Reading UK for my birthday a few days ago. The service was top notch, the food was A+ excellent. We will definitely be back. I can't stop thinking about the peppersoup. Everything we had was delicious 😋 The interior of the restaurant was modern, and nicely decorated. Not over the top. They should place large plants outside of the restaurant, and a 'we are open ' signage as well as perhaps a speaker so that the music can be heard outside. The outside of the restaurant should be more inviting.

It’s a big no for me. The food was not fresh and tasteless. Most importantly, made my tummy hurt.

Please believe the negative reviews. A truly terrible place where staff take the wrong orders, give you wrong information and then have audacity to overcharge you incorrectly. The food and presentation is not on par for their steep price. They charge you almost £30 for a meal and have the cheek to wrap it in aluminium fold. I am NEVER going back

Am really sorry but the woman in the kitchen is really horrible after telling the waitress that I don’t eat cow feet’s the brought me a stew containing cow fee. I ordered for a particular type of sour and white rice. To my greatest surprise the sour the kitchen lady gives to the waitress is different from what I ordered. I told the kitchen lady that this was not what I ordered for she asked me to pay extra money to get what I wanted otherwise she can’t do anything about it The waitress collected the stew and take it back I ended eating ordinary white rice as I was so hungry after I eat half of the rice the charge me £20.50 for the white rice and a bottle of water the lady in the kitchen was so rude and have no sense of human So please be careful when you get there.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend. The chicken we got was mashy and we had to throw it away, you can tell the ingredients are not fresh and have been pre-made hours if not days before and have been sat for a while e.g. the dodo was hard. On top of that, it is quite pricy. We went to Avila soon after and it was a lot better and would recommend if looking for a Nigerian restaurant in Reading.

April 2024 - I’ll advise that you don’t come here if you are really hungry. Waited for over an hour for my starter. Decided on having a starter because we were told waiting time for the meal was going to be long. The irony! FYI - take their waiting time estimate with a pinch of salt I imagine their poor service is due to the lack of competition in the area, and the business feels they can get away with this. If you are still keen on coming here, get a sense of how many people are eating when you enter. That may give you a sense as to whether to go back through the doors and find an alternative. Or, you can get some snacks from the Tesco near by while you wait. Also, they do not compensate you with any small chops/ snacks while you wait

Great place. Though music loud at times. Struggled to hear group I was with when they were talking, and vice versa.

Decided to try this restaurant out while visiting Reading and looking for African/Nigerian stores & restaurants, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. Might be considered a tad pricey, but it's worth every penny. Food and service was top notch. 100% recommend

Upscale ambience sadly let down by food & service standards. The decor is contemporary and welcoming. It is quality all through however, it was unfortunately that they spent so much money on the decor but couldn't get the basic right i.e. the reason why diners go there in the first place which is to eat. Our experience started badly with items that we wanted on their menu i.e. Nkwobi & snails not being available. Then the goat pepper soup that we ordered in their place was very salty, then the beef that accompanied our main Egusi and Edikan Ekong soups were as tough as boot. My 16 year old son summed it up nicely when he said "Dad, the egusi soup you make at home is far richer and better than this and I don't know why we've wasted so much money on this". Needless to say, we won't be returning.

See, I've looked around. They have the best Nigerian/african food you can ever think about. I can bet good money on this. Their food is on point!

Great place, tasty dishes w room to improve.

When we went there the restaurant was pretty empty bar one of the customer because we went very early in the day. So service was very good. Starter came after about 5 mins and mains 10 mins after that. The food itself was glorious. As a Nigerian who has tasted the best nigerian food from their mother, this restaurant was a good 9.5/10 in comparison. Definitely coming back again. I ordered the fish pepper soup, the beans, dodo and goat meat side plates. Had a bit of the beef suya too. Very impressed

The ambience,the service are exceptional.Elizabeth the waitress is friendly and very professional.The chef-Veronica is efficient ensuring that that services are carried out effortlessly

Good service and pleasant staff

This is a total mess. 2 hours and food didn't come out , top it up they where serving the people that came after us , got up and left. Total mess. How ther he'll do you have one girl , waiting, Serving , cleaning and bar tending. Top it up was ask to wash hand in the toilet before I can eat . Totally unhygienic. Damn just close the damn place. This place is a disgrace.

Delicious food, didn’t take too long to prepare. Very helpful, friendly and polite staff.

Waiting time was unacceptably too long, food was too salty, but there was lots of it and the waiters were very polite and apologetic.

AVOID!!! The previous reviews are TRUE!!!!The chef is lazy and cutting corners!!! Had Monica fish while waiting for take away. Fish was dry. This hints that it was precooked and put on the grill when the customer ordered. It always used to be freshly cooked. Spent over £130. We were given undercooked amala as takeaway. We tried to correct it at home, it didn’t improve. Take away sauces we’e going bad. Egusi was spoilt. Efo riro was slimey, even the meat. Edikainkong caused food poisoning. What are you serving after charging so much?!!!!! The amala was also sandy. We won’t be back. ZERO STARS

Very delicious food. The service was good. Good atmosphere.

Too expensive, burnt Suya, salty gizzard. Very low quality of food for the outrageous prices

This is by far my worst experience at this restaurant. I have been here a few times and today's visit was absolutely horrible. We visited this restaurant as part of a large family group today 29th July 2023. The waiter forgot our table and after being reminded a few times about our table he came to take our orders after over 1hr 30minutes of being at the restaurant. Our family group paid for all our meals and left us at the restaurant. Our food was still not ready. My Monica fish was served after over 2 hours at the restaurant. My husband's chicken quarters with jollof rice was served about 30 minutes after mine. Then the nkwobi, the edikaikong soup, and finally the 2nd Monica fish was served, and we spent a total of 3.5 hours at this restaurant. How can there be only one waiter serving and one at the bar? The dishes on the tables were cleared after over 2 hours because the poor waiter was overwhelmed and we felt sorry for him. He acknowledged that he forgot about us and then tried to make it up to us. Other customers were angry and upset with the delay to their food. 805, this is a mess. Fix this and put a working system in place to accommodate a large group of people. I have never had a great experience at this restaurant.

I ordered on deliveroo and was served burnt food, rang them to let them know and the manager went to the chef to speak to her. The chef is extremely rude and has a bad attitude with no manners. A while back I ordered from the restaurant was served spoilt beef sauce. Horrible service.

I used to come here regularly and the service was almost always exemplary however, the food standards have dropped & the wait times are ridiculous. We waited 1:30 mins for our food even though it was just the 4 of us inside the entire restaurant. The food is not fresh and the prices are now ridiculous. It’s a shame as this used to be a good Nigerian restaurant. Save your time & money and go elsewhere - I’m never coming here again

I went here because I have been to the one in London and enjoyed eating there but the food I ate in Reading was awful, seafood banga, the only seafood was 2 scallops, fish head and half a small crab and the banga tasted burnt like they have warmed it over and over again. I absolutely hated it. Lovely staff and ambience though.

Nice looking restaurant and really delicious food. Enjoyed the chicken suya and Egusi soup with Amala. Wouldn't hesitate to come back . Thank you

Wouldn't feed the food to my dog, chef was extremely rude to me and my husband. Will not be coming again. Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe how I feel, would give zero stars if I could 😡

So I ate here and it was amazing…… I have ate in Michelin star restaurants and trust me eating at 805 blew me away…. The Chefs 👏

Nice atmosphere but food and service not great.

If you want food poison, this is the place to eat! The ‘chef’ was very rude when we mentioned to the waitress that the stew tasted off… We could hear the chef from the kitchen saying “if they don’t like it, they should leave it”. Wouldn’t recommend this restaurant. Tried a few times and it’s the same problem every time. The chef clearly is not qualified to be a chef if she doesn’t know what spoilt stew tastes like? Disgraceful.

It was my birthday and we were camped at a hotel in Reading. On Saturday night, I wanted Nigerian food instead of the continental we had at the hotel. My husband Googled and excitedly told me 805 was not too far away. Parking was a headache. We eventually parked at Tesco. We arrived at past 7pm which was supposedly the 'peak' time. There were just 3 customers. None was eating. We got a table and ordered ram suya. The fact that the suya pepper was sprinkled all over the meat was the first flag. The suya tasted stale and the soft meat crumbled at the touch. Our main was edikaikong and amala for me and butterleaf soup and poundo for my husband. We waited about an hour for the food. My beef in the assorted meat was very salty while the shaki was normal. They were not boiled in the same pot! If you leave ugwu leaves out for long till it becomes partly bad and has the distinct smell of common weed, then use it to cook edikaikong, that's what I got. And what more, soup was cold in some parts! I believe it came from one freezer somewhere and was not even well heated. My husband's butterleaf soup was not any better. Tasteless! We ate of course because we were hungry. The service by the waitress was generally poor and not once did she ask how any of the food was. Drink was a small coke and one bottle palmwine. We quietly paid over £60 for the tasteless food we had and I regretted asking to eat a Nigerian meal. I've never eaten any food so poorly made! 805 at Reading is rubbish!

Manager/chef extremely rude and requires you to call her aunty. Nonsense. Food expensive for nothing when the restaurant is always empty

If a Nigerian restaurant can't cook stew what hope is there for the rest of the menu. The fried rice was the worst I've ever tasted in my entire life! Enter at your own risk.

Clean, spacious, good atmoshere.

The food was amazing. It took long to arrive but was definitely worth it. I'd advise you have something to eat before you head there. Lovely, clean, relaxing atmosphere and wonderful service.

No value for money.. Shocking! Servings are so small.. Thats £15! Imagine

Lovely Nigerian food and sizeable portions

Good fresh authentic Nigerian food

I have eaten at the restaurant many times and the quality of the food has been excellent, but for some reason the quality has diminished. Ordered Egusi soup with beef the beef was not fresh at all, which is a concern had a dry texture and smelled off, like when you reuse old meet in fresh stew.

Loved the nkobi and suya I don't know the name of the soup I ate but it definitely wasn't Oha as requested. The edikakong was just okay nothing exta about it. Good ambience, lovely staff

Good fresh fish and vegetables. Will try it again soon.

This place has decent food but the wait and service is not worth it. Waited an hour plus for our food and some of the orders were incorrect. There was a small metal piece in the pounded yam and the management did not seem to care. There was no AC/fan and the restaurant was so hot, the baby was distressed and it just didn’t help the overall experience. It’s a shame because the food is okay but considering the price I would’ve really wanted better service.

FSA rating 4/5 as of 07 January 2020

Excellent service, egusi soup with fish and pounded yam. Orkra soup seafood. This are my favourite. Test cooked with clean hand and clean mind. I can't wait to celebrate my birthday there in 2023

Absolutely should be shut rude stuff no food advertised slow in cooking sell food cooked many days before.Just not worth it.Staff actually dont care.

If you are driving to this place you need to avoid this. it is just your box standard takeaway but you are sure to get a parking ticket as the private parking operates in the area use these shops as a lure to hand parking tickets. you must avoid parking around these areas. I have been to this locality twice and both time got parking tickets.

One the most conducive place I've eat in I find the settings very captivating relaxing at same time and of course great food and neatly prepared. I strongly recommend this to anyone looking for a classy dining place in Reading 💛💛

Expensive for what it is ... £41 for two mains.... little atmosphere... the food was alright not fantastic... wont be returning

Every time I come here the customer service and the food is always exceptional! I would recommend for a date night as the decor is so cute, it’s a mix of traditional African art with a modern architectural twist that just sets it apart from your typical African restaurant.

The best and only 9ja restaurant in Reading ...lovely GAAF 2021 Christmas meal, delicious & sumptuous. Update...their assorted meat peppersoup was disappointing. No kick to it all....on a cold and wet day.....

The soups does not taste anything near the African delicacy...

If I could rate this experience tonight 0, I certainly would. A guest booking of 7 charged extortion without a getting the value for it. I have been to 805 in London but the food is just awful 😞. How hard is it to put Maggie in a dish.? Even my sister’s cooking will beat that. If you can’t keep the standard, pls try some other cuisine.

805 used to be lovely when they just moved to Reading. But now it’s a reap off and food so tasteless. How can you sell a bowl of jollof rice and tiny fish for £20.80?I spent £20.80 just to receive this. Wow!

Last night's visit to the Reading franchise, started off with a poor welcome, then a wait of almost 20 minutes before we had to ask for the only waitress there to take our drinks order. That was followed by another wait for food for two. It wasn't busy but there was a lot of faffing around! The whole experience is one that gears towards not going there again! 'Awful service and the food, music and ambiance weren't that great either.

Good snacks! I only bought lovely meat pies on my last visit

Its hit and miss with this place! Enjoyed the food once or twice. Service is average at best, food definitely not worth the money. Called once at 12 (opening time) for food collection. They chef was not there!! and the guy on the phone said they wanna check leftovers as the restaurant has been closed for 2 days confirming they do not sell fresh food here. Also took my cousin there once from the US and they had to reheat his soup because parts were cold (surely you cannot do that!). They refused a cash payment because its old denomination but the waiter took it anyways as a £20 tip (you just cannot write it). Last time I ordered a takeaway the Efo tasted like a 2 day old soup. This place has so much potential, if only the owners read the reviews as constrictive feedback and implement the comments to improve the experience of their customers and gain future business.

Went there with my family on 24th December, 2021.Nothing positive to write about 805 reading. Service is zero and the fish we ordered came out like fried fish and doesn't look freshly made .

I'll be very honest. I love supporting a black owned business like any proud black woman but I'll have to be honest here. The place smells... The smell is stale and sticks to your clothes and follows you home. It really really smells & quiet unpleasant. They have one waiter, God bless him was so rushed of his feet and what may have come across as bad service to some was just an overwhelmed individual managing the many request of a Saturday night. The Nkwobi was stale... Something tasted really off with the Nkwobi, as if they made it ages ago and just decided to microwave it, there were parts that was still frozen, and if I develop gastrointestinal problems I'll be reporting the restaurant to Environmental health. Apple juice was lukewarm and cheap (you can tell it's the carton lidle brand type juice). It wouldn't have cost anything to add some ice. This restaurant has so much potential but has ground roots problems that makes it not worth the prices of that menu and would be swallowed by a competiting African restaurant. I hope the management will see this review as constructive and please address these core issues.

Tasty Nigerian delicacy, serene environment

Food overly priced with fair quality. Had to wait over an hour to get my my order even though I was told it'd be 25 mins.

Loved it! Will definitely be back

This was my first time at this 805 location and despite the reviews, I decided to give it a try. I was really looking forward to a delicious dinner and I was definitely disappointed by what we got for the price to be honest, the stew was over powered by lime or lemon and the meat over cooked and too soft. I honestly thought the food was the same as the 805 on Old Kent Road in London.

Pre-covid, they were great. Post-covid, they are trash. Went all the way to Reading to eat under seasoned food. Don’t waste your time please. There is a place called Avils down the road.

Fried fish tasted as if it was frozen then microwaved. Pls don't add sauce on fried fish except if customer requested. Fried plantain was good. But can we not use cheap basmati rice for Jollof rice .

I ordered Tilapia with plantain. Firstly the plantain was not in the bag when I picked up the food only realised when I got home. Then I called was asked if I am sure , honestly !!!! The guy did not apologise only asked me if I could go back and puck it up which I could not as it was late and very cold. Then when I opened the foil, the fish was very smelly with whitish fluids, as it was late to call I then called the following morning and no apology again just asking me why I did not call last night !!! Emailed your customer service . Will not be back after paying £19 no apology !!!

I love this place. Myself and my dad come here a few times to eat but we ordered some pounded yam and soup but unfortunately for the amount we paid, we only recieved the soup without the poundes yam. Was disappointed by this but overall good food

Always returning to 805 Restaurants. Great African foods. The lady that served me was very helpful and understood customer service well

Delicious meals !!..Order from here often and quite impressed. I particularly enjoy the egusi and edi kaikong soups

The girls serving at the Reading branch of your restaurant will ruin your business. 29th January 2021. 9pm. Do something about that. Perhaps send them for training or replace em.

The soups are absolutely delicious. I had the okra, efforiro , obono with fish. It tasted like home. ❤️

Had the tilapia and jollof rice. Very nice and tasty, Jollof rice was really good. Best I have had in a long time. Food arrived on time too. Well done 805!!!

Had the grilled tilapia with Jollof rice. Very nice and tasty meal. Best jollof rice I have had in a long time.

Ordered a Half Rotisserie Chicken with Pepper Sauce and Jollof Rice on Deliveroo Rice was a large portion and great tasting! I would even order this as just a whole meal! The chicken was also tasty, although I did order a half chicken but it only came with 3 legs which was kind of a bummer instead of a wing, breast, and leg. The rice was in a traditional takeaway box, but the chicken was oddly just wrapped in aluminum foil with peppers and onions in it. Rather abnormal, but it did it's job of making it's way onto my plate and kept the food warm. I am excited to try out new dishes and because of the rice, this place shows promise and I will certainly be ordering again. The food was a tad expensive, so not something that can be ordered extremely often, but it was worth it. 4/5, mostly good - some quirks that need to be worked out!

Food ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Waiter and Waitress ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ And for extra points Art ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A great place, would highly recommend

The venue is 10/10, the service is really professional and prompt, and the food of course is always cooked to a quality standard. Even with the challenges that the pandemic has brought, 805 continue to offer the best in authentic Nigerian cuisine.

Went today with my husband to buy takeaway food. After making the order, when he was asked if he wants pounded yam, a beautiful young lady looked at me and then told my husband “She should learn how to make it” and she didn’t even have a smile on her face while saying that. Well darling, you should learn how to be more polite with your clients.

I had my birthday celebration on Saturday 31/11/20 and absolutely loved the services provided by Seemar and Ayo at the reception. They really made my day. In terms of the food, I had the Edikaikong soup and felt you could do better, I was not very impressed with the soup. My 5 Star is for the 2 reception staff, they are excellent, their professionalism and manner is out of this world.

The food was okay, however, was served warm. Service was really good. Social distancing measures followed.

Absolutely amazing food and service. Ayo and Sameer were top notch! The party was quite demanding but they maintained their smiles and kept us laughing the entire time! Brilliant night, amazing food and awesome staff! Gold star

The food was okay but they need to learn not to put pepper on Grilled Fish and Suya, and to allow the customers to make their own choice on how much pepper they want on their food. As it Spoiled the whole taste of the food.

Happy with food and customer service is always nice and welcoming

The food was amazing and was served with best quality 🤩, We were served by Ayo and Sammy, Ayo was so nice and welcoming, So much love to her❤️ I'll definitely come back again!

First time in a Nigerian restaurant. Fantastic food and excellent service from Ayo and Sami. Really enjoyed my jollof rice and mixed grill. Definitely coming back again!

The service was very poor. Quantity of suya reduced,compared to the previous quantity

Loved the food, spiciest I ever tried. No bread thought, maybe the food doesn't go with bread, no idea. Also, if I am been sexualy harassed by one of the other costumers I would really appreciate your help...

Probabli no back to eat but i will take away is goo the food but not verry good attention

The food was just okay. My partner ordered okra soup and pounded yam, the soup had a funny smell so she couldn’t eat it. Had to send it back to them. The fried rice wasn’t even fried rice, it was more of whiten rice with a lot of vegetables and seasonings. The portion size lastly is/was not big enough I hope they make some changes to this in the foreseeable future.

Impressive and the chef was excellent

Very nice lightings, not a very big hall, menu filled with African dish, waiters are welcoming

Nice and cozy and the food was nice

Menu are well cooked and presented. The only reason they are getting 3 is because of the salt. I don't really give reviews but felt i should, so that the owners can reduce the salt content of their menus. I have basically stopped eating here because all the menus are salty which is a shame. The community, 805 is serving is prone to Blood pressure. Please reduce the salt to help this community. A good chef brings the best from a menu without bombarding it with salt to taste good.

Awful food and my friend found a hair in his food. Rice tasted burnt and the waiter lied saying he’d tasted it earlier. Waiter is argumentative and lied once again about the hair not coming from the food which it clearly did. During a pandemic this is awful! I would have given zero star if I could. Outraged!!!!!!!!

Got asked to do some work in the kitchen of this place. Took one look on how they keep the food and walked out. Be careful they do not store food correctly. I found fresh fruit under the sink drainage getting splashed. Also if you are a trades man working here they don't pay. Be careful.

Wait time is equivalent to being served by a waiter tortoise. Wrong drink, wrong food, long wait.

Love restaurant's especially if they can cook

Beautiful restaurant and welcoming staff. Lovely garnished gizzards, but egusi wasn't up to standard

The food was nice But to hear that staff don’t get paid on time and the use of undocumented worker is troubling. I can only go by my experience and the Manager had ample opportunity on the night but failed to turn up and address the issue whilst I was there.

Rude staff poor service and inconsiderate people who service the restaurant

Really happy with the food great flavours.

Great ambience, the restaurant looked very cozy and well lit. Can't fault the look and feel at all. I went with family and friends and they were well impressed with the look of it. The food tasted good, a bit pricey but portion size is not bad. The presentation of the food was top notch as well, very nice and soft touches. However, I think intensive staff training is required. First, one of the meals we ordered never arrived. It was 'forgotten'. It was later brought in but after the rest of the table had nearly finished their food, that was a let down. After the main, a waiter kept coming to the table to ask if we were ready for the bill, if we had recieved our bill etc. I dont know if that was his idea of being proactive or 'nice' but it was off putting. A number of us wanted to try desserts but since we were being hassled about the bill, we thought it best to quit while ahead and settle 'the bill'. What a way to ruin the visit for customers especially first time ones.