The Calabash African Bar and Restaurant in Glasgow City

Poor customer care , ordered the main meal and hot drinks however was harshly told no hot drinks could be served because the guy at front desk could only attend at customers as he was the only one at front desk , makes me wonder if there was no chef at all in kitchen who could make tea or coffee. They need to work on their customer care , communication skills and put people who are friendly at front desk .

First time getting to Glasgow so had to experience an African restaurant and I was excited! Got to the place and first impressions it looks dated like old and manky, then the tables and chairs you would think they bought them off facebook market ! Anyway the guy serving on the bar was nice. I got the food boy was I disappointed! The sadza tasted like it was frozen before then got re heated and the meat and veggies was sloppy and tough! Bad first impressions! I would not be going back anytime soon

The food taste delicious (grilled fish & plantain)with mix seasoning peppers.

Me gustó la comida y este es sin duda un buen lugar si te gusta la cocina africana. El ambiente era bueno y tenían una buena selección de bebidas. El lugar podría hacer con una actualización (decoración) pero volvería

Fabulous nyama choma as usual Jesus the chief is always the one to run the kitchen Barah the manager receptionist is making the enty so special and so Mama Nyasi with that warm heart makes you feel home as possible. Thank you family we surely coming back 🙏 ❤️

The experience was exceptional 👏🏾 👌 will recommend it to anyone any day. It was a real taste of home❤️❤️

Just had calabash signature dish nyama choma Brilliant!!!

Top notch The calabash mixed grill with fried rice Thanks

I was with my family friend on Saturday. Ordered Doro wot and jerk chicken was excellent. Service was great.Will come back again

I was in this bar new years eve, one of their female staff claimed I was touching inappropriately, All I did was touch her shoulder to tell her I my bank card was not with me, would you come with me to my table or I should go and get my card, her response was don't touch me and I said in was I meant to just walk away without telling you I need to go get my card? Next thing she went to complain to a staff called Daniel mixed race fella from someone in Caribbean, more like Daniel wanted to impress the female staff, without asking me any questions, he told the security to get me out because I touch a female staff by the shoulder. About 5 staff had to lift me from the bar area and just dump on the stairs, No man should be treated the way they treated me.

Great food at reasonable price. The food portions were reasonable

Terrible customer service. My friend and I went there for the very first time after many years. The Manager at the front desk was extremely rude, condescending and gave a lot of negative energy. We did not feel welcome from the moment we entered and we were treated as we were a pest and not customers. Will definitely not be going there as there's a lack of customer service

Services very poor, toilet absolutely very dirty

Este lugar es bueno para la comida africana de varios países diferentes. Tenía el plato etíope y estaba muy sabroso y mi amigo tenía la carne keniana y estaba muy bueno. Las samosas eran muy crujientes y podrían haber tenido todas como comida principal. La decoración me recordó a un pub africano, pero eso simplemente le dio más de un ambiente atmosférico y auténtico. Sin duda volvería de nuevo cuando en Glasgow

The place could be seen as a bit run down, but it's basically become an institution, comparable as a centre for Africans to congregate and, personally, I love these kind of joints, where people can feel free and relax. I hadn't been for around 6 years but, visiting twice last week, it had changed but I loved it, and bumped into people I knew on both visits. Great range of beer, including "Hero", and friendly, chilled service A must go to 😉

We ordered egusi with assorted meat and it came with just 3 small pieces of bones! Egusi tasted like it’s been in the fridge for days. 👎

Horrible servicio al cliente! Mi familia y yo queríamos visitar el restaurante ya que estábamos pasando el día en Glasgow como no de la zona. Llamé para comprobar que el restaurante estaba abierto primero para evitar la decepción. Cuando llamamos para preguntar, el hombre al teléfono era muy descarado y nos dijo ‘bueno obviamente, he contestado el teléfono’ A la que elegimos dejar pasar ya que realmente queríamos algo de buena comida africana. Cuando llegamos, no nos dieron la bienvenida. El hombre (asiático) se volvió muy descarado y grosero con mi pareja de nuevo. Tan innecesario y muy poco profesional. Nos fuimos y definitivamente no volveremos.

We couldn’t eat. We left in a hurry because the Asian man at the reception was horribly rude

Welcoming with lots of regular community feel not just for Afrkcans' in Glasgow. As a very welcoming place for Communities intrgration. welcome Teal established and confirmed taste of Kenyan style of soul food.. The selections of beer is equally legendary , do not just take my word for it , check it out and make some new friends. A great Social Communal Space in Glasgow Scotland. I love the space. Come chill our.

Me encontró un recepcionista muy grosero en el bar (un hombre asiático). Tuvimos que irnos porque teníamos mucha hambre. La dirección de este restaurante debe investigar el comportamiento de este hombre. Fue bastante grosero y desagradable

They have got african great meals.

Best kenyan food!!! The staff is extremely friendly and helpful Can’t recommend it enough

Service was okay. Drinks served can be more chilled. The Nyama Choma was delicious. Will sure try it again.

Rubbish goat head and goat meat after £19

Great food and drink, really friendly staff and customers. Fantastic place to go

Atmosphere can be cozier. It is suppose to be purely entertainment point for all but mainly blacks, make it African center by decoration and music.

Not welcoming at all. Not a place you want to take your family. As for the food. No real flavour like in real African cooking. Must do better.

It was during the holidays, boxing day. So, it was very quiet. Didn't eat, just had a drink.

Friendly reception and Great atmosphere but very pricey. Probably cause there is no competition in Glasgow.

Friendly happy place with good music. Although we didn't eat the food is generally pretty good and an inexpensive venue

If I could give this 0 stars then I would. Moving from south london to Glasgow and I have never ever experienced the worst jellof in my life, I’ve had white people make better jellof than this in London and that should have already been a sign. I had things missing from my order and when calling up to tell them nicely not expecting to receive it I had one of their staff being so rude and aggressive over the phone and when I came into the restaurant to speak to them face to face they didn’t have the same attitude and even were trying to offer me complimentary things which I declined. I decided to try something else one more time thinking they had a bad day and I tried the jerk chicken with rice and peas and Jesus this was the worst thing I have ever tried in my life. The chicken seemed liked it was marinated in sea water the way it tasted and the rice… I don’t even have words for the rice, I don’t think a dog would even eat it and once again had missing things so once again called up and encountered the same thing except this time I got told that they are from Africa and they will chief me up but that definitely wasn’t the case once I came there and once again was offered complimentary food which I would not take even if I was offered £1 million. For someone who’s coming from London or anywhere I would not recommend this place as there places in Glasgow that do the same food 10x better for example taste of homes restaurants is honestly 10/10 the food makes you feel like at home. Shame this place has bad attitude staff and the food is extremely bad for the price as it could be better but it’s really not, each time the food is just worse and worse.

Comedy night is fantastic on Tuesday food is homely and plenty

Need to put on the heating. Very cold.

My very first visit to glasgow was almost ruined by a very rude customer rep(looks indian) was screaming at the top of his voice at me for not been able to quickly decide on my order not like there were other customers at the moment. I had to leave immediately as there was no way i could enjoy a meal in such an hostile environment.

This bar-restaurant really has to be on your list of places to try, if you're looking for something a little different. Authentic Kenyan food and beer. The special mixed grill is amazing. An added bonus is that it's open late, handy if your train is massively delayed (Central Station is just around the corner).

Felt like home to this Zimbabwean chimbere the minute I walked in. Very pleasant atmosphere, scrupulously clean, lovely waitress and the Ugali and Nyama Chomo were cooked to perfection. Reasonably priced too. They have gained a regular customer.

Nice place, anytime am in there I always feel the Africa vibes..

The place was left dirty after customers left. Had to clear the table I sat. Customer service was terrible as there was little or no regards to customers' time. Food arrived super late and was really not as nice as expected. The semo was really hard. I would not eat here except I had no other option.

After a long day of exploring Glasgow, I needed an African touch and The Calabash African Bar and Restaurant was recommended. Had mama's special and it was not that bad. Had African Fanta as well. It was noisy from music and other guests though. But good location in the city centre.

1st time visit, absolutely loved it,completely different food and delicious spices, superb, service fabulous will visit again🥰🥰

Ethiopian food was not good at all. I wouldn't advise anyone to order that.

Food was good, prices are over expensive...found my favourite beer (tusker) atmosphere was same as back in Kenya...

Authentic taste of the motherland! Decor isn’t the best, but the food is out of this world!

Food is amazing.If you want something different,this is the place to go.

The food here is AMAZING! I always get the nyama choma (sizzling lamb) and the chikina awaze tibis (lamb with the delicious spongy injera). Bala is the best! We live in Edinburgh but he remembers us (and what we eat) every time!

Very bad customer service, one off the staff try to frighten me, because I call twice to try recovery an item that was left with one of they staff. Just rude very bad customer service

Wonderful for African dishes. Nyama choma and ugali is the best in Scotland, Githeri is also available.

i made an order from this place and they forgot part of my order, i understood and i asked them to deliver the missing item by the next order, today i ordered again and call them to remind them not to forget the missing item from the last order, but they forgot again, i am really disappointed with their service, i was a regular but now i need to rethink my option of finding another restaurant,

Great spot that serves authentic and delicious food.

It was the true African experience. Loved it.

The only place I can find Nigerian Guinness!! Incredible food and comfy, laid back service. Unpretentious atmosphere and nice staff

Ordered food twice from this place and they sent me sour food. At times when I dine in the food is good but other times it is rubbish. Won't be going back there

Very poor jollof rice. It was very hard and the chicken was just chicken chunks in a plastic container and it tasted very off. Bottom line, I couldn't eat it. Complete waste of money

High expectations going in here. Very authentic feeling on the inside, but can get quite hot as there are no windows. We had to wait aaaggeess for our food after ordering which wasn't fun. The food tasted okay, I wouldn't say amazing. We had the goat curry and lamb stew which were unimpressive. The jollof rice tasted quite nice though I'd recommend that. Chicken liver for starters was also good, as were the cassava chips. Not sure if I'd go back here in all honesty, but perhaps worth a try if you're feeling authentic African food.

I came all the way from Portsmouth. While in Portsmouth, a very close friend of mine recommended Calabash African Bar and upon My visit, The restaurant is simply the best. The quality and the taste of the food was excellent the customer service was awesome. Bala, Steve and other staffs possessed excellent customer services. I will always come to this restaurant again and again and do not hesitate to recommend the restaurant to anyone that value real quality african tastes.

I walked in for a take away order, I was not greeted nor told how to order until I went up to ask how to order. I ordered Okro soup it tasted okay but not fresh, seemed defrosted and warmed up. The pounded yam to go with it as well wasn’t made properly. The portion was small as well for the price.

The place is underground. We came very enthusiastic with high expectations, and as high the expectations - the high of the disappointment. We waited for our food for *40* minutes, and when some of it did arrive it was tasteless, and felt defrosted. After the bad experience and the lack of patience, be just left without even getting the rest of our order. Won't be back!! 😡

We've waited for more than half an hour to our order, and only half of it arrived before we has no more patience and left. The Injira (Ethiopian bread) was unfresh and felt as if it was defrosted, and the dish in total was rather small. The atmosphere was dodgy and not so pleasant. We wont come back.

Worst food, dirty customer service, rude and disrespectful

This is the worst restaurant I have ever been to in my entire life! The pounded yam and egusi soup with assorted meat was a disaster!! The pound yam had been micro waved that it had become crusty on the outside and there was hardly anything edible from the food. The place was full of drunks who had no control of themselves. They were forcing a handshake out of me and when I couldn’t take it any more, I started to ignore them but they were relentless. One customer spat on the tiled floor of the restaurant. It stunk of everything you didn’t want to smell It had to win the award for the worst restaurant in the U.K. I am scared that I am going to be sick from the little bit of the food I had. There is no way it will qualify for a 1 star hygiene rating. Please call the food standards team! It needs shutting down immediately!!!!!!!

We were hungry they were profesional and clean its a place i will take my client for Aftican food its so good its Sierra leone restaurant

After waiting 2-4hrs, the food never arrived. ☹️ Understand that places can be busy. But after being hung up on, being told different stories, and saying 'the driver is coming, he's left' it was a bit of a disappointing end. Sorting out to get money back. A shame since I've good reviews about this place. Edit: Food finally arrived after waiting all night. Portion size? Very disappointing. Taste wise? Lack of. Didn't feel comfortable finishing it as everything seemed off.

It was one of the most valuable experiences I have ever had. Food was topnotch, and the customer service was great. It's good to have such experiences once a while. My wife was more than happy as it was on her birthday.

I concluded from all I've seen here that it's an Ethiopian restaurant, located 13 minutes walk from Buchanan Coach Station. The food is fairly average cost and good. The space is located underground, and not well-kept. Smoke-filled room. Poorly-lit, visibility is difficult. The underground environment is not really congenial for recreational meal. It's well patronised by Africans and a few Britons.

Needs customer respectively service 🙄

It's a unique meeting spot for Africans in Glasgow. It's location is at the heart of city centre, hence, making it easy to access.

I and my children loved each of the meals. We had a buffet sort of takeaway and I can honestly say - it was as if we were dinning in a Kenyan Coastal Restaurant! The food was bursting with flavors!!! Well done chef - 6✨✨from us!!! I would highly recommend!

Decent African restaurant. I had Nyama choma which was great, well spiced, great taste. The jollof rice however, could be better. Very attentive staff member despite how busy it was.

although I live far away I received my meal at home and it's delicious and I love it Thanks you ❤️

DO NOT TRY..... very terrible food,went there today as it was my birthday to give myself a treat, ordered pounded yam and egusi while my husband ordered Pounded yam and vegetable soup. Food finally came and it was terrible from stale soup,bad meat,no taste ,and microwaved pounded yam,had to request for a refund. Avoid this place at all cost.

Fake African food. I guess probably because they don't focus on a specific cuisine but the Jollof and Egusi Stew was a joke. Plus the whole place was smoked out. Got back and had a ton of greece on my face. That Jollof was disgraceful served with chicken in a tin tomato sauce. They should not advertise West African food if they can't cook West African Food.

Nice place to be, though still many uprade are needed.

Visited a Saturday evening. Good vibes. Friendly people around. Food didn't take too long to come out either!

I ordered for delivery so therefore the food was not as fresh as straight out of the kitchen. Nonetheless, it was delicious, the livers were spot on, they managed to provide good bread at 23 : 00 which is a plus. The boerwors were delicious but the trip of course made them drier than it would've been served right there and then. The rice and chicken were tasty, very tasty. It was a great meal and next time I'll have it over there. There's spice there's flavour there's character. These guys have it nailed

The simplest place to feel being home is being here, I always feel the communal vibes anytime I am home sick and decide to go sit at the calabash. Beautiful place to relax and beautiful African tastes.

I didn't had a great experience in this restaurant. I went with my friends and this was my first experience with African restaurant. So they didn't helped me in understanding what is what, like if you dont have any clue what the dish is about you have to order it at your own risk, as they will not guide you through it. So by looking at the pictures on the menu I ordered chicken. Thought it would come with gravy or something and i ordered sadza with it. What came was one wee leg of fried chicken with one spoon of some sort of tangy sauce. Apart from chicken piece couldn't eat anything. So if you are new to African food please do your homework before going in.

What you order (as seen on the menu) is not what you get. The meal is poor for that price. The egusi soup is below par, even I could cook it better.

We went there for dinner, I got fufu and egusi and my friend got jollof rice. The food took one and half/two hours to come which was too long of a wait. My friend got the vegetarian option, she was given meat and had to wait another half hour to get her food. My food did not taste good, and I ended up throwing it out after two bites. Only the plantain was got was okay. I fell sick the next day, terrible experience never again.

Love the ambience, was truly African. The service by the servers was awesome. The free WiFi is also a plus.

Good food and atmosphere, maybe waiting times are a bit long but worth it. anything I have tried here is flavoursome and tastes home cooked. Very friendly, family.environment here.

DON'T order takeaway from The Calabash. I ordered on their website at 12:20, with an estimated delivery time of 13:10 or ASAP. We were staying 15 minutes drive from the restaurant. I telephoned at 13:40, to be told that the food was ready, and would be sent out in 5 minutes. I telephoned again at 14:25 to be told that there had been a problem with car parking, but the food had gone out 10 minutes beforehand. I phoned again at 15:10, but no answer. No answer to repeated phone calls until the food finally arrived at 15:20. When I asked what had caused the delay, I was told, "There were protests," and "I don't know, I'm not the chef." The food was lukewarm and needed reheating. It was tasty, and almost worth waiting for, but the long delay and the less than truthful excuses mean that I won't order from The Calabash again.

DON'T order takeaway from The Calabash. I ordered on their website at 12:20, with an estimated delivery time of 13:10 or ASAP. We were staying 15 minutes drive from the restaurant. I telephoned at 13:40, to be told that the food was ready, and would be sent out in 5 minutes. I telephoned again at 14:25 to be told that there had been a problem with car parking, but the food had gone out 10 minutes beforehand. I phoned again at 15:10, but no answer. No answer to repeated phone calls until the food finally arrived at 15:20. When I asked what had caused the delay, I was told, "There were protests," and "I don't know, I'm not the chef." The food was lukewarm and needed reheating. It was tasty, and almost worth waiting for, but the long delay and the less than truthful excuses mean that I won't order from The Calabash again.

Good food and night Africa home environment. Really feel no e to see other people of kind. Very nice place to meet friends. They have a variety of African and Caribbean foods selections.

Very good customer service from Barra. He’s very patient in taking your orders and super friendly. Food is always delicious. A1! I wish I could eat here everyday but my account balance won’t allow 😂😂

We ordered the sharing platter for 4 and the goat curry and peanut soup, plus some samosas and plantain to start, between 5 this was the perfect amount. Everything was well cooked and tasted absolutely incredible, especially the peanut soup which we were all fighting over. The staff were very warm and attentive, and overall we all had a great experience and left feeling very contented. I'd highly recommend coming here for anyone with taste buds, I've never tried anything like it in Glasgow :)

Ordered nyama choma, pounded yam and egusi. I’m not sure if they went shopping for the ingredients at the point of receiving our order but after a 50min wait, we made enquiries. After a further 10mins we returned to ask if our food was really on the way because we had another appointment. After another 5mins, one of the members of management came with part of our order and a huge reprimand for us. He informed us that Hilton wouldn’t tolerate being hustled in such a manner 🤣😂. Hustled?! After an hour?! He further told us that they had a large order to take care of - my advice, hire more staff. This is not the first time that we have experienced an unduly long wait but this is the first time that we have waited 1hr+ and had to endure a mouthful rather than an apology on receipt of the meal. 😅 The food is nice but this place is probably only ideal if you have no other plans for the evening. We ended up eating half of the meal and took the remainder away with us because of time. There were two of us and the restaurant was not busy.

A homely small restaurant/bar located at central glasgow which serves West African cuisine.A bit cramped and expensive but the food is nice though very spicy and service is good.Its difficult to locate unless you have been there before as its located in the basement of the building use Google map!

I used to eat in this restaurant very often , Thier grilled fish is best one you'll ever have , chicken taste like heaven 😋

Uber eats order - now waiting over an hour and I just called to be told it will be another 45 mins. Almost two hours for food is RIDICULOUS! AVOID unless you want to wait almost two hours.

Chicken wings in a starter platter were a bit dry however goat curry was delicious and meat was tender enough to melt in the mouth.

Really special place.. The food is excellent, the atmosphere is wonderful and the staff are exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable. I will be back!

I ordered food just after 18:30 pm and it supposed to be delivered before 20:00 pm and this people deliver the food after 2 hours waiting.

If you are in Glasgow and wish to have a taste of African cuisine, this place is just the it! The plantain, roast meat and Nigerian cuisine is 🔥. Everything, including the Kenyan mukimo is tasty to another level. Try the pepper sauce too.

Absolutely terrible service. After 40 minutes we were informed that our meal was waiting on the "hot plate" for the driver to pick it up. Promised 20 minutes max for it to arrive. 20 minutes later I got a call back saying that one of the dishes I ordered was not available and should choose another. He spoke incredibly quickly, and when asked to slow down he said "this is a busy restaurant, you are not the only one ordering food on a Saturday night" and repeatedly asked if I wanted to cancel, at which point I accepted the substitution. 2 hours after that, no food arrived. I called back, the guy confirmed my name and address, and after speaking some more gibberish, he said thank you and hung up. 3 hours, the food still hasn't arrived. According the man on the phone, I know nothing about running a business and shouldn't question the time it can take to prepare and deliver food - the 40 minutes stated on my delivery confirmation was just the minimum. Whoever it was in charge of the phones was extremely rude and very hostile. Such disgusting service with absolutely horrible staff. Getting my money back as soon as I can. DO NOT ORDER FOOD FROM THIS SITE. They are incapable of handling delivery or running their precious business.

A huge group of us had the best dining experience in Glasgow Super friendly and efficient. Authentic food and atmosphere

Friendly and reasonably priced, this restaurant is a must visit, the tilapia was delicious and everything was cooked to perfection.

Best restaurant and excellent customer services. I’ll definitely come back with friends and family.

Great atmosphere (though a bit loud), friendly service, intriguing and very tasty food, good value for your money. I had the samosas and the peanut soup with yam, my friend had the vegetarian platter and the cassava chips, and all was excellent. It was my introduction to African cuisine, and I loved it!

Excellent customer service and food and definitely come back

Everything about this African Restaurant is 100%. The services, food and the atmosphere.