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Londonderry

Europe

United Kingdom

Nestled in the vibrant heart of Londonderry at 20 Shaftesbury Avenue, The Rainforest Cafe offers an immersive dining experience that transports guests into a lush tropical jungle. This family-friendly restaurant is renowned for its captivating environment, featuring animated animal props, thunderstorm sound effects, and a lively atmosphere that appeals especially to children and those young at heart. The cafe's unique ambiance makes it a popular destination for tourists seeking a memorable meal amid a rainforest-themed setting.

The Rainforest Cafe offers a menu that combines classic American dishes with a fun, themed twist. Standout dishes include their flavorful buffalo chicken wings, which are crispy and generously coated in a tangy sauce, and their tender pork baby back ribs, seasoned with cajun spices and glazed with a light barbecue sauce that enhances their natural juiciness. The menu is designed to appeal to families and tourists, with options like baked potatoes topped with sour cream and chive, and a variety of kid-friendly meals that come with activity packs. The cafe's signature drinks and desserts add to the overall experience, making every visit a delightful adventure for the senses.

The Rainforest Cafe's immersive environment is meticulously designed to mimic a tropical rainforest, complete with animated animals and ambient sounds, creating a multisensory experience that transports diners into a lush jungle setting.

It is renowned for its immersive rainforest environment, complete with animatronic animals, thunderstorms, and jungle sounds, making it a favorite among families and tourists seeking a fun dining experience.

For a captivating dining environment that combines entertainment with American cuisine, perfect for family outings and those looking to relive childhood wonder.

Immerse yourself in the vibrant jungle atmosphere of The Rainforest Cafe, where every meal is an adventure. Whether you're a family with kids or an adult seeking a whimsical escape, this iconic London restaurant promises a lively environment, flavorful American dishes, and unforgettable memories. Share your experience and let others know about this unique dining destination that brings the rainforest to the city.

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This place had a fun environment. The food was better than expected for being a big touristy restaurant, and it arrived pretty quickly. The draw is definitely for the environment and not the food, though. There were some live fish and animatronics that made noise and thunderstorms every so often. I think kids would enjoy this place a lot.

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It's cool but the food is kinda bad the only good thing about the place is it looks cool and the employees are nice.

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If I had to describe my experience at the Rainforest Cafe, I would say it was akin to trying to eat dinner in the middle of a jungle gym. I grew up going to the Rainforest Cafe in Orlando, so I wanted to relive the nostalgia while I was in London. It did not live up to my expectations. 

When you enter the cafe, you arrive at the gift shop. When you make your way to the back, after dodging unsupervised children throwing stuffed animals and climbing on the displays, you receive a "passport" with a time on it. We waited about 30 minutes upstairs before our time came around and we were directed downstairs where we turned in our passport and waited another half hour before being seated. 

The ambiance of this place is really neat. I felt like I was actually dining in the jungle. Unfortunately, this jungle came with a whole bunch of kids running around the dining room. Throughout my meal, I had kids I didn't know climbing on my chair and running circles around my table. While I appreciate that this is a family friendly establishment, it is a dining room, not a playground. I wish the staff would have enforced a little more order. 

The menu is standard tourist trap fare and not high quality. The vegetarian options are almost nonexistent. Our waiter, Giancarlo, was pleasant and got us in and out quickly. I appreciate his efficiency. 

Overall, my recommendation is to skip all of the restaurants in Leicester Square. The Rainforest Cafe was particularly chaotic and in my opinion, not worth the wait.

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Fantastic service and food for my daughter's 16th birthday. Great banquet menu - reasonable price and food and service was excellent! Cannot say enough great things about Miriam and the staff who made our experience easy, affordable and fun for a group of teenagers! Thank you

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Went to the Rainforest Cafe for a family dinner after a show. The concept arguably is brilliant and kids are sure to love it - particularly the moving animal props. 

The menu has the standard American fare and here are a  selection of drinks as well. I found the drinks are  pricey with £5.50 for a 300ml Budweiser and £10-£15 for a pretty ordinary cocktail particularly for the kind of restaurant.

Food wise , again I found it pretty ordinary and extremely pricey with Entrees around £20 each and kids menu starting at £12.50. We opted for the Kids Adventure Menu which comes with an activity pack and option to choose 2 sides. My elder one had a baked Potato which came with a small tub of butter and a small bowl  of salad. The little one had chicken nuggets (around 4-5 pieces) which is sufficient for a child but not worth the money. The side of Onion rings had only 3-4 .

The wife and I  had two starters - I had Buffalo wings, which were big disappointment, this came with a blue cheese dip and Jungle wrap, essentially Tortilla with lots of coleslaw. It was very filling but didn't standout in anyway.

We were still waiting for the mains and realised we were pretty full so decided to cancel it, the waiter was helpful and went off to check. He came after some time with our plates mains! I am pretty sure that the food was not plated when we asked to cancel but even talking to the manager didn't help. All they did was to organise two takeaway boxes which you need to pack yourself! We were asked to collect bags for the boxes ourselves and all these from my perspective was poor customer service. I was tempted to take off the 'discretionary' service charge but my wife talked me out of it.

The bill came to £133 for two rounds of drinks for two kids and two adults and the food. Overall feeling - should have gone elsewhere where we would  have got a bigger bang for the buck. On the plus side, it is an unique restaurant and environment that the kids are bound to enjoy. We however will not be going back!

Update : just had the mains we took away. The Wiki wiki Stir fry with chicken and the Aztec Chicken were not bad.

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Another American expert. It's OK...a little gimmicky but kids might like it. Food is so so.

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Great decor doesn't fill your stomach, but it does keep kid's entertained and happy. 
I didn't come here on my own and sit my grown-up ass to gaze at plastic gorillas while I eat.
My niece indeed, loved it here and the little princess was distracted enough to let me and my brother to have a decent talk. 

Food rate: 2/5. The kid's menu had a big diversity, but Kaitlyn wanted to eat pizza. She ended up eating half a slice and said it tasted like her puppy's biscuits.  
I went for a Rainforest steak burger which disappointed me so much. It looked great before actually getting to taste it. The meat was dry and tasteless. Well, it did have a taste -- raw and disgusting. They should have named it Dry-forest burger. 

What's not so cool: I find the pricing too high for the quality of the food. Staring at some fake animals won't fill me up.

Also: If you're not a kids type of person, avoid this place avoid at all costs! There are plenty of mini persons running and screaming around.

What's cool, though: They actually managed to make the interior look pretty realistic for a cafe. Sometimes the staff gets dressed up as animals and it's funny to watch a middle age guy in a neon green frog costume, jumping around children.

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It was a childhood dream to actually dine into the Rainforest cafe but sadly the high prices prevented that dream to ever come true then. But because of my boyfriend, he helped me recover that lost dream and took me there. At first it was just a place I wanted to eat for fun and my food expectation were actually very low knowing it was tourist place. 

When it came to decor and atmosphere I was completely wowed. The whole place was recreated into a tropical forest with great attention to detail too. There was even a dome with a view of the starry night sky, a fish tank with tropical fishes, moving gorillas making sounds every now and then and elephants that flapped their ears. Although I understand it is not for everyone I really enjoyed the sound effects such as the sound of thunder. It brought our meal to life and opened up our other senses.

As romantic the place looked with dangling plants and flowers, dim lighting it is not a place for a first date or a very romantic dinner due to the amount of lively excited children running round. It didn't bother us though and we felt part of something bigger when all the staff stood up to sing happy birthday with a volcanic cake for their birthdays. 

The menu had most of the classic American dishes and we decided to start our meal off with buffalo chicken wings. I was very surprised at the quality of these wings. As synthetic the sauce was they  tasted fine and kind of how we expected them to be, they were also very well fried, plump and meaty with a lovely crispy skin on top. They were very mild and tasted even better dipped into the creamy light  blue cheese sauce that came with it.

For mains I gambled with the pork baby back ribs. The reason I said so is because I've had many where it is just drenched in a sickly sauce and cooked so much it loses all its natural flavours and texture but I actually really enjoyed these. Although there wasn't much heat the cajun spices flavoured the meat really well, giving different notes of flavour by the paprika, garlic and pepper. The BBQ sauce was nice and light and only to cover the meat and added a good gentle sweetness to it. It was tender and packed full of its juices and yet still had a good meaty texture to it. 

For the side I chose a baked potato with sour cream and chive and it came in generous size. The flesh was fluffy and soft and creamed well with the sour cream. It also came with a corn on the cob and slices of watermelon which felt out of place. They were both pretty bland but probably because they were not in season.

My boyfriend went for the Primal Steak and that is where we felt the quality go down. The steak was tough and chewy even when it came medium rare as requested. For the price it was a huge disappointment. Chips were very average but it wasn't like ketchup couldn't save them. I was happy I chose the ribs. 

Overall it was a great experience and I still agree it's a place you go more for the decor and than the food as for the same price there are many places that does it better. However it is also a place I wish everyone could go at least once if you're into themed restaurant as it is worth experiencing just once. It definitely brings out the child inside of you. 

Service was great, greeted at the door with a 'passport' with your name where you hand over to the staff downstairs to get your entry. It's like you're really leaving London...haha! Food came relatively quick and all done with a smile. Definitely a place I plan to return to.

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I got convinced into coming to this restaurant by my husband (what a surprise) I was not to thrilled with the idea but I gave it a shot.

I knew it! I should stuck to my guns!  A few things save this place from having a lower rating.  Namely, I can see why children would really enjoy coming here, the inside is all decorated as a forest it even has a great big gorilla which is quite cool for photographs.  Every once in a while a rain/ thunder storm commences and so does my irritation as I cannot hear what my significant other is saying (maybe is not such a bad idea...eh?).  Seriously, I recommend this place only if you have children if not you will find yourself paying lots of money for food that is not that great and annoyed that you missed half of your companion's conversation.

Another thing that saves this place from the well, is the shop on the ground floor.  It was fun having a look at all their stuffed animals and all the rainforest themed knicks and knacks they sell.  Try on all the different stuffed animal heads it is quite funny and will make you forget you just left £50 downstairs.

671daab0-f0a9-4aa5-bcd4-b97d95902864

Awesome venue for a restaurant I loved all the fish tanks as you can see in the picture I took it's a really lovely place the atmosphere is great & the service was quick.
The food was really enjoyable I had the cheeseburger with fries it was delicious

The Rainforest Cafe in London’s Leicester Square | Family-Friendly Jungle Dining

Experience the wild side of dining at The Rainforest Cafe in London, a vibrant and immersive restaurant that captivates both kids and adults alike.

Begin your rainforest adventure with a selection of American classics like buffalo chicken wings, served with a creamy blue cheese dip, or enjoy the crispy Jungle wrap filled with fresh coleslaw.

Satisfy your jungle cravings with signature dishes like the succulent pork baby back ribs, seasoned with cajun spices and served with fluffy baked potatoes, or indulge in the hearty Primal Steak, cooked to your preferred doneness.

Conclude your rainforest experience with delightful treats like rich, creamy ice creams or themed cakes, perfect for celebrating special occasions in a jungle setting.

Enjoy a range of refreshing beverages from tropical cocktails to classic soft drinks, all served amidst the rainforest's lush backdrop.

Join us for our themed dining experiences, perfect for family celebrations or a fun night out. Dive into the jungle atmosphere and enjoy our special menu crafted to delight all ages.

Experience the vibrant ambiance of The Rainforest Cafe in London's Shaftesbury Avenue, where lush decor and exotic flavors create an unforgettable adventure. Book now!

The Rainforest Cafe in London’s Leicester Square | Family-Friendly Jungle Dining

Dining & Culinary Delights A behind-the-scenes fun fact Frequently asked questions Experience the rainforest today

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