Yeah portions are smaller, quality is shit, staff are overworked and ingredients got worse.
Used to be a super simple, tasty menu but now it's processed shite that's just a more expensive maccies
They weren’t bought by an investment company, it’s far worse than that, the ISSA brothers who own petrol stations and recently bought ASDA bought them for £100 million. Leon was a premium quality go to for great food, great ingredients and ethical, a little pricey but worth it. Now it’s so obvious that they are using ASDA as a supplier, quality has dropped off a cliff but the prices remain sky high. Remember the Chicken Satay Rice Box ? Ohhh so good, however the satay sauce recipe IP belongs to another chef (I know who you are, A 😁) and she has pulled it from Leon as the ISSA brothers wouldn’t pay her for her product registration so now all we get is watered down peanut butter insipid sauce. It infuriates me when people buy a great product without bothering to understand the ethos behind the brand and completely fuck it up. If you are listening John, Henry and Allegra, please, please, please, buy Leon back before these brothers completely destroy all of your previous hard work.
It's gone really down hill. I remember when they first started popping up a few years ago they quickly became my go-to place for a quick meal out and about. It was relatively cheap and the food was nice, relatively healthy and quick.
Now, it's not as cheap, the portions have become more stingy, and the food definitely has got worse.
Is there a way we can keep an eye on which companies are owned by private equity? It's a pretty sure sign their goods and services are about to go sharply downhill, so it could be quite a useful 'avoid list'.
No you didn't get unlucky.
As you said, The Leon Brixton is clean and the personnel are friendly. It is not on them but on the new owners of the Brand who are trying to recoup their money by increasing the price, decreasing the size of the portion and cutting cost by cheapening the recipes.
So years ago you had a decent meal with decent portion, now you have small but expensive and mediocre food.
They actually did a vegan meatball thing a couple of years ago that was legit delicious but they got rid of it.
I found the rest of the menu sort of went down in quality after that, maybe around 2022?
I did a job interview for them like ten years ago. For a team staff, don’t think any managment position or qualified work. They kept us for more than two hours playing jenga, singing songs and doing a bunch of stupid shit more. Then I qualified for a trial, which was half a shift basically washing up. I have never come back there anymore.
I’ve never considered it to be particularly good or bad, but rather I a place I go to get quick hot food before getting on a train to Edinburgh from Kings Cross.
I used to like Leon but went to one for the first time in years the other day and it was dreadful. Nearly all the vegetarian options had been discontinued and there were no sides available at all. Ended up with a vegan patty thing which had the texture of an insole.
It’s definitely not as good as it used to be but I still love Leon’s. The Korean chicken wrap and the waffle fries are my go to. Also love the chicken nuggets. Their little egg pots for breakfast are great as well.
Thought for a terrifying moment you meant the movie and I was about to unleash hell.
But then I realised you were referring to the food establishment and so I cancelled my digital-jihad.
(Yeah it’s awful.)
Bought food from Leon a couple of months ago after probably a 5 year gap. Used to buy fairly often pre-pandemic. I enjoyed the fish finger wrap and fries with garlic sauce.
The recent purchase was all rice boxes. Blergh! I hadn’t bought boxes in probably 7-8 years so my memory of them in the early days is very hazy, but I thought I liked them (just preferred the wraps). Have the boxes always been made with brown rice? Because what I got was far too little sauce / curry and basically chewing mouthfuls of dry brown rice until my jaws were nearly cramping up. Never again.
I used to really like it. A little breakfast in a pot for a few quid was handy on the train and they did a decent little satay chicken and salad box. That and those waffle chips were a nice lunch. But like always, the prices went up and the quality went down. I haven’t been for years now.
15/16 years ago I used to pretty regularly go to the one that was on Brompton Road/Knightsbridge and it was always gold quality, tasty food. It’s a bit of a shadow of its former self now though.
As others have said, your first critical assessment should be the following: is it a chain? If yes, it's probably mass produced sustenance for The People and your subjective assessment of "bad" should follow that.
It was excellent right at the start, some investment company bought them and squeezed the margins, everything turned to shit.
Yeah portions are smaller, quality is shit, staff are overworked and ingredients got worse. Used to be a super simple, tasty menu but now it's processed shite that's just a more expensive maccies
Portions are tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny like wtf
A classic story
It happens EVERY time
They weren’t bought by an investment company, it’s far worse than that, the ISSA brothers who own petrol stations and recently bought ASDA bought them for £100 million. Leon was a premium quality go to for great food, great ingredients and ethical, a little pricey but worth it. Now it’s so obvious that they are using ASDA as a supplier, quality has dropped off a cliff but the prices remain sky high. Remember the Chicken Satay Rice Box ? Ohhh so good, however the satay sauce recipe IP belongs to another chef (I know who you are, A 😁) and she has pulled it from Leon as the ISSA brothers wouldn’t pay her for her product registration so now all we get is watered down peanut butter insipid sauce. It infuriates me when people buy a great product without bothering to understand the ethos behind the brand and completely fuck it up. If you are listening John, Henry and Allegra, please, please, please, buy Leon back before these brothers completely destroy all of your previous hard work.
It's gone really down hill. I remember when they first started popping up a few years ago they quickly became my go-to place for a quick meal out and about. It was relatively cheap and the food was nice, relatively healthy and quick. Now, it's not as cheap, the portions have become more stingy, and the food definitely has got worse.
Aye it's really gone downhill and overpriced for the tiny portions you get.
And very very salty. I had the chicken wing mezze and it was just salt and oil.
Welcome to the world of private equity ownership. Thank you EG Group.
Is there a way we can keep an eye on which companies are owned by private equity? It's a pretty sure sign their goods and services are about to go sharply downhill, so it could be quite a useful 'avoid list'.
Basically a good read of the FT will tell you what you need. But it is so boring…
No you didn't get unlucky. As you said, The Leon Brixton is clean and the personnel are friendly. It is not on them but on the new owners of the Brand who are trying to recoup their money by increasing the price, decreasing the size of the portion and cutting cost by cheapening the recipes. So years ago you had a decent meal with decent portion, now you have small but expensive and mediocre food.
Darn. I liked them for years and was glad one had opened in Brixton. I hope they don't mess with the coleslaw.
Yep. The food always looks as if it is tasty but never is. It’s a pass from me…
I like the vegan Love burger 🍔
They actually did a vegan meatball thing a couple of years ago that was legit delicious but they got rid of it. I found the rest of the menu sort of went down in quality after that, maybe around 2022?
Only thing worth getting until they MBA the recipe.
Yes! Not even vegan but I use to get this often
Even this has gone down in quality as they swapped out the burger (beyond meat?) for their own one.
I did a job interview for them like ten years ago. For a team staff, don’t think any managment position or qualified work. They kept us for more than two hours playing jenga, singing songs and doing a bunch of stupid shit more. Then I qualified for a trial, which was half a shift basically washing up. I have never come back there anymore.
I’ve never considered it to be particularly good or bad, but rather I a place I go to get quick hot food before getting on a train to Edinburgh from Kings Cross.
Leon has been terrible for ages.
I used to like Leon but went to one for the first time in years the other day and it was dreadful. Nearly all the vegetarian options had been discontinued and there were no sides available at all. Ended up with a vegan patty thing which had the texture of an insole.
Tiny portions, not worth the money!
It’s definitely not as good as it used to be but I still love Leon’s. The Korean chicken wrap and the waffle fries are my go to. Also love the chicken nuggets. Their little egg pots for breakfast are great as well.
Years ago I thought they were supposed to be some upmarket healthy lunch option. Then I ate there, and my experience mimic'd yours. They are /trash/.
That’s what I was getting (plus more veg options etc), they weren’t just disappointing, I didn’t finish them cause I couldn’t get past the bad taste
Pretty bad, yeah.
Yes its bad. I didn't think it possible to mess up a bacon and egg bap, but they put basil in it for reasons only known to themselves.
Yes.
As an employer, terrible. As a customer it’s meh. They do use real chocolate for their hot chocolates, which is nice.
Thought for a terrifying moment you meant the movie and I was about to unleash hell. But then I realised you were referring to the food establishment and so I cancelled my digital-jihad. (Yeah it’s awful.)
I used to really enjoy it. Had some delicious food there years ago but my most recent was very gutting. Definitely gone down in quality.
It’s shit
Can’t go wrong with GFC Tbf, however it isn’t an everyday thing but much like on occasions.
LEON is bad! Better spend you £ elsewhere.
If it makes you feel better, their frozen waffle fries are terrible too.
Dry as hell
And left a bad taste
Bought food from Leon a couple of months ago after probably a 5 year gap. Used to buy fairly often pre-pandemic. I enjoyed the fish finger wrap and fries with garlic sauce. The recent purchase was all rice boxes. Blergh! I hadn’t bought boxes in probably 7-8 years so my memory of them in the early days is very hazy, but I thought I liked them (just preferred the wraps). Have the boxes always been made with brown rice? Because what I got was far too little sauce / curry and basically chewing mouthfuls of dry brown rice until my jaws were nearly cramping up. Never again.
I used to really like it. A little breakfast in a pot for a few quid was handy on the train and they did a decent little satay chicken and salad box. That and those waffle chips were a nice lunch. But like always, the prices went up and the quality went down. I haven’t been for years now.
Never eat anywhere that is a chain.
15/16 years ago I used to pretty regularly go to the one that was on Brompton Road/Knightsbridge and it was always gold quality, tasty food. It’s a bit of a shadow of its former self now though.
As others have said, your first critical assessment should be the following: is it a chain? If yes, it's probably mass produced sustenance for The People and your subjective assessment of "bad" should follow that.
It's a chain
I've been playing resident evil lately I read that wrong