How Salt Bae’s Nusr-Et restaurant – which has made £7million in just 4 months – has proved a hit

It was inundated with negative reviews and hit headlines over its overpriced menu – yet Salt Bae’s controversial Nusr-Et restaurant in London has proved a hit with Instagrammers.

Diners have filled the social media platform with glamorous snaps showing them posing with the social media sensation or on the steakhouse’s standout stairs and showcasing the expensive dishes. 

The Knightsbridge restaurant, part of a chain run by Turkish chef, Nusret Gökçe, who rose to viral fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique where he lets salt run down his elbow, made £7million of sales in its first four months.

This week, Nusret UK Limited, the company behind the steakhouse, filed financial reports to the UK’s Companies House revealing that it ‘performed higher than expected and made a profit of £2.3million in 2021. 

Yet the impressive figure is hardly surprising when considering how expensive the menu at the steakhouse is.

Specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for £1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for £1,350 and Golden Kafes for £500 – while a simple burger and Red Bull will set you back £100 and £11 respectively.

Diners (pictured right) have filled the social media platform with glamorous snaps showing them posing with the social media sensation or on the steakhouse’s standout stairs and showcasing the expensive dishes

The Knightsbridge restaurant, part of a chain run by Turkish chef, Nusret Gökçe, who rose to viral fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique where he lets salt run down his elbow, made £7million of sales in its first four months. Pictured, a diner at the steakhouse

This week, Nusret UK Limited, the company behind the steakhouse, filed financial reports to the UK’s Companies House revealing that it ‘performed higher than expected and made a profit of £2.3million in 2021. Pictured, a diner at the restaurant 

David Beckham, Jason Statham and Naomi Campbell are among the famous faces to have eaten at Nusret’s restaurants – which include locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Coleen Rooney and husband Wayne, Gemma Collins and Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott are some of the British celebs to have visited the London-based eatery after it opened in September 2021.

Yet just months after its highly-anticipated opening, it became one of the worst ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor after being slammed by unhappy customers online. 

Diners were left less than impressed with the glitzy steakhouse, with a slew of bad reviews leaving it at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor. 

One person commented: ‘Do not be fooled by the glitz and glam and waste your money. Terrible food. Meat was not at all tasty. Ended up going for a £5 kebab after a £300 bill… this place is the biggest joke in London.’

Meanwhile another wrote: ‘Insult to humanity. Worst food, worst service. Paid over £1,800 for three of us. Poor quality, smelly meat, small portions. Rather spend £50 in the local restaurant, will be better! Never again! Stay away, it’s a death trap!’

Yet the impressive figure is hardly surprising when considering how expensive the menu at the steakhouse is. Pictured, a customer at the eatery

Specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for £1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for £1,350 and Golden Kafes for £500 – while a simple burger and coke will set you back £100 and £9 respectively. Pictured, a diner at the steakhouse

Just months after its highly-anticipated opening, it became one of the worst ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor after being slammed by unhappy customers online. Pictured, customers at the steakhouse

In March 2022, a sommelier who was fired from Salt Bae’s restaurant for ‘eating an avocado after 5.30pm’ branded the eatery a ‘toxic working environment’.

Guillermo Perez, 30, from Madrid, compared Nusr-Et to a ‘McDonald’s for rich people’ for charging guests extortionate prices – despite allegedly serving them ‘frozen chips with Heinz ketchup’.

Sommelier of eight years Mr Perez, who has lived in the UK since 2012, claimed the London eatery was ‘immoral’ in a scathing attack, adding that bottles of wine were being marked up by ‘incredible’ amounts. 

‘Bottles worth £1,000 would be sold for up to £3,000, for example,’ Mr Perez told MailOnline. ‘Of course you can charge people whatever price you want, but it’s pretty immoral when the quality of the food and service does not match the price.

Cash to splash: Gemma Collins previously spoke of her shock at her £1,450 bill for a 24 carat Golden Tomahawk steak at Salt Bae’s London restaurant Nusr-et

Loved-up: Gemma enjoyed her meal at the Knightsbridge restaurant with her partner Rami Hawash

‘One day I saw a big bag of frozen chips and I thought “really? That’s what we are serving people?” And they had Heinz ketchup and mayonnaise, which you can get from the shop.’

Mr Perez continued: ‘I have worked in Mayfair and other good restaurants, but my experience there was very disappointing. I think people there want to show how much money they have, almost everybody paid in cash.’

Mr Perez said he was dragged into HR on January 20 after he was berated by a chef in the staff canteen – which is shared with a hotel – for eating his own avocado and rice.

David Beckham, Jason Statham and Naomi Campbell are among the famous faces to have eaten at Nusret’s restaurants – which include locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul

 Meanwhile, Coleen Rooney and husband Wayne, Gemma Collins and Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott are some of the British celebs to have visited the London-based eatery (pictured) after it opened in September 2021

Workers from Nusr-Et are not allowed to eat food from the canteen after 5.30pm, Mr Perez said.

‘I arrived with my own food at 5.35pm and took a plate and the chef started shouting at me telling me I can’t eat from the canteen,’ alleged Mr Perez, whose past work experience includes the upmarket Sushisamba.

‘I tried to explain that the avocado was mine and that I was just taking a plate and some cutlery and he accused me of being aggressive and called my general manager.’

Within 30 minutes, Mr Perez said he was told to report to HR, where he was chastised for ‘arguing with the chef’ and told not to return after that day. He said he was told he would not receive his week’s holiday pay or work a notice period.

MailOnline contacted Nusr-Et for comment.