Lupa Osteria — Restaurant in KwaZulu-Natal

On Saturday my family and I had lunch at Lupa Umhlanga. The service and food was on point until we had an encounter which shocked us.

My husband left his bag behind his chair and only when we got home realised this. We immediately tried contacting the restaurant with no luck until we called the Big Fish next door and asked to speak to a manager. My husband explained that we were there for lunch and left his bag. The manager reassured my husband that our waitress found the bag and it was safe in the office. We had peace of mind knowing that the bag was found by the waitress so we knew that all the belongings would be safe.

Only to get there and check that R1000 cash was missing yet everything else was there. Shocking as the bag was in possession of the staff. It would be a different story if a customer found the handbag but it was staff. When my husband approached the manager about this he said that staff walk in and out and that it is he’s word again theirs.

Is this how customers are treated????when asked about camera footage we were told the cameras are not working….This is not acceptable on all levels. Our bill was R900 what do we have to gain by lying and trying to swindle a R1000.

The owner and management of Lupa need to question the type of people that you have working for you. If they are stealing from customers what else is going on.

Please do the necessary checks and get back us regarding this...

Unfortunately, we didn't experience the positive reviews left by others. Mother's Day group of four: my beef burger was probably the worst ever had (I'm not being dramatic either.) Yes its an Italian restaurant but in this day and age if it's on the menu it should be edible and enjoyable. Every small bite had unchewable pieces of hard fat and bits of sinue. I left less than half behind. It had zero flavour except for that undercooked taste of mince. Zero salt or flavours added. The bacon slice was also extremely fatty. Sorry. I eat almost anything but this was unappealing and below par for R90. Two guests had cremed pasta tagliatelle with beef strips and sundried tomatoes - an underwhelming dish, lacked flavour, meat was a bit dry, lacked saucyness or flavour - for R135 not on. Final dish, melted camembert starter with bread wasn't a winner for the other guest. Waitress was pretty good but experience was entirely let down by the food. Manager apologised and offered something else but it was too late. Lemon cheesecake was fairly dry and more forgettable. Sorry for the poor review but it was well below par for the range of better restaurants in the area and comparative prices. Maybe the pizzas are decent but there was bugger all Italian about the joint. I'll rather order in or go...

I don’t often give a place 5 stars, because I believe there is always room for improvement. However, in this case I cannot name a single thing they could’ve done differently.

Went “restaurant window shopping” on our first night on holiday and ended up at Lupa.

The service was excellent. Can’t remember the last time we had such great service - thank you to Mike for making this a relaxed evening. I can never understand how restaurants don’t realise the value of service - in this case they definitely do. All the staff at Lupa were helpful and attentive and well trained.

The food was superb: the Langoustine pasta is every bit as delicious as it sounded; my daughters were super impressed with the gluten free pizza bases; the balsamic and avo fillet was the absolute star of the evening. Have never tasted anything like it before.

DO NOT MISS the Cremino al Cioccolato! It is the best dessert you will ever have.

They also make the best Aperol Spritz in Umhlanga.

We did go back 2 days later for a quick lunch- great experience and food all over again. We even re-tested the Aperols and were not disappointed. This time there was the Meaty pizza, Risotto, Ribs and gluten free Lupa pasta on the table. Every single dish delicious.

Well worth going!...