A Cena — Restaurant in London

Entered the restaurant with my wife, coldly greeted as if we were a burden by a waiter. Our drinks orders were taken promptly and delivered to the table promptly. However after half an hour no one had taken our food orders, when we finally did order we waited another hour for it to arrive despite the restaurant being half empty. When we mentioned this to the waiter she told us the 'chef' was very busy with orders. When i replied that he cant be a very good chef if he cant even handle a half full restaurant we were told the chef was the owner and sometimes meals were bought out slower to allow guests to 'savour the atmosphere'. Not sure if this was an attempt to keep the restaurant looking full or just incompetence on the chefs part. When the food did arrive it was cold and slimy. We both ordered the same thing. The pasta was barely cooked and the chicken was rubber with a cold sauce slopped over. After complaining our food was inedible we were told we could take it to go but because we had eaten part of the meal they wouldnt remove it from the bill. How could we tell the food was bad unless wed tried a bite. This lead to the 'chef' owner appearing an telling us clearly we werent used to 'fine dining' and that al dente was standard for pasta in this dish. Im fairly sure pasta shouldnt crunch no matter what level of cooked it is. When we explained we werent going to be paying suddenly the irate toddler owner appeared to argue and tell us loudly if we didnt pay he would lock the doors and phone the police. At this point i realised i recognised him, jerry moran. The guy who was accused of grooming pre teen girls a few years back. (All of a sudden the no children rule made sense) After i said this to him he immediately changed tune, told the waitress to go handle the table, continued to be aggressive but in more hushed tones and the smugness dropped from his face, the redness stayed but he clearly now wanted us gone as quickly as possible. Wouldnt eat here again, he clearly thinks he has a fine dining establishment and was furious we werent playing along. I wont say anymore anout the accusations, as they are only accusations. But i wouldnt want any of my friends daughters...

Acena has been our ‘go to’ choice for special occasions over the past few years Food always excellent ( although an occasional change of menu would have been welcomed ) Lovely friendly staff in a stylish setting…. HOWEVER our previous two experiences have not been quite so good. I visited with my husband in October, the Maitre d/ manager ( tall blonde woman) was cold, unfriendly and makes you feel as if she’s doing you a massive favour by being there. My last visit was on Wednesday, I took a friend as my guest. Long story short Apple Pay was unable to connect, Amex card was unable to connect… ( no one’s fault) I used another card ( only wanted to put £100 on) and £40 cash ( bill was £135 inc gratuity, not cheap and with only one glass of wine for myself, I am not complaining about the price, just highlighting the cost ) …I was given back change of £.4.87 in twenty pence pieces and 3p.. I didn’t make a fuss in front of my guest ( even thought she commented on all the coins) and the young lady serving was lovely and didn’t want to embarrass her. I returned yesterday evening and spoke to the Maitre d… a trivial problem became a huge issue… I asked for a refund of £15 gratuity… which IS discretionary and left the 20pence pieces there, so really only requesting £10 refund. The fuss this rude woman made was aggressive and upsetting.. her response simply could/should have been “ my sincere apologies , yes of course’ (and with a smile) and we would’ve returned as usual for our next special occasion, sadly we shall never go back...

We had the pleasure to experience the suburb food and service at A Cena in Twickenham East last night. Reading the previous reviews. at last minute booked a table and promptly was seated at table number 102 situated across the bar. Was very impressed with the sophiscated Ambieance and Chic Italian / Brazilian pleasantly playing in the background with candles light throughout each of the rooms and tables gave a warming and relaxing feel.

The food (2) shared:

Starters: Insalata Celeriac, Fennel, Radish and Pomegranate Salad with Parmesan and Truffle Dressing

Spaghetti with Ricotta, Lemon, Cream, Parmesan and Pine Nuts

Followed by Pan grilled Duck with lemon, oranges, chillies and Cointreau with fresh cream spinach and roast potatoes . With second plate of - grilled moist salmon , with lemon sauce, cream mash and spinach

Desert: Affogato - Vanilla Ice Cream with Espresso Dark Chocolate balls stuffed with rum and raisons every dish was delightful to the palette and Moorish too,

The wine selection is generous selections from Italy and tried the Bianca bottle of Sardinia wine The after dinner drinks was honey grappa WOW

Ciao bella,...