Cacciari's South Kensington — Restaurant in London

I regularly go to Cacciari for their pasta. I really rate the pasta as being very good. It tastes freshly made & it is a pleasure to eat it.

However, I have a gripe with the management & their attitude to rules. They have a policy of dinner service at night.

Now, I understand rules & policies but I also understand the number one principle of the hospitality industry. Make the customer feel special.

I'm a customer who spends on average about £2000 per year at this branch, either eating on my own or bringing friends. I don't think that £2k is something to be scoffed at. It's 10% of a median wage.

Yet, if I come to a half empty restaurant & ask if i can have a coffee, & I get told multiple times that it's only dinner service, it makes me feel like my £2000 per year is not treated accordingly.

When I spend £1000 per year at my local Five Guys, they treat me like I'm special with a free milk shake or free fries on occasion.

When I go to the Ritz, for my £4000 per year, they treat me like I'm special, & trust me, they scoff at my money.

So I don't think that selling me a coffee (not even giving it for free) is a big deal. Words such as, "we normally only do dinner service at this time, but as you are a regular & we aren't too busy, we'll make you a coffee" would go a long way to being made to feel special. Who knows, I might have stayed & had something to eat or ordered a bottle of wine & increased my yearly spend.

So, my point is. Pasta is great. But management leaves a...

From the outside this looked inviting with nice looking lighting when we booked earlier in the day. This however isn't a proper restaurant - it is a food service providing food mainly for Deliveroo & other delivery firms. Staff are constantly & almost running past our table with red bag after red bag. We felt sorry for the staff so didn't make a complaint while there as this is an owner/management problem. The food wasn't particularly Italian and the Tagolini had very little taste & was very poor value of money for £29. Also our glasses of Syrah at £10 each were not good quality. The tables at the back of the restaurant are better but we weren't offered those and they remained mainly empty. The first table we were offered as 2 people was so close to a table of 4 it would have been difficult to hear each other. So we were given a table at the front in a corner looking at a wooden divider and watching the continous stream of delivery drivers who do work very hard. Unlike this restaurant who do no know how best to serve people in their restaurant or cook Italian food. I was horrified to hear of the couple a few months ago who were turned away despite the restaurant being almost empty. A number of the good reviews are not specific as to food or experience and are probably...

The food was very tasty, but the experience was spoiled by part of the service. Most of the staff was good:we were welcomed, our glasses were filled with water upon arrival, which I always appreciate.

Whilst my friend and I were still discussing what to order, one waiter asked for our order when I was still clearly showing the menu to my friend across the table, it was obvious we were not ready yet, that was a bad sign.

I was not done yet with my starter (arancini with creamy sauce) that the same waiter started clearing the table and took away the sauce. Shortly after, our main dishes arrived when I was still eating my starter. I do appreciate a quick service but that was just rushing us out.

After the main course, I finally managed to get up to the washroom as I hadn't had the chance yet to wash my hands. When I came back to the table, my napkin was gone. I was still contemplating ordering a dessert, but after that my friend and I decided to leave and have dessert somewhere else.

So although the dishes were good, some staff need to learn the standard of European service and make the difference between a fast food and a more expensive restaurant where the experience is as important as the food.

Also the restaurant was sooo noisy and loud, it was not...