Ciao Bella — Restaurant in London

So I had been recommended this place and seen some good reviews but a good experience I didn't have it was the worst restaurant experience I had.ever had!

On Saturday 25th I attended with my girlfriend to continue what had been a very nice evening. The place was very busy, with all of the tables packed out. We were quickly seated and the waiting staff were as polite as.you would expect when taking our order. With my meal, I had some questions about the veal because I had never had it before and so wasn't sure how it was meant to taste it was.meant to taste and a member of staff took the time to answer it.

Now I have to be honest all the food I tasted was 'fine' but not the quality I would expect from the type of restaurant it was, it didn't warrant the price, yes plates were big, but not very well rounded with what they contained, and I'd rather the quality, mine tasted very 'supermarket'. Also, whilst everything was piping hot when served it did not take long before my pasta was ice cold, maybe it was due to air conditioning, I'm not sure. I struggled to eat half of the plate it just wasn't going down well.

When we had finished our main and was still drinking our drinks and deciding if we.would like a dessert a waitress plonked down the bill. and explained we would have to go as they were only allowing 1 hour and a half per person. Now fair enough, I appreciate many restaurants are doing this, but they should have told us first, then we would have been able to eat and drink according and finish our meal, and this was a table we had booked too, the time restraints was not mentioned once.

But that was not the worst part. Once we were out of the restaurant I started to feel very ill, and by the time an hour past I had been displaying the full side effects of food poisoning, and not long after my girlfriend did, too. We tried to be fair and honest to think if anything else caused it but no, it seems pretty certain it was the meal. We were very ill for the rest of the night, and a few days later still trying to recover, and feeling the effects. I have been in constant contact with the restaurant where they had suggested about allergies and if we had overeaten ( neither) or if the food was too flavourful or unusual (no, it was very bland and yes I had not had veal before but I doubt that was the reason for the illness). We were pretty sure it was food poisoning, they say they had checked everything was OK and we can only take their word for it, but clearly, something was not OK.

Lastly, of course, this was not about money, I would pay someone 100's of pounds to not feel how it made me and my girlfriend feel, but as what happened happened, you would expect as a gesture some kind of compensation, which they offered without me asking but I knew what it would be-a voucher. Yep after our experience, there is no way a voucher would be appreciated as understandably we are out off entering again. I pointed this out and they said OK we will refund you an amount to the bank account. I guess it's hard to put a price on this kind of thing but I'd think it would be the cost of the meal and a bit extra as compensation. Well, I think this may show how seriously they take customer service: the meal came to £53 they have back £30. Wow. I wouldn't chance this place...

Having not dined here for a few years, where my past experiences have been pleasant with good food and excellent service. On this recent visit, I was sadly overly disappointed. The restaurant has a modern and comforting appearance with a warm and charming atmosphere. We was greeted with a smile, shown to our table and quickly took our drinks order. The menu didn't seem all that impressive to me for an Italian style restaurant, as I would of liked to have seen a better range of seafood dishes such as mussels, octopus and possibly oysters.

The food is very bland, not very well prepared being either over/under cooked, presentation poor as nothing looked appetizing. It appears that no love and passion was put in and that really shows.

The staff are very friendly and helpful and for that reason we gave a generous tip. However, at no point, during the course of our meal did any of the staff ask how was our meal and offered drink refill. If we was asked, I certainly would of given my personal feedback.

I really hoped for much more as I did from my past experiences. Sadly we left very...

We came yere about 2 years ago and had a pretty poor experience. The food was poor and the service was even worse! I'm not sure what possessed us to go again, but I'm really glad that we did!

The service was fantastic. The two girls were really attentive and friendly. This was highlighted after i greedily had used all of my allocated olive oil, asked for some.more and the waitress apologised for not giving me enough to begin with (even though she gave me ample!)

The brushetta was delicious, the tomatoes were fresh and flavoursome and the bread itself was crispy on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside. The rosemary bread (i think its called focaccio) was also brilliantly cooked and went perfectly with the olive oil.and balsamic vinegar!

For mains my girlfriend had the meatballs in ragu-which she said was delicious and the portion was so big she couldn't finish it! I had the cannelloni in cheese sauce (VEG) which was also gorgeous!

The meal came to just under £30 for two course each and a soft drink-which was very reasonable consodering the great experience...