Cucina Bettina — Restaurant in London

DISAPPOINTING + DISHONEST Organising a kid's birthday party can be stressful! So, for my pizza-loving son's birthday treat after a cinema trip with his pals this year, we wanted to support a local business, not a chain and have an authentic Italian experience to make it even more special.

I spoke to one of the owners weeks in advance to arrange the details (hadn't tried them before so was led by them on the pizza orders for the kids etc) they agreed to the booking and I sent through the details to confirm but didn't get a reply.

Ignoring this red flag, I texted/called a few times just to confirm that we were good to go. However, days before the event, I chased again and was told that the restaurant couldn't accommodate us because another booking had upped their numbers. No effort was made to contact us to let us know that the situation had changed to give us ample time to organise our plans.

Any business must take the rough with the smooth; sometimes, you have to make a call where the news delivered might not be expected, but any savvy business owner can use this as an opportunity to make good.

We understand that things change and that larger bookings are more financially viable, but to be told basically that "things happen" with little apology is simply not on.

Back to Pizza Express we go…

UPDATE: Their response says it all 👇 I wished I'd looked at more reviews before engaging with...

Absolutely dreadful experience from start to finish.

The condensation on the windows before we had even entered was a sign.

The service is slow and serious lack of ventilation inside, it felt like a sauna.

The food was terrible. Focaccia was slightly warm on outside and cold in the middle making me think it was frozen and reheated. Didn't taste great at all.

The beef shin pasta wasn't any better. Piping hot beef was placed on top of cold pasta. The pasta was undercooked and wasn't enjoyable at all. Again tasted like it was frozen.

Truly...

Authentic very well cooked Italian food. We had Bruschetta, Tomato pasta (vegan), Nduja pasta, and Tiramisu, pretty much all home made. Lovely atmosphere too, and very reasonably priced. Bettina learnt from her grandmother, then got a cooking degree, then worked at Hilton Hotel before coming to London. (Formerly Posh Nosh, now Cucina Bettina. Its at the back of the Marlboro centre on Marlborough Road, not 96 George Lane as described). Will return soon. Update April 1st:- been there 4 times now. Always excellent. Very good quality organic food...