Franco Manca — Restaurant in London

Franco Manca have always managed to serve up incredibly appetising looking food, which tastes great, and at really fair prices, such a refreshing change. Even their sauces, such as Scotch Bonnet, are brilliant. And they’ve shown that such a business model can work, as they’ve expanded massively and are always popular. I wonder, though, if it’s time to reassess the balance of product v. pricing? On my recent visit, I enjoyed the quality of the olives, but it was a very small portion. My side salad was splendid, no queries there. My pizza, however, had issues, despite being the core element of the meal. The variant I ordered apparently featured toppings including sliced roast potato, roasted onions, and Stilton. Of the latter, there was literally one forkful of the entire pizza where I tasted any Stilton. That’s disappointing, having paid for this pizza, but it also means the dish lacked a punch of flavour. The other issue was rather ridiculous. I noted there were no onions at all on the pizza, so when the (very nice) waitress asked if everything was OK, I politely mentioned this. Her response actually made me laugh in an ironic way: “ah….yes… not missing, it’s just that the potatoes were cooked with onion”. This made no sense, but I assume it was to fool me into thinking the potatoes would take on some onion flavour but not be included, by design!? Not only utterly ludicrous, but highly irritating because it assumes I knew little about dining out or had little experience, the absolute opposite being true. I also sensed that as she was so quick to say this, it implied they have certain excuses ready for such scenarios. I’m not sure whether the onions were forgotten, or they’d run out (in which case just nip out and buy some, there’s a Tesco and Sainsbury's nearby!), but it’s one of my absolute restaurant pet-hates to find stated ingredients/constituent items completely missing. Please, Franco Manca, don’t fall to the levels of so many other...

DISCLAIMER: Passive aggressive female member of staff who force you into paying them “tips” & then backchatting about you in your own language to colleagues.

I came into Franco Manca needing the toilet. I was going to grab a takeaway anyway for dinner from somewhere so I thought I’d get it from here. I decided to eat in as I was starving and it’s a while for me to get home. This woman was passive aggressive right from the start. I ordered a margarita pizza just for myself in this nearly empty restaurant as it was 5:50pm. When the bill came I asked if I could have it without the service charge because of budget reasons and also because of her mannerisms, combined with the fact that my intention was to get a takeaway rather than eat alone. She explained that the service charge money goes to the serving staff. I didn’t see why she was trying to sway my decision so I asked again, whether it was optional. She then says it is, but it pays the staff for serving me. I said I still wanted to have a bill without this extra charge, and asked again very politely, if the charge was optional because I have severe social anxiety and find it extremely difficult to say no to public people. She said “no it’s not optional” and was extremely angry with her nostrils flaring with a very poor tone of voice. Scared of her, I said fine then and she went to get the bill. In doing so she insulted me heavily in Bengali language which she didn’t realise I speak as well, to her colleague, whose response I couldn’t hear. She made me feel uncomfortable through my whole time to the point where I thought I was going to have a panic attack. Extremely unprofessional and I will publicise this on my social media where I have 180k followers....

Today, my wife and I had the pleasure of dining at franco manca for lunch, despite our two friends bailing on us at the last moment for our pre-reserved table. The day was saved by the incredible service from Roberto, who turned our meal into a wonderful experience.

From the moment we arrived, Roberto was attentive, courteous, and went out of his way to ensure we had everything we needed. Despite the unforeseen change in our group size, he handled everything with grace and efficiency, making sure that we were comfortable and well attended to throughout our meal.

Roberto’s service was a perfect blend of professionalism and warmth. He not only managed the logistics of our reservation with ease but also recommended some fantastic dishes from the menu, which turned out to be delightful. His attention to detail and genuine interest in making sure we had a great experience was truly appreciated.

Our dining experience was absolutely five-star, thanks to Roberto. His dedication and exceptional service made us feel valued and welcome, turning what could have been a disappointing outing into a memorable one. We highly recommend franco manca to everyone, and if you get the chance, ask for Roberto – you won't be disappointed!

Thank you, Roberto, for making our lunch truly special. We will...