Il Girasole — Restaurant in London

We waited 25 minutes for anyone to take our order, a further 20 minutes to receive our drinks, and then over an hour for our food. After waiting for the drinks, a member of our party went to ask if our drinks were on their way - they then hurriedly started making them. More fool us, I guess - we should've left after waiting for anyone to take our order.

At no point did we receive an apology. We were aware of at least four other tables who were left waiting. A nearby table said that they'd apparently waited 1hr45 before seeing any food; "an apology would've gone a long way". When I approached the manager, she was, honestly, quite rude. She told me multiple times that the chef had it plated, the chef was running late, the chef was refusing to plate it... eventually she said "it's not my fault!" and walked away. I truly was not belligerent - along with multiple other tables, I was frustrated at our lack of service.

When we eventually received our food, our meals were luke-warm - but we'd learnt by then to appreciate that at least we had food. One of our party received her meal ten minutes after everyone else. Again, no apology.

We ordered the bill as we received food. Upon request, drinks and service charge were removed from the bill. She asked my name again on paying - I assume so I can be blacklisted as an unreasonable customer. She needn't worry; I shan't darken her...

It's little places like this which make me wish I was living in Wandsworth again. Three of us visited on a very quiet Sunday evening with only 2 other tables in use. Very friendly waitress and the chef, obviously not being busy, came out to welcome us. Mine was the only starter and I love calamari and theirs were perfect, absolutely perfectly cooked with a large prawn balancing on the top with some delightfully fine courgette chips. Considering this is only a small place the mains were really West End quality. My calzone was cooked to perfection, the bread lovely and thin and crispy with the filling almost bursting out with its 'juiciness'. The pasta with Umbrian sausage and sauce, filling and rich but the 'best of best' was the pan fried sea bream fillets on a bed of spinach. The fish delicately marinated and the spinach firm enough to support the fish but cooked enough to melt in the mouth. I could go on to describe the delights of the pannacottas but I think you get the idea! Whether it's for a Saturday night dinner or just an after work snack, you won't be...

The service was poor here, Friday night. We were waiting a long time for our table to 'be prepared' (we had booked) but plenty of tables available throughout the night and then waited 25 minutes to be asked even our drinks order. There were multiple tables with old plates and glasses sitting there for the duration of our time here.

The food arrived promptly, it was very nice food especially the pasta. Burrata very nice. The chicken milense was dry and I had to give my husband some of my pasta sauce to help him to chew it...

Would prefer more vegetarian options on the menu, there were no options for secondi plates.

The vibe of the place was okay but it was very bright as the lights were on high which was not very relaxing

Staff overall were kind, and once I had complained about the service they were a bit better. They needed another staff member with them...