La Barca Ristorante — Restaurant in London

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Myself (of Caribbean descent) and my female companion, who happens to be black, we warmly welcomed in and were duly and hastily taken to the back of the restaurant. The waiter smiled as he gave us the table beside the men’s toilet and cloakroom. He told us (warmly) that it was a perfect place for two. The fact that the entire main floor was available except for two tables was interesting to me. Here we were behind half a wall and hidden from plain sight. BUT….. I gave the benefit of the doubt and assumed we were hidden due to social distancing.

I was severely wrong.

The next couple was allowed to have a table in the main area. And the next couple and the next couple. One by one, the waiters placed each couple next to each other as we sat lurking in the background. One waitress, who had not spoken to us all night be hovered around us, finally came to talk to us but I was disappointed when it was merely to say: can I take your plates away. I responded with ‘hello, how are you this evening?’. We coughed up the £102 bill, which included £5 for the bread – be careful, they hand it over without asking you, and it appears to be complementary, but it is not (well, it wasn’t complimentary for us). We will not be back, but I suspect they do not want us back any more than we want to go back. I guess we are simply not fitting their style of customers hence the fact we were taken to the back of the building. A shame, I was planning on bringing lots of foreign diplomat customers.

Finally, the food was OK.

My final response Guys, I am writing in response to your response. Rest assured this is the last time I am writing here.

I was hoping you will be a little humble and come clean with your biased attitude towards us. Instead, you have called me a liar and you are claiming that we ‘chose’ to sit next to the toilet whilst the main floor had at least 8 available tables. So you want to have people believe that we were keen to sit by the toilet as opposed to the by the window or near the front, etc. Please! Do not embarrass any of us any further. It is obvious you wanted us hidden, that’s fine you have your reasons (and we all know what those reasons are). It is therefore my right to report about this. Do not worry, I am sure my report will have zero effect on your client numbers, but at least you could have been humble, offered an olive tree, something – instead you claim that we wanted to sit next to the toilet. Its your call. This is the last...

I see I'm not the only one to have an unsavory experience, given the comments here. Sad, considering it seems this place has been around for a long time.

From the moment we walked through the door (1-1/2 to 2 hours prior to closing), we felt extremely rushed and like an inconvenience to the staff.

Let's start at the beginning. We stood at the entrance waiting for someone to acknowledge us, and after a few minutes, all we got was an abrupt, "go inside" from a waiter on the patio.

Upon entering, we were seated at a table right next to another couple in a restaurant with many empty tables. We weren't asked whether the seating was acceptable and we weren't asked if we preferred to eat on the patio. The environment was extremely stale, bright lighting and an uncomfortable experience given the elevated expectation of this restaurant.

We ordered our first course, and the waiter told us to order our entree as well. We made a quick decision despite letting him know we weren't ready and when the first course came, it was mediocre at best.

The pâté was good, but the bruschetta was basically chopped raw tomato with bread. The table was then completely cleared as if we were to leave, but another waiter eventually returned with the basics (salt, pepper, oil). When the main course came out we still felt rushed given the previous treatment and before we could finish we were asked for our dessert order "as the kitchen is closing."

We immediately asked for our bill, having just had 3-4 bites of our main dish. Absolutely terrible experience. If the food had been exceptional, perhaps it would have changed my opinion, but the mediocre food and the lackluster service has resulted in my 1...

Go somewhere else unless you’re a regular here. The service was subpar if you’ve been to any other decent Italian restaurant. At this price point you can do a lot better.

The service was judgemental upon arriving. Wasn’t going to throw the race card but it’s true what the other one-star reviewer said about their experience (racist…).

We live in a multi-cultured world where one should not judge any book by its cover. We came hoping to enjoy Italian food and left very disappointed.

Still water, bread and olives were put on our table without asking first (we prefer sparkling water). Took another five minutes to wave down a waiter to get olive oil and vinegar. The bread needed it as it was dry and not warm. Basic 101 to serve the bread with butter / olive oil / etc.

Upon ordering the dishes, the waiter suggested it all come at once. Bad idea as the table was packed and the food got cold as we ate the bruschetta first. I should have known better here but trusted the judgement of the staff.

The dishes were nothing special and you can easily achieve the same at home. The clams in the Linguine Alle Vongole had sand in them. For god sakes, flush them out first before cooking. Gordon Ramsay would chew this place to bits.

Also sitting outside there were hungry flies and wasp flying around. I hope they enjoyed bits we couldn’t protect.

There is no way this place is a 4.6 star establishment and some reviews are likely rigged. Made a huge mistake coming here. Hope others don’t fall into the same trap. Close enough to the London Eye and next to Waterloo Station to lure unsuspecting guests that are simply going off...