La mia Mamma Notting Hill — Restaurant in London

Title: Extremely Disappointing Service and Unprofessional BehaviorReview:I visited Mama Mia in North Hill Gate today around 4:45 PM with a friend and three children. Unfortunately, what should have been a pleasant dining experience turned into a deeply disappointing one due to the unprofessional and rude behavior of the staff.Upon our arrival, we were seated outside, and I began checking the menu to see if there were any kid's portions available. When the waitress came over, I politely inquired if they offered any children's portions, to which she curtly replied "no" without any attempt to be helpful or considerate. When I asked about the size of the regular portions, hoping they might be sufficient for the kids, she responded dismissively, giving the impression that we were a bother to her.As my friend joined us at the table, the waitress continued to behave with a clear attitude, maintaining a negative demeanor throughout our interaction. We decided to order a single pasta dish to share between the children, and this seemed to upset her further. She repeatedly questioned us, asking at least five times if we were really only ordering one pasta, as if she couldn’t believe it. Her disbelief was so apparent that she started gossiping with a colleague right in front of us, visibly stressed by our decision.Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, I requested to speak with the manager. The waitress claimed she was the manager, but her attitude remained the same, which made me doubt her claim. I expressed my concerns about the poor service, pointing out that we were being treated badly and that she had not even checked on us after taking our order. She continued to be dismissive and unprofessional, and eventually admitted that she was not the manager after all, confirming my suspicions.To make matters worse, it became clear that our treatment may have been influenced by the fact that we were speaking Portuguese. The restaurant staff, including a waitress from a neighboring Italian restaurant, began gossiping about us in Italian. My friend, who speaks Italian, overheard one of them calling us derogatory names. As a Brazilian who understands some Italian, I could also sense the hostility directed towards us.Overall, our experience at Mama Mia was marred by unprofessionalism, rudeness, and what felt like discriminatory behavior. As someone who works in the area and has always enjoyed being part of this community, I am deeply disappointed by this incident. I sincerely hope that this review reaches the actual manager or owner, as this type of service is unacceptable and needs to...

Our experience started in the best of ways. We were greeted with a warm smile by the exquisite hostess, who was able to seat us at the counter despite being 30' early.

There's a suggested set menu option (starting at £39): a main/pasta/pizza set menu that includes an aperol spritz, antipasti, dessert and coffee (or decaf coffee, for a surcharge). We were looking for an authentic Italian experience - which is what led us to this restaurant in the first place - so we went for it. Little did we know how much bad value for money that was.

The aperol spritz were watered down, decaf coffee wasn't available (no one told us until the end of the dinner, when we asked for it) and the dessert was an unfortunate pairing of a tiramisu and a sponge cake with a few little grapes, served in one plate, to be shared. At no point we were informed what the desserts were - we thought, like in any other place, that we would choose from the menu - until the plate came, which was quite disappointing (see photo). Also, since when is one served one plate to share without having been advised about it?

On a positive note, the antipasti were delicious, and super authentic. Not something you can easily find in other Italian restaurants in town. The cacio e pepe was nice, the pistacchio pesto pasta with guanciale was instead lacking in salt and flavour, despite being very, very heavy. There was a lot of sauce but not much guanciale, which wasn't very flavoursome either. I shared this with the server, who apologised but didn't do anything about it. It was so lacking in flavour I would have sent it back, but the service was painfully slow all night, so instead I just waited to at least get some salt. The 13% service charge was excessively generous, especially since no adjustments were made in relation to the missing coffee and the primo.

Despite sitting right at one of the mammas' kitchens, we did not get any "attention" from the mamma, like some of the other diners had. Not good, nor bad - we didn't mind - but if you're looking for that sort of experience, it might not be the place for you. Nonetheless, the atmosphere is nice and welcoming, and the music playing was genuine Italian music listened to by Italians, which I thought was a nice touch.

As much as we love supporting small Italian businesses, we felt that the £90+ bill was excessive for an average 2.5-course meal with no drinks (except the watery Aperol spritz).

P.S. This review was shared by me on other...

I went to La Mia Mamma Notting Hill with my girlfriend for an impromptu dinner, we called last minute and Favio advised that he could squeeze us in last minute and we got to sit opposite "mamma" whilst she prepared the fresh starters and desserts in front of us and also gave us a cheeky little bruschetta to get us going (FOC). I really enjoyed sitting opposite and would recommend sitting at that bar area for an interactive experience. "mamma" also took our order and was very knowledgeable about the menu and we ordered: Starter: Parmigiana di melanzane (VG) £ 11,50: Layers of aubergines, tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil and Parmesan cheese: This is a proper Italian starter done perfectly, delicious start to the meal served with some bread to mop up the delicious tomato sauce. Mains: Rigatoni con funghi, salsiccia, tartufo / A la carte £ 18,00 Rigatoni pasta with mushrooms, Italian sausage, truffle oil & a touch of cream. : Beautifully served in a hot pan to keep it hotter for longer, delicious pasta and highly recommend, the truffle oil measure was perfect and not overpowering. La Gianluca Vialli / A la carte £ 18,00 Tomato sauce, mozzarella, stracciatella di burrata, spicy salami, spreadable spicy salami & chilli. : Fresh ingredients and light base make for a delicious italian pizza (takeaway available), they also had chilli oil and garlic oil to dip the crusts in, sooo good! Dessert: Cannolo Siciliano £ 8,50 Sicilian treat made with handmade ricotta nestled in a crispy biscuit shell : "mamma" made this in front of us with the sweet cottage cheese, pistachio and chocolate on either side...a delicious sweet end to a great meal!

Overall, a great experience on the first visit to this restaurant in Notting Hill and it won't be my last, looking forward to trying their other 2...