La Porchetta Pollo Bar — Restaurant in London

Mixed feelings about this place. Went as a couple, queued outside for 40 minutes granted it was a Saturday night at 7pm in Soho. Was prepared for a wait but after waiting 30 mins the staff let in about 4 parties who were behind us and some of which were larger parties who just showed up without reservation or explanation. I wanted to leave at this point but we were hungry and my girlfriend insisted we stay.

Once inside we were seated by the stairs which are constantly in use. It was heaving inside and louder than many metal bars, we couldnt hear a word the other was saying despite sitting right across each other. We ordered and the food arrived hot after a short while.

The food was mixed. 2 pizza's, Calabrese and Napoletana. Both tasted excellent and the dough/toppings tasted authentic but all the toppings just slide off and the centre of the pizzas were soggy so it was very difficult to eat without scooping it all up onto a ball in your fork.

Desserts looked good but the waiter insisted we take the cheesecake and we just wanted to look at the menu. When he started to pull the menu out of my girlfriends hands as she was asking for a bit more time to look at it, we decided we wanted to leave.

I wouldn't have left a review but a professional photographer was just taking photos of everyone inside, including us without asking. The staff didnt let the customers know this was happening and after making us wait longer than we should have in the queue and the issues around ordering dessert we felt it was the last straw.

Overall a bad experience and average food, but the shouting and lack of care for service to us left a lasting bad taste in our mouths. Plenty of nicer Italian restaurants around Covent Garden/West London if you want good service and authentic food.

Prices decent. Cute interior but wouldn't go back for a date or nice dinner, its more a "quick bite after a really drunken night out"...

My friend recommended this place after being there twice. I gave it ago with him and once we sat down, there was a server that just slapped down the menus onto the table who just looked like she didn't want to be there. Our orders were taken quickly and drinks arrived fast so this was all good. We received our 'garlic bread pizza' when really it was a margarita with garlic shavings on top. We both ordered lasagna and when we ate it, it literally tasted like something from tesco and like the other reviews said, it didn't taste like it was fresh at all, rather re heated. After this, we asked for the bill and saw service was on there and kindly asked if we could remove it off, the server's mood changed completely, said okay and just walked off. We waited about 5 minutes and he's gone to take another person's order so we asked the same lady that slapped the menus down for the bill and she shouted "I'm getting it". We asked again if we could remove service after she tried putting it on and asked if we could split it and then they sent us upstairs because only the owner could split the bills apparently. The owner told us he couldn't split it and that we need to do it ourselves in our own time. I asked him we needed it split as all the servers said he could do it and he just sighed and split it for us. My friend told him there was no need for the attitude and that the service was awful and he told us to "find me some staff then" and asked if we know what a busy restaurant it is bare in mind it wasn't busy at all and we both work at restaurants. Overall, very disappointing experience, rude staff espeically the owner and definitely won't be...

Lately been reading some of the previous reviews, I wasn’t aware of accusations of discrimination towards non-white customers, but I didn’t expect to experience it firsthand. I usually hesitate to raise the “racism” concern, but while nothing overtly offensive was said about our skin color, the way we were treated made it quite evident.

My friends and I visited for Halloween. Some of us arrived late, which I understand, but others arrived on time and were patiently waiting for our reserved table. Unfortunately, the waiter and one of the female staff members were rude and greeted my friends with visibly frustrated expressions, while serving other tables in a noticeably polite manner. We were told to hurry when ordering, and comments such as “you’re in London” were accompanied by strange looks. The overall atmosphere made it clear that they were not happy to serve us.

On the food side, the menu is affordable, which is appreciated, but the pasta we ordered was extremely dry and bland, not matching the quality of other Italian dishes I have tried before. Additionally, my glass had black spots in it. Overall, the way we were treated significantly affected the experience and the vibe of the evening.

In reply to your response:

It’s disappointing to see such hostile reply. After several years and yet with more and more people sharing negative experiences, I truly hope your customer service and the cleanliness of your restaurant improve. A family-owned business should make people feel welcomed, and I believe you still have the potential to create that feeling. If not, time has a way of humbling us all. I still wish you...