La Saporita London — Restaurant in London

Usually my experience has been quite good at La Saporita , great t have a good local Italian . Not many in the immediate area.

I decided to have a pre Christmas dinner at the restaurant last night 12th December with my partner and close friend.

I booked a table earlier in the day , the usual girl that runs the "show" answered the phone and remembered my accent / voice and had a nice quit chat .

We arrived had a good evening.

However when i ordered a bottle of wine ( the top price on the menu) i was told that it was to warm to drink / serve and better of in the fridge !!! , i politely said no as it was RED and after feeling the temperature of the bottle i decided that it could be opened and i would let it breath and have with our main course.

The waitress came back again and said would i like it decanted into a water jug ! , again i said no just to open and leave on the table . A waiter eventually came along with the wine which the waitress had opened away ! from the table at the bar and he asked if we wanted to taste , i said no and to leave and let it breath, he continued to try and pour , again i asked to leave the bottle on the table .

All went well we ordered dessert .

I ordered cheesecake which arrived at the table around 11:00 , however the cheesecake was so warm it was melting , i have never had a heated up cheesecake before in a restaurant , not sure if this is something particular to this restaurant.??

The reason i mentioned the time earlier is because around that time waiter rushed into a frantic preparation for what i eventually realized was to close the premises. This included rushing around collecting flowers, candles from the table ( blowing them out while walking) and bringing all furniture from outside.

To end this procedure all lights were turned up , spoiling the ambiance of the new decor and Christmas tree. We were one of two tables left. I immediately felt the the need to ask for the bill ( over £110 for three ) and leave.

I did ask the waiter why the lights had been turned up and as usual with the staff at La Saporita he had to consult the lead waitress rather than being able to answer the question himself , i have noticed before that she controls all service and no real duties have been delegated out to other members of staff!!.The answer the waitress gave me was that the restaurant closes at 11;00 . From a professional point of view, that is not the way to conduct the service at the end of the evening , To reiterate i did feel a bit pushed out ,

Unfortunately because of the above i will more than likely not return.

If this reached the owner or manager , training , training ,...

Really shame that there is not a lower star rating.!! If there was that would be my choice. As a paying customer I am waiting to be treated with respect and not to be told by 'the usual girl that runs the "show" - as well said in previous review- which is the manager too in a very rude manner 'GO to your seat and when your table is ready I will let you know'!!!

Also when I tried to order my food she was so rude too not to mention that she is treated the rest of the front of the house staff like in a very rude inappropriate manner and telling them 'Do as I said and that NOW'.!!

As a restaurant manager myself her behaviour is below the basic standards. She needs to remember that her SALARY is coming out of the money customers spend when visit Saporita.

Also she must never forget the cold rule Customer IS the business. NO customers NO business.

I strongly recommend her to improve her behaviour and attitude otherwise I can easily see Saporita to have the same destiny like their Italian restaurant competitors which once was number one in the area and due to same mistakes now they on the route to...

We visited on a quite busy Sunday afternoon. We were welcomed by a very friendly man. We didn’t have booking but it was not an issue. We were given tap water without even asking which was very nice. The menu has lots of options. More importantly there is a lot of vegetarian options. We ordered calamari to start with, one pizza and one veal escalope with spaghetti on the side- which is quite interesting option. Portions are quite big. Food was very tasty. Dessert was easy to choose as the homemade tiramisu was a must to try. We also had ice cream. Desserts were delicious. Tiramisu the best one we tried among all the Italian restaurants we visited. Pistachio ice cream flavour was incredible. Service was amazing. The man who I believe was a manager was looking after every table with a big smile on his face. The decor of the place stands out too. Every detail was thought through. Very nice experience in the restaurant. We will be...