Lina Stores Canary Wharf – Italian Restaurant, Deli & Bar — Restaurant in London

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 out of 5)

I’ve visited Lina Stores in Canary Wharf twice, with two completely contrasting experiences.

My first visit was fantastic. We were warmly welcomed by Katia, the manager, whose attention to detail was impeccable. She checked multiple times to ensure our chicken schnitzel was cooked perfectly - succulent inside and crispy outside, genuinely outstanding. The pasta dishes and sides were equally impressive. Despite minor issues with a buzzing air vent (a small hiccup expected in new establishments), I left thoroughly impressed, recommending the restaurant widely among friends and family after living locally for over 25 years.

Unfortunately, my second visit yesterday was deeply disappointing. I brought my sister to share the previous great experience, ordering the same chicken schnitzel and sides. This time, both schnitzels were severely overcooked, tough, dry, and difficult to cut. Although the manager acknowledged the issue and offered replacements, our tight schedule didn’t allow waiting for another round. We ended up leaving most of our mains and sides untouched and had to eat elsewhere afterward.

Surprisingly, despite the manager accepting fault, only one schnitzel was removed from the bill. Given the severity of the issue - and our unfinished meals, I expected a more appropriate gesture from a restaurant of this calibre.

Overall, Lina Stores can clearly deliver exceptional meals and service, but the inconsistency between visits has left me hesitant to return. It’s a real shame, as when they get it right, the food and service can be...

Great Expectations, Poor Execution.

We were two people visiting this restaurant as it's a new spot in Canary Wharf and we decided to try something different — big mistake! We started with a starter (pictured), which wasn’t bad at all. The real issue came with the main course. First, we had to wait a long time for it, and when it finally arrived, it honestly didn’t even deserve a photo. It looked like it had been served with no care — I’m not exaggerating.

I ordered the Saltimbocca di Pollo and thought, "Maybe it just looks bad, let’s not judge before tasting." But the moment I took a bite, the overwhelming amount of salt hit me , it was unbelievable. The dish was covered in a sauce, so I tried removing it, thinking the saltiness came from there, but no, the salt was in the chicken itself. It was simply too much.

At the end, I politely told the waiter we didn’t want to pay the service charge as we weren’t happy with the service. He was very kind and said he understood, and even encouraged us to explain in more detail what we didn’t like.

However, two minutes later, the manager came over saying that the dish is meant to taste that way and that, regardless, it had to be paid for, which we were already happy to do, despite not enjoying it. What we didn’t agree with was paying the service charge. Her attitude came off as quite rude and dismissive. Thanks for the experience — good or bad, word spreads. Time always...

I’ve often frequented Lina Stores at other branches and decided to attend the Lina Stores soft launch opening at Canary Wharf.

We arrived at 1PM for our reservation, a lovely waitress took our order and we got our first starter shortly after. As it drew closer to 2PM we decided to cancel our desserts given the time restraint as we still didn’t have our mains. The manager offered us the desserts to be taken away but we weren’t prepared to wait extra time when we hadn’t received our mains.

We ordered 3 pasta dishes and after following up a few times our pasta dishes arrived around 40 minutes later. We were quite frustrated as while the food was at a good standard as I would expect of other Lina Stores, we were disappointed by the timings of the meal.

However, towards the end of the meal, the manager approached us to say we could have the meal for free given the wait. I would like to thank the manager for his consideration and to our Asian waitress who helped us throughout the process.

We hope the customer service will improve for the official opening, as we were frustrated watching other tables coming after us and being served...