Mola Cafe & Bistro — Restaurant in London

As a long standing customer this is the last time I will ever visit and give my business and money to this place. My husband and I have been coming to Mola / Iskele / Cozzo for over 10 years now and this visit will be our last even though we live across the street and always try to support our local businesses.

Here is the reason (and it’s silly but serious if you are a longstanding customer or any customer).

We came for lunch. We ordered our usual meals - eggs, shakshouka, coffee, pot of tea, and a slice of cake - total spend £35…. Now my tea happened to be overbrewed over the course of the meal and last cup was tasting bitter and unpleasant. I asked the server for some hot water to dilute the cup and add to the last bit in the pot to make it weaker and palatable. The response “no, we can’t bring you hot water. If you want it, you need to purchase another pot of tea at full price!!!” I was so appalled to say the least. This has spoiled not only our lunch but the whole view of the business. The server said “it’s not me, it’s my boss - the owner does not allow any hot water top-ups and requires a purchase of a new beverage”. Ok - fine… we just paid our bill and I walked away with a bitter taste of tea (literally!!!) in my mouth - and we vowed we will never come back here or any other restaurants owned by these people.

Thank God for The pinch of salt across the street where our custom is appreciated and valued. Never ever have I experienced such petty and uncaring response for something like a cup of hot water… Gail’s refills my pot of tea without a quiver and with a smile on their faces when that is all I sometimes purchase there. The whole experience at Mola today just seemed very petty and money grabbing.

So we are done with this business and their...

Really hate giving negative reviews but our food wasn’t great. Jacket potato with tuna was watery as far too much vinegar tasting mayo was used. Both portions of pancakes ordered were dry and difficult to cut. We had to saw through and they were crunchy. The waitress said they were home made but I make them at home and they should be fluffy and soft. My sons were embarrassed to send their plates back so they ate them. The chicken salad was ok, chicken dry. Chicken pesto on ciabatta was great and well filled. Coffees and fresh juices delicious. The waitress offered to take the pancakes back but we know what happens when you do that. The chef didn’t seem bothered. No offer of taking the pancakes off the bill. £78.00 bill, so sadly I didn’t tip.

We really try to support small up and coming cafes but this total lack of service is disappointing. As a chef I would have come to the table to apologise and check the food.

The American style stack of pancakes were far too thin, flat and not fluffy as they should have been. Seemed the batter was wrong and looked dry from being reheated.

I will def visit again and try the pancakes to give them the benefit of doubt and to improve.

Very clean on the whole and welcoming. Great decor. Shame food could have...

I was staying locally and came in here after seeing the reviews. It was a nice place and atmosphere however service wasn’t the absolute best.

I kindly asked if they served streaky or back bacon and the waitress walked off mid way through my order to the back for nearly 5 minutes of discussion out the back and a disproportionate amount of frustration. When she came back she confirmed it was back bacon to which I warmly welcomed and ordered the eggs Benedict.

Since I ordered, there seemed to be a slight change in the waitresses tone. Saying thank you to her would illicit a slightly sharp response which really dampened the good food and location.

The food was delicious, but when I came to pay the people behind the counter asked each other “which table was it” and there was a couple of minutes searching on the till.

Overall the food and coffee was great, the service wasn’t fantastic and certainly different from other reviews on here. I would...