Rising Sun — Restaurant in London

I used to happily describe the Alek's as my favourite pizza place in London. Incredible pizza, Interesting beer and wine, awesome friendly staff who greeted and knew you when you entered, knock out service and a real local restaurant feel.

And then the owner sold it. Which no one would hold against him as he worked tirelessly over 3 years to build it.

6 months later and all the staff who made it special are gone, the great beer selection has been replaced by homogenous drivel, the wine menu has been stripped back with the wines they have kept being massively inflated in price. The pizza is still excellent and being able to sit outside opposite marble hill park is lovely but the biggest issue - the service.

Sorry to prattle on but this really has irritated me. 3 weeks ago, I ordered a beer to be told it had 'run out' so I ordered one of their stupidly overpriced glasses of wine, only to find 10mins later the same waitress walking past with the brand of beer I'd ordered for another table. On stopping another waiter to ask, he told me they still had the beer but the barrel had run out and they'd now changed it - our waitress, grumpily then asked upon reappearing if I wanted a beer as well. No apology, no 'please have the wine on us'. Nothing.

Then, last night we ordered our drinks (1 beer and a glass of wine) and 15mins later we were still waiting. It wasn't even busy. I went to the bar and the waiter, instead of apologising accused the girl behind the bar of not seeing the ticket, made her check, and then went on for 5 mins saying to me: "see, it wasn't my fault". Totally missing the point that I didn't care who's fault it was - i just wanted the drinks and a 'sorry' would have been nice. He then even stood there with a glass of water whilst I carried the drinks back to the table. Then came back 5 mins later to reconfirm again that it wasn't his fault - seriously!!!

In days gone by the friendly staff would have apologised, bought the drinks over immediately and probably said they were on the house. Now you just feel like they don't care. And that's the point, they don't care about their customers any more. EVERYONE I know locally who used to love the Alek's before it's pitiful rebrand to the Alba has said the same thing; 'We'll still go for the pizza but the service is rubbish and the drinks are overpriced.' It's said with not only a slight bitterness but mostly a real sadness.

The new owners have destroyed the essence of the place and its left the local community a...

Really disappointed by today’s experience. As a single guy who dines alone I’m always surprised how “invisible” I am. Today’s gripe started when I ordered my Sunday Roast at the bar and a pot of tea to accompany the roast. The bar person asked if I needed sugar and I assumed this would be served in a little pot, but no, he dug his fingers into the jar and threw 2 cubes on the side of the saucer. The pub was relatively quiet so I assumed my Roast would arrive promptly, not the case…

Whilst waiting I had to endure a gaggle of locals who were intoxicated sitting near to the bar, the expletives used certainly raised eyebrows, but what was shocking was the vaping by one of the customers (discreetly) however the sweet insipid smell didn’t go unoticed and perminated the area where I was dining. The bar staff seemed oblivious to the swearing and vaping as this must be the norm.

When my roast did arrive it was without a Yorkshire (as advertised on the menu) I had to request this alongside condiments and gravy. The Yorkie and gravy were brought 5 minutes later. The food itself self was flavorsome but a little luke warm. No one came to check on me, I was trying to get the attention of the staff as needed more gravy but gave up in the end. I finished my roast and then waited nearly an hour to have the plate cleared.(I would of had dessert) The bar person who served me initially asked how my meal was, when I expressed my opinion it was received with just a “Sorry”. I did ask if the pub had changed hands as some thing seemed a miss…. I doubt I will return which is disappointing as previous visits have been...

Very disappointing.

I had high hopes for this pub since it changed hands but first visit was a massive let down.

It was a quiet mid week lunch time so maybe they had their B team in, but it made for a really poor experience.

The chicken Milanese was pretty much cardboard. Same texture and taste. The Parmesan fries that came on the dish were burnt and inedible. The salad with it was greasy and unpalatable.

The crab salad was devoid of any taste and the kids pizzas were edible but nothing more. Service was ok but wasn't anything great.

When the bill came I noticed service was automatically added at 12.5% and yet I was handed the machine to pay on the 'do you want to add a gratuity' stage. A pet hate of mine. If it's already added they shouldn't be trying to get additional gratuity. They should at least mention that it's already added as I'm sure many people wouldn't check and would assume it's not been added otherwise why would that waitress give you the machine asking you to add it?

A real let down on every front. I've read some great reviews of this place so I hope just an off day but I must say the food was such a let down I don't think I'd bother trying again....