The Italian Gardens Café — Restaurant in London

Unacceptable behaviour.

Three of our friends went here for the first time on a sunny day, we came here with good energy and to relax…

One of the staff members from a recruitment company, Alex, kindly came to our table and asked if we needed some help with the drinks and how we were doing, he was sinking and happy and I asked him if he would be so kind to take my order with my card as I saw he was a good person and he seemed to want to help.

He kindly took the order and brought the drinks and their manager Mohhamed found out about this and instead of talking to him in a good way as a normal human being he just had one on him and fired him right after the action… I understand there are rules to follow and also ways to test people, and they did not have any of those not listened to what we had to say… as a business owner they have lost three clients and shows how they don’t know how to run their business… Alex got fired and was really worried for being told off by the manager Mohhamed… that’s not how you treat people first of all… they could say that can’t do this but they did a nice gesture and move on, instead, they not only fired him but they made him feel really bad. I had to talk to him when he left the bar and tell him that he did a good gesture and maybe this is not the place to work for him as they showed no appreciation…

Whoever is running this, they can train their staff or if nothing major happens at least communicate but without taking such dramatic responses.

They have lost three clients, shown no appreciation for their team( actually scare them by not communicating properly) and gained a nice review for everyone to see.

We are definitely not recommending this place as I do prefer to pay more for good service than seeing this happening in a business… if they treat people like this I don’t want to know how it is run, but same way.

Thanks for Alex as he inocently and kindly did a good gesture for us and they should find a proper manager who can lead their team nicely, communicating everything he can to keep a good energy within their team and not scare...

I cannot believe the amount of single use plastics being sold within the confines of Hyde Park, sponsored by the Royal Parks itself.

By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. And over 95% of the plastic we produce and consume, does not actually get recycled, despite our best intentions. Rather, it ends up in landfills, incinerators, oceans, in our bodies as micro plastics, and of course, littered across our parks.

It feels absolutely unacceptable to me to see plastics being peddled and profited off of within this beautiful park. The cognitive dissonance required to do so is astounding.

With over 13 million visitors each year, and an annual budget of 65 million, surely Royal Parks and the concessionaires its selects can do better by this ecosystem and those coming to enjoy it. There are plenty of better options. First, functioning water fountains in the park. Second, aluminum canned water, or glass bottled water. You could also put signage up in the park that actually communicates the harms of plastic in a way that doesn’t greenwash by pointing to recycling as a get out of jail free pass.

And while I truly appreciate that you offer reusable mugs to be used for folks who are enjoying their meal to stay, this option was barely communicated. And most people dining at the cafe itself were drinking from disposable, trashy cups. Look inside the trashcan to see. Perhaps clear signage about the importance of reusables could help mitigate this. Or perhaps the barista could explicitly ask each customer if they would like to help the park by using a mug to stay.

Plastics do not belong in parks. And it is a shame to see them so normalized on behalf of the organization caring for them.

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The worst thing that happened here was that we were charged £9 extra for one of the items we ordered. Staff said that was a system error. Make sure you double-and-triple-check the receipt before you walk away from the till.

The atmosphere here is also very bad with dogs walking around the tables freely. One of the people we asked if she could keep her dog to herself was obviously annoyed at us and then laughed at us when we were subsequently disturbed by another dog coming to our table. This café seems to attract a nasty crowd for one reason or another. The occupants of another table kept giving us dirty looks because we wouldn't let them take my chair for themselves (!)...

It was a pleasure to leave this café never to return and it is the best advice to give anyone. Unless you are a nasty (dog owner) don't stop here at all. Customer service awful. They told us that we can't expect pizzas since it's after 17.00 (no time restrictions were listed on the pizza menu) and then blamed customers for low food availability. Do them a favour and don't turn up at all, so they can have plenty on offer in the fridge. We ended up amending our order and still paying the full price for it.

If an Italian café serving delicious pizza by an Italian fountain in central London sounds too good to be true, it, actually, is... All that shines is not gold... This place is best left for...