Zizzi - Romford — Restaurant in London

Made this complaint over a week ago to no reply so taking it on here. Just to add the staff and head chef were very apologetic and did the best they could under poor management.

This was my first and very last visit to Zizzi Romford, and here is why. We had a Mother’s Day booking of 3, which then turned out to be 4 as my daughter joined us and the staff were accommodating of this. Now firstly we were supposed to be given pasta crisps as we arrive or sit down and we didn’t (I say this because I noticed when other customers arrived, they were given these) why wasn’t we offered this or why wasn’t my daughter offered crayons like other children were offered, I get it was busy, but others were offered, and we weren’t. Now, we had to prompt a waiter to serve us as we walked past a few times without being asked if we were ready to order, again I appreciate it was busy. Order was taken and our starters came out at a reasonable time, then we were waiting for our main course for over an 40mins. When I asked staff, the response was, the kitchen is busy, we have some many orders and not enough staff, our manager is taking on more order than we can handle etc etc, which again I can appreciate as it was a busy period. I then had noticed that people who arrived after us were not only being served quicker, but they were also getting their main course before us (now this could be down to what we order compared to what they ordered hence they receiving the meals quicker). I then approached the manager for an update on our main course, to which he replied that are extremely busy and work as quickly as possible to get the food out, to which I replied that people who arrived after us have their mains why is this, to which he said they are working as quickly as they can. Another 30mins or so went past and we still hadn’t received our main course, in that time again others who arrived after us were being served, other customers were also getting frustrated, and the staff bless em were running around like headless chickens with no organisation from the manager, when asking for an update you could clearly see from their faces they had no idea what was going on. It appears the manager took on more booking than he could handle. Another 30mins go by (so over an hour and a half waiting for our main course) and staff member brings our DESERT!!!, WHEN WE HAVEN’T EVEN HAD OUR MAIN COURSE, I said the waitress why you are bringing this, she said haven’t you had your main to which I replied no and went off to approach the manager again. As I approached the manager (which I now come to find out his name is Lyndsey, not sure if correct spelling), was already in conversation with another customer who was complaining about the service they were getting. During the conversation between the customer and manager I stepped in and said this is ridiculous how are you bringing our desert before our main course, to which he replied haven’t you had main and as the waitress returned he said to her well why was the desert asked for and threw the desert down, now we didn’t ask for it and his failure to have organisation skills is not down to the waitress. We are continuing to talk as I am asking where my food is and how long it will be (no swearing, no aggression, no shouting came from me), I had noticed what looked like could be my order and I said I hope that’s not my food sitting there getting cold, which the manager Lyndsey turned round puffing his whole chest out and very aggressively said “or what” like he was gonna fight me, now to me that’s a threat and I felt threaten and to other customers in the restaurant also saw this as a threat. Now by this time other people were around including my brother who said to the manager that was very unprofessional to say that which Lyndsey replied yeah I...

No complaints from me! The food was delicious and importantly it was nice and hot. I used to be a chef in a 5* Marriott hotel and I enjoyed the meal. These are just some constructive comments for you to consider: Just a tiny little bit of greenery in the form of some salad leaves etc, served with the calamari would be a beautiful touch. The calamari itself was wonderful but… Very ”same-ish” and repetitive. Just break it up a bit with something else (a tiny amount) on the plate. It’s an £8 starter approx and you can do that without massively denting your £ margins. the seabass main dish that we both had… We thought was fantastic… So well done to chef Luke! Personally, I also appreciate the generous touch of providing me with a few more potatoes. I am a one diabetic and I know when I looked at the plate having injected, the very small amount of potatoes that were originally provided would not be enough for me…. So again I appreciate our lovely waitress Liga and Chef Luke combining to bring a more normal portion of the same potato dish so that I could eat it with my meal. Finally we were first seated in a booth… But unfortunately this was right underneath one of the speakers that played music. I asked the first waitress that had seated us if the music could be turned down. She told me that unfortunately she had no control over the music level. I think this needs to be changed as in the end we had to be moved… Music should be distinctly in the background and not invading your meal experience.It was too loud and also in my opinion not gentle but way too lively… We had come for a meal not to a nightclub! These are just constructive feedback points that I hope you will take in the spirit that they are intended. Our waitress was Liga. Now she is an absolute asset to your company… she went out of her way to accommodate us helped us to move tables when the music was too loud and sourced the extra potatoes for me for my main course. What I liked about Lea was that she treated us like individuals… Not just a number. She was personable and professional throughout a great ambassador for Zizzi And she deserves to be recognised for this. She made the meal experience the best it could be. Thanks Liga from Latvia 😂 The food tasted great. I’ve only given three stars rating to the atmosphere as the music didn’t help and there was I think only two other tables in the whole restaurant with us so it was a neutral atmosphere during that time. But we both enjoyed it and we will be back. Happy to discuss if you have any other Qs. Regards, Kevin p.s. not on your list below but we both highly recommend the Sea Bass dish....

I don’t know why I keep going back, I think I just hope the next visit will be better than the one before but the service at Romford Zizzi’s ALWAYS disappoints. My last three visits has just been as so horrible. One visit I ordered a chicken pasta that doesn’t have pork as part of the dish (I do not need pork) however whilst eating my pasta I noticed that there were pieces of pork in my pasta so I complained to the manager and sent the dish back but clearly they didn’t give me a new plate with fresh food because the “new” plate the supposedly made me still had pork, at this point I didn’t want my food any. Another visit, I went with one friend (table of two), the restaurant was very empty, only 2 or 3 other tables being served in the restaurant at the time, it took over an hour for us to receive our food and then 40 minutes to receive our desserts after finishing the mains. Last visit and I’ll never go back, upon arrival we were greeted right away however the waitress was not very friendly, once sat, it took half an hour for the waitress to come take our order but we wanted the set menu, so after being given the set menu, she then took another 15 minutes to come take our order. Whilst taking our order we were told that most items of the menu were not available to order which should have been stated upon arrival. After ordering items off the menu with the small amount which was available, another waitress then came back to let us know more of the dishes we ordered were not available. It took 40 minutes to receive the food and after the mains had finished we then waited another 20 minutes for the deserts as no waitresses were available, we could see the salted caramel brownies were lined up ready to be served BUT the waitresses were out of the restaurant having a drink and therefore extended our wait AND the salted caramel brownies had no salted caramel in them, the brownie itself was nice but not what I ordered. Always want to give the benefit of the doubt but my experience at the Romford branch is always so bad. Do...