L'Italiana — Restaurant in St Albans

VERY, VERY BAD, UNCOMFORTABLE EXPERIENCE. I was very hungy and I ordered their Mega Breakfast as a treat this afternoon. When it arrived it didn't look too bad but when I tried their 'lightly scrambled eggs' they were inedible, as they were totally overcooked, they were like rubber. On to the mushrooms and tomatoes, they were not grilled or fried, the mushrooms had been boiled and the tomatoes from the oven, it made them watery and tasteless. The 'sautéed potatoes' were sliced boiled potatoes, which made me feel like I may have been served leftovers, and did not fit in at all, the rest was just okay.

THE WORST WAS STILL TO COME. When it came to the bill, I was not asked how the meal was so I brought it up that I had some feedback. That the eggs and potatoes were not edible or as described on the menu, that the mushrooms and tomatoes could have been better and the response was 'oh sorry' my card was picked up and the waitress just continued to charge me. The totally dissmisive response was really irritating, so I asked if she was going to do anything about it.

CAN THINGS GET EVEN WORSE. YES... She then got the owner. I started to say that the eggs were overcooked, and was interrupted with 'No the eggs are fine' I then tapped them with my fork showing how it bounced off them like rubber. I then mentioned the potato, I was jusr told how great it was, she then just ignored it when I mentioned that the potato was boiled not sautéed as described. I was now very offended at the ignorant, defensive attitude. All she could do was condecindingly insinuate that I was trying to get free food, and that no one else had ever complained about their food. It was most embarrassing that she would not accept it, even when the proof was in front of her eyes, even that two of the items were not cooked as per the menu. I explained that I wasn't raising these issues for a free meal or to insult them, but give them much needed feedback that could maybe improve things. This fell on deaf ears, and she continued to be sarcastic and said that I could eat for free if that's what I wanted, and that I would only have to pay for the coffee 'if that wasn't also terrible'. I suggested I pay half the bill (I thought that she would have taken that opportunity to offer no payment, but, unsurprisingly, she did not) I offered my card again and she said that I would have to pay a minimum of £5 on a card (by this point, I could only take this to be another demonstration of petty rudeness under the circumstances). I gave her £5 cash and I received £1 change (the total full bill should have been approx £6.50 so she still overcharged me) I deliberately left the £1 change there as I really did not want her think that it was about the money.

Every business makes mistakes and could be improved. That doesn't make them bad. It is how they react when things aren't going well that defines how good or bad they are. When it came to the crunch they reacted by being insulting, condescending, confrontational, and downright rude from the first second to the last. If you ignore this advice, and do go there, cross your fingers that everything is going to be up to par, because if you dare have any issues be prepared to have a very embarrassing, uncomfortable, confrontational moment. I'm sure that's just what we all want when we go out and pay good money for a meal. Again, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

ADDITIONAL NOTE... I took seven of my Italian in-laws there while they were visiting a couple of years ago, as I trusted some of the (genuine?) rave reviews. Let's just say it wasn't as disastrous as my recent visit (perhaps because we didn't make our issues known), but they thought it a bit of a joke really, and said perhaps people might think it an okay Italian if they didn't know any different. Needless to say they never want to go back and we have tried a few other local Italians since. All of which have been...

My wife and I went here for lunch a couple of weeks ago. The place had a good buzz and the staff were friendly enough. Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the worst meals we’ve ever had.

For starters we ordered the grilled octopus and the caprese salad. The octopus was tough and chewy and accompanied on the plate by a totally random and unnecessary berry reduction – the same reduction was also used on the caprese. Why?

After the starters, we had to wait about 50 minutes for our mains to come out. For the mains we ordered the carbonara and the tagliatelle with chicken. The tagliatelle was fine, but the carbonara was catastrophic.

The pancetta in the carbonara wasn’t rendered properly, which made its texture chewy and unpleasant. And, to make the whole thing worse, towards the end of the dish I actually bit into a large piece of bone. I pointed out the bone to the waitress and told her to tell the chef that this kind of mistake could result in someone chipping a tooth or choking.

When we were paying, the man who came to our table actually addressed the situation. However, instead of a simple apology for the potentially dangerous mistake, he proceeded to defend what happened by explaining that L’Italiana uses pre-cut pancetta that comes out of a large plastic bag. Because of this he said it would be “impossible” for their chefs to make sure pieces of bone do not end up in the final dish. PRE-CUT PANCETTA FROM LARGE PLASTIC BAGS?! No authentic Italian restaurant worth their salt would ever stand for this.

Needless to say, I won’t be returning or recommending L’Italiana to anyone, but I do sincerely hope they move away from their lazy preparation practises that could be harmful for...

I was looking to have a peaceful meal but unfortunately it was not possible because I arrived at 3:05pm and the restaurant closes at 3pm… So far 5 minutes I was denied to have a meal and pretty much they prevented them selves from cashing in more money.

I asked a waiter if I could get something as 5 minutes should have not had made such big difference but he now told me that the kitchen closes at 2:45pm so not 1 but 2 timings to remember… If the kitchen closes at 2:45pm also close the restaurant at 2:45 because no one will ever eat 1 course in 15 minutes, let alone 3 courses plus the waiting time for the food to get ready. Also, to the waiter Mr. Lithuanian guy asked me “if I was trying to be smart” by just asking a question my answer is - Yes, I am indeed smarter than you because I am not working for someone else like you… Your job is to be a waiter and if something escalates you then tell the manager, which I am pretty sure is not you. And to the Romanian guy who said that leaving a review is a threat - why would leaving reviews to places be an option then ? 😂 Funny lad

The conclusion is that one arrogant Lithuanian waiter thinking he is a manager or a big man and a Romanian guy who looks at you frowning as if it’s your fault he has debt managed to A - make a customer disappointed, B - Get a 1 star review and C - Generate less income for the restaurant… If I was the owner of the restaurant I think I know what I would do next...