sarabac's Qype profile

We hired the place for our staff party. True it was about 30 – 35 of us but god the place is tiny!!!!
Really someone could have offered their living room, put on some CDs and we would definitely have had better drinks!!!!
Forget about the room, nothing classy or welcoming to it, a couple of golden statues giving some sort of oriental feeling, very poor lighting, commercial music (not my kind but hey ho – is a staff party it’s ll be fun! I thought).
The open bar all for us – yeah!!! Not really…..
So we start off asking for some champagne – we’ve been poured some cheap bubbles – not even prosecco standard I swear! Ok let’s move on, let the party start: I order a Mojito. I’m not a cocktail person but in such environment I though it was a good idea. So the barman picks crushed ice from a bag (why bother putting your crushed ice in a bucket? why try to look professional?), squeezes in 1 lime wedge and then grabs a big carafe ready on the back. I thought that’s clever, he’s done his preparation for the night.
At the end I had in my glass soda water with a dash (meaning far less than 25 ml) of rhum and 1 lime wedge. NO MINT!!! How do they call that mojito? I think they charge something like £ 8 for it!!!! I thought that was a joke but it wasn’t. A real robbery! I’m sure this place is nice in an open to public night (according to all the other reviews) but don’t hire it for any private party, it’s not worth it!
And I think the stairs are way too steep, which makes them dangerous once you had few drinks (if they decide to put some alcohol in their cocktails).

I’ve been in here twice, and won’t probably be a third time.
I find the place pretentious, overpriced and of poor quality.
They do live music which I think is lovely: after a day shopping one could sit down, relax, have a drink or something to eat being entertained by good musicians.
Service is never friendly or welcoming, they always look you upside down before letting you in. There is no dress code stated on the door so if one goes in wearing jeans and a jumper should be as welcomed as a lady wearing a fur coat!
Once in, after such a greeting, you’d expect great standards. But all you get is microwave oven cooked food, not a smile from any of the waiters or barmen, glasses carried without trays, tables cleared the same way as you’d expect in a pub. Last time I was there I’ve been seating at the bar counter alone for a good 10 minutes without being asked if I wanted something to drink. And I wanted a drink but after that I gave up thinking they didn’t want my money. All I got to admire was the manager on duty pouring a shot of Whisky on his glass of orange juice. Very nice indeed.

Went there on a Wednesday with the Orange offer which gives you starters for free plus 2 for 1 on main courses.
The room is nice, high ceiling and massive windows. The inside layout is the standard Pizza Express layout with little tables spread close to each other all over the room and the pizza counter on the side where you can see the chef preparing the pizzas.
After a little struggle to get the table, the waitress was very busy so we had to wait for the manager to come over explain us how the offer works and then get the table. The manager was very nice, friendly, warmly welcoming us and making jokes during our conversation.
They were full, about 35 tables with 2 waiters and the manager to look after the customers.
We placed our order of 2 garlic breads ad 2 pizzas. The garlic bread was very quick to arrive: a soaked in oil sponge like piece of dough with more oil on top and a chunk of garlic in the middle. I thought “ok, presentation is not top notch but it might taste good”. NO WAY. A chewy tasteless thing. Leave aside that the order was wrong ‘cause we asked for the cheese garlic bread, it was like trying to eat a piece of rubber with cheap oil (definitely not extra virgin olive oil) on top of it. I feel sick only thinking of it.
And here it comes the pizza – the dough is very good. I like my pizza thin but I always enjoy eating the crust. The dressing was far too much and once again oily, greasy feeling to it (my pizza had grilled vegetables and chicken dressing). The grilled vegetables were straight from a tin, they didn’t see any grill recently for sure! The bits of chicken were over cooked, dry, almost scratching my mouth.
Half way through I decided I would take the rest home, I couldn’t finish it, was far too heavy for me but my partner was keen on finishing it the day after. So we started looking for a waiter glimpse to ask him or her to wrap our pizza. Nothing. My partner started waving (an habit I don’t like but it seems the only way to attract someone attention) and it didn’t work either. The 2 waiters were too busy playing games between themselves. Never mind, my partner took the pizza plate to the counter and at that point was asked what was wrong so he finally was able to get the pizza in a box get the bill and then we left.
Truth to be told we only paid £ 12 that night, but honestly anything more than that would have felt as a robbery. The horrible garlic bread put me off and probably biased the whole experience. I had pizza from Pizza Express in other restaurants (Soho and Kew for instance) and it wasn’t that bad. I’m not sure if I’ll go back though, there are so many pizza places around, chains and not, where the standard is better. I believe that even in a fast food style of restaurant there should be a standard of service (efficient and smart with no fuss) and they should try to serve simple honest food. This wasn’t

Great place for a quick meal, most of the staff is smiley and welcoming, the service is super fast and the unlimited free salad is a great asset. Pizza is good, the dough is average but for the price you pay you can’t get better value. Go for the so called thin base, which is not that thin for my standards but looks more as a normal pizza. The thick one comes much smaller with a lot of base and not so much dressing (unless you go for the large option).
Their garlic bread is so much better than Pizza Express!!!!
Overall good standards for a fast food style of restaurant.

Went there to get my front tyre sorted: it was loosing pressure, I wasn’t sure what it could be (a puncture, the valve or something else).
After a quick check the guy at the front desk called the mechanic, he had a look at the bicycle (which is just an old mountain bike, nothing fancy – which I think is the best way to prevent theft) and started going on about the bicycle being old, not safe to ride, that he shouldn’t put his hands on it unless he would make it totally safe to drive.
So at the end of the day it would be cheaper to get a new bike (which they sell from about £ 150).
I thanked him for the professional opinion, I totally understood his point so I said I would get someone else to do the job needed.
All of a sudden he said he could do just the tyre but he strongly recommended to get a new bike soon.
All good then! I thanked him, had the job done and paid almost £ 40.
One week later the tyre is loosing pressure…. what an unfortunate event!!!! It’s obviously just a case, still, I won’t get any other chance with that shop!
It’s up to you if you want to….

I popped in ’cause I liked the bright pink colour of the outside. It looks nice inside too, they apparently sell lots of different teas loose.
The place smells of ginger and sweet spices, nice girls behind the counter. The coffee itself is average, nothing to die for – as any coffee you can get from a chain.
Good news is they probably realize that, and they offer a cappuccino at only £ 1.60 to take away until 10 am. Which is a pretty good deal to me.

Went there with a friend. I’m a big fun of TOSA (not far from it) but I thought: let’s give it a go.
There is a guy who acts as a maitre but I think he is there more for the show than anything else. The waitresses were lovely though.
We had some sushi and sashimi. They offer set menus to chose from, so there is not much freedom for the customers.
The wine list is obviously small but quite fairly priced.
Nothing impressive for my taste buds unfortunately and the tempura was definitely too oily.
Overall so and so, next time I’ll walk few extra metres and I’ll get to TOSA!

Lovely location, impossible to park though.
With such a name you kind a have expectation.
The place looks nice, lots of space and panini and pastry on display.
But if you have an EDUCATED PALATE you won’t like it: plastic tasting sandwich (cheap and not fresh ingredients) and 2 watery cappuccinos for £ 9.50????
I was hoping for a candid camera to come out and someone to tell me that was a joke!!!!
Save yourself a disappointing experience.