Lasagna Emiliana
Mimmo La Bufala

Mimmo La Bufala

45A South End Road, London, NW32QB, NW3 2QB, United Kingdom

Fish • Pizza • Pasta • Coffee


"I’ve been 3x to this restaurant now, and every time the service is as bad. On most recent visit, went inside, asked for a table (after being ignored by maitre’d for 5 minutes) and was told to wait. Several waiters passed me, the maitre’d maintained her position by the till, but no table was ever given. We gave up after a further 10 minutes and left. On the previous 2 visits we did manage to get a table, but the service was incredibly slow. The waiters seem trained in the art of attending to one table and then quickly rushing indoors without passing a glance to other tables who may need help. Maybe they are understaffed, but being aware of the restaurant space and customers is the first rule of serving tables. On my first visit, I complained about the service to the owner who happened to be there. He was very brief with us I would go as far to say rude. He said restaurant was very busy and we’d just have to wait for our main courses. Our starters had been cleaned away over 20 minutes previously. He later came over and apologised which is why I gave the restaurant a second go. Second visit, we sat outside again. Same very slow, very inattentive service. The bill took so long to come, I was considering just walking off. So why come back a third time after such bad service? Well, if you do manage to eat, the food is actually really good. Well cooked, traditional Italian style and really good pizzas too. I won’t be back a fourth time. I’ve given this restaurant every chance (and my visits are over a 2 year period so they have had plenty of time to sort their service out). And if the owner is happening to read this, just imagine how much business/money you are losing through your poor waiting staff? I have no doubt many, many other people simply leave after waiting to get a table and being ignored."

La Stalla

La Stalla

270A, Wallisdown Road, Bournemouth, BH104HZ, BH11 8, United Kingdom

Pizzeria • Vegetarian • Pasta Dishes • Carne - Meat


"To me pizza is something that is very close to my heart. The amount of good memories I've had happened while having pizza with people. Often when I think of Pizza the emotions that come to mind are joy, hope, excitement , happiness. Yet last night when I sat there eating my pizza from La Stalla all I could feel was a blend of rage and sadness as well as the strong feeling that I had been deceived. I had paid 26 pounds for two vegetarian pizzas and an order of cheese garlic bread. I called up the place beforehand to inquire the amount of garlic bread pieces I would receive as well as the size of the pizza. Once I had received my takeaway and got home I opened the box and to my horror I only found two pieces of cheese garlic bread, the garlic bread looked quite sad and dry and resembled a toastie rather than a proper piece of Italian garlic bread. I then proceeded to open the pizza boxes and I had realised that I have been deceived, the pizzas that sat infront of me , they were not 12 inches. I grabbed my measuring tape and measured it as I knew this was not right . As I measuring I was hoping that I just looked at it wrong and that it was 12 inches , however my optimism was misplaced, the Pizza was in fact 8.5 inches on both pizzas. I decided to slice up the pizza and try to make the best out of a bad situation but the pizza sadly was nothing short of incredibly average. The pizza tasted the same as a frozen pizza, with a tasteless cardboard esque base, bland tomato sauce and cheese that very much felt like low quality heavily processed mozzarella. Overall , this was incredibly overpriced and truly just a miserable experience that I will not be returning to."

Enoteca Da Luca

Enoteca Da Luca

Devonshire Square, EC2M 4AE, City of London,Westminster, United Kingdom

Pizza • Pasta • Tapas • Italian


"In a part of London that isn’t exactly bereft of Italian restaurants – Enoteca da Luca is a real gem. I thought I knew this part of the City quite well but Devonshire Square came as a pleasant surprise. A really good example of how to develop a former Georgian warehouse. Enoteca da Luca is essentially two establishments – a wine bar and directly opposite, a more formal restaurant. It’s not the kind of place where the staff brandish giant pepper grinders, or have cheesy mandolin music in the background – it’s modern Italian in character, that’s very stylish indeed. The food we had was simply wonderful – all of it. We started with the mixed cured meats and cheeses for two. The contents were in superb condition and of a very high quality. This should be the standard in every Italian restaurant but two experiences of late proved it can also be disastrous. One branch of a well known Italian chain delivered something bordering inedible and last week, we paid only a couple of pounds less for ten wafer thin slices of salami (albeit good quality). This starter was the perfect appetiser. Choosing that starter was difficult as I had my eyes on porchetta from the menu and memories of Roman porchetta came flooding back. Incidentally, when I mentioned this to the excellent manager, he brought the porchetta out from the kitchen for me to see in all its glory. Guess what I will be having on our next visit? I didn’t choseit on this occasion as one of the main courses was Suckling Pig and again – I just couldn’t resist. That pork was simply outstanding. We make a big deal about pork in England and its accompanying “crackling” but trust me – it doesn’t even come close to this. The whole thing was spectacular. The same could be said for my wife’s rather safe choice of Chicken Milanese which again, is a simple dish but so difficult to get right. This had the crisp breadcrumb coating but the meat within was still wonderfully moist. My wife had the Pear and Ricotta cake for dessert, which like the rest of the meal was excellent. I had a glass of Vinsanto with some cantucci – hard to get that wrong really. The wine list is concise and has a good selection by the glass. For us, it was the inclusion of three examples of our favourite Italian grape variety – Primitivo. This grape varietal is looked down upon by “the trade” for its “fruit forward”, sweetish style. They seem to prefer the more drier style of wine but we know what we like and we like Primitivo. This example (Collezione 50 from San Marzano) was excellent. Service was friendly, very efficient and thoroughly professional. It’s only a five minute walk from the terminus of our local tube line at Aldgate, so the chances of us returning are 100%. An excellent establishment."