Kitchen Italia in Camden

Been here about 5 times as work nearby, can't believe what every one writes on here its great to have a reliable, affordable meal in covent Garden where you know you'll get some decent food and hassle free service. Really great, ignore the bad comments these people have forgotten that your paying 40% less than most restaurants and still getting decent meal.

Tuve una comida encantadora para almorzar aquí una noche de sábado. Normalmente me evite los restaurantes italianos como encontrar el menú mucho la misma dondequiera que vaya pero el menú aquí era diferente y la comida era genial. El servicio era bueno y está en una estupenda ubicación en el centro de Covent Garden.

Me fui con unos amigos el sábado por la noche. Fue vacío. No había nada de ambiente. Tardamos 15 minutos para que nos preguntó qué bebidas nos gustaría (teniendo en cuenta que no había muy pocas personas aquí). Un amigo en el grupo pidió a ver el menú gratuito (consultar el menú en línea, sabía lo que era tener)gluten . El menú, era terrible, comiendo como "mac con queso (sin pasta)" y "ajo hongos pasta (sin pasta) ". en tela de juicio la camarera de lo que era en realidad, mi amigo me dijo que sólo los aperitivos estaban disponibles. Así que no enojar cualquiera del grupo ella escogió un plato de carne y fuente principal de huevo y jamón ensalada. La ensalada estaba rocket. No hay otras hojas en absoluto! solicitamos una alternativa. El servicio era lento, el ambiente era terrible. Pero las patatas fritas estaban muy bien, y todo en el grupo estaban celosos de las fichas pedí. En cuanto a las otras comidas todos tuvimos - nadie terminado su plato, y dos niñas ordenados el mismo plato. Uno llegó bastante tarde, y tenía un aspecto y sabor diferente al que el restaurante realmente te apetece cocinar correctamente, no parece que el mismo plato!

Fui a este restaurante con un grupo de amigos temprano un sábado por la noche. El restaurante fue tranquilo y deberíamos haber tenido un excelente servicio. Tuve que pedir una bebida y la camarera me trajo uno que no habíamos pedido. Cuando llegó la hora de pedir la cena alrededor de un tercio de las opciones no estaban disponibles. no tienen una enorme menú así que parecía muy extraño. La comida iban desde mediocre para secar y incomible y tenía la calidad de la cena de la escuela. Uno del grupo dieron olvidado y no consiguieron su comida. Pedimos que nos más vino y me dijeron que había tenido la botella pasada de casa red!!!!! Algo muy extraño que hacer aquí. Sin duda nunca volvería o recomendar. Los precios son caros para lo que te dan.

Habiendo sido antes y tenía una agradable comida suficiente me esperaba lo mismo cuando me tomó un amigo esta vez. que se quedó sin estar sentado por mucho tiempo, cuando nos sentamos la mesa estaba sucia. Pedimos un plato o calamares, que era la rubberiest que he probado y tenía una repetía mantequilla de ajo. Pedí una ensalada césar para main seriamente decepcionante y mi amigo pedimos una lasaña que estaba mal preparado, insípido y no había forma. Para rematar, nos cobraron un 12,5 % obligatoria de servicio para un pobre servicio desde una camarera que no entendía nuestras peticiones y no podía responder a ellas.

en común con muchos otros estaban en un teatro y un restaurante.

Mi marido reservó una comida más entradas de teatro a través de lastminute.com.

Fui allí el sábado pasado con mi novia, sólo para probar que cantina italiana (parece un italiano Wagamama) pero nuestro primer contacto con una camarera era terrible. Esa chica sólo nos dijo "estamos muy ocupados Tonight" (bien bueno para ti) entonces ella encontramos una mesa para nosotros. Después de eso tuvimos bee esperando 25 mn sólo para conseguir la atención de alguien ... pero nos falló! Tras 35 mn decidimos dejar nadie notó que nos íbamos tho ...

fabuloso restaurante. El personal era muy atento, la comida absolutamente deliciosa. dicho Incluso mis nietos fue la mejor comida que he probado nunca. Pedí una cabina cuando hice la reserva, mejor para las familias que la mesa y bancos. Tuvimos una comida pre-teatro antes de ver Matilda. El servicio era tan bueno incluso tuvimos tiempo para pasear por los alrededores Covent Garden antes del espectáculo.

Als je de "fish and chips" ervaring van Londen beu bent, is dit een mooi alternatief. Open keuken, propere toiletten, strak design en attente en vriendelijke bediening. Ook heel kindvriendelijk !

As with other reviewers we ate here as part of a theatre deal. We had a fair amount of trepidation and were prepared to forgoe our meal and eat elsewhere if necessary but the welcome was warm and we were seated in a cosier corner rather than on the communal benches. Our waitress was pleasant and attentive. We ate from a limited 'deal' menu but the meat platter was fine and the penne pasta dish was spicy and hot - ideal on a really cold April day ! A good bottle of Sangiovese wine at under £15 was most welcome and the side order of bread that we asked for was complimetary.

We booked this the day before with last minute as a pre theatre deal, then I read the reviews and began to worry!! Unfounded as it turned out for us. The restaurant was quiet only about 20 other diners at 5.30 on a bank holiday however that is a bit early for dinner unless you have no choice. The staff were all very welcoming and friendly from the greeting at the door through to the bill, as we were on the pre theatre deal there were not many choices however we both found something we fancied from the 3 starter, 3 main selection. I have to say that the food was rather uninspiring but it was well presented, plentiful and very hot and actually fitted the bill for a pre theatre meal just fine, I would be happy to go back on a similar deal again. We had no problems with the bill etc and this was only a few pounds as just for drinks and a couple of side orders. To sum up it was okay, nice staff, clean restaurant. average food but we had no disasters here and the place was relaxed, nice music and the staff were happy for people to stay as long as they wanted which was handy on a cold day with a fairly long wait for the theatre.

Had this as part of a package with theatre and dinner. Have been before but this time the food was disappointing - garlic bread was cold, the rest of the food was luke warm.

We booked the pre-theatre dinner on line and had fairly limited requirements: not a gourmet meal, just something hot and filling to set us up for the rest of the evening. We were disappointed with the options & no special pre-theatre menu choices. An Italian restaurant in the UK that couldn't offer lasagne because "the delivery hadn't arrived" did not bode well. We decided to add starters to our pre-paid dinner. These took some time to arrive & then one of them was not what we'd ordered. When we pointed this out, the waitress took it over to the till without a word, implying she didn't believe us, before returning it to the waiter who took the order who returned it to the chef!!! My correct starter was also taken away to be refried and redelivered & by the time they came back, we were clock watching in case we started to run late. After our starter dishes were collected, there was a considerable delay before another waitress came back to ask if we'd like to order main courses, which of course we did with our initial order. When the mains eventually arrived, we had to rush them & they were very average. When we tried to pay the extra for our starters, the processing waiter short changed us (although we noticed!). An unfortunate end to a poor experience, we would not go back.

I have visited this restaurant twice and both times have found this to be a truly awful restaurant. I went back a second time as the party I was with hadn't been there. Having booked a table in advance and having it confirmed with the manager of the restaurant, I was gobsmacked to arrive only for the waitress (a darn rude waitress) couldn't care less and just placed us anywhere. We had specifically wanted one of the circular round tables and even though we had enough in our party and it was empty, it was refused. I thought to myself, what on earth was the point of booking a table if nobody even cares about table bookings. Food wise it was just appalling. Not even average. The macaroni cheese tasted like something from a packet. I ended up suffering from diarrhoea as a result. I suspect food poisoning. My friends on both occasion had bland food that they did not enjoy. There was absolutely no service except when bringing our food. Not all the food was bought over that we ordered and we had to ask for them again. There would be a different waiter each time. We ordered desserts and only realised afterwards what a mistake it was. Some of the items weren't in stock and of those that were, the desserts were clearly out of date and stale. Cannot believe that they could even serve this. I wonder if it was someone else's cake from the afternoon who hadn't eaten it and they just picked it out of the bin and served it to us.When we asked for the bill, I realised that the items we had asked to have bought over that weren't bought over in the first instance was added to the bill TWICE as the waiter who spoke no English, assumed we had ordered it twice when infact we were waiting for it to come in the first place. One of these happened to be a drink that we ordered that appeared twice on the bill although we ordered one. I called the waiter over and asked her to take it off. She accused us of having two and then walked around picking up each glass and inspecting it. Luckily it was a fruit drink and as only one of the party had it, it was evident from the glass that we ordered only one. However, we were utterly disgusted at the fact that she had the audacity to examine our glasses as if we were liars especially when the error was from their side. The waiter rudely went over to the manager and the manager gave us a dirty look for having the audacity to ask them to remove something from the bill that we hadn't even ordered or received. To add insult to injury, they reprinted a receipt, slapped on a 12.5% service charge. The receipt stated "service charge not included." The waiter took a pen and crossed out with the pen the word "not" so it read "service charge [inked out pen] included." How unprofessional. Who on earth does that??? That sort of service and behaviour is despicable. As our party were a group of professionals, we weren't too fussed about paying the service charge however when it came to paying the bill, instead of including it as one sum as we assumed it would be, the cheeky waitress suddenly turned the service charge into a tip for her and took the food as the bill and then with the last person who paid, she physically entered £3 and then added on £10 for gratuity i.e. her tip. Had I known she would have taken the entire amount as a tip, I would have knocked off the £10 altogether from the bill. I suffered from food poisoning as a result of food from this restaurant which took me over a week to recover from. Another friend also had an upset stomach form the food.A despicable restaurant - really this place should be closed down. Appalling food (which will probably give you food poisoning as did for me), despicable service, management who clearly do not care and an utter lack of customer service from the waitress. Avoid at all costs - you are better off starving and saving your money and if your really need to spend it, please, just give it in charity. I am reluctant to even give this one star. Really this restaurant deserves zero stars. Unless you want to be poisoned or want poor service with abysmal food then please, do yourself a favour and avoid, avoid, avoid.

6 friends, stuck for a place to eat at 9pm on a Saturday night in Coventry Garden, decide to try Kitchen Italia. When we walked in and the place was more than 3/4 EMPTY and we knew the wait at Belgo's across the road was 50 minutes, we should probably have realised something was amiss. Standing by the door waiting to be seated, I caught the eye of 3 members of staff before the manager finally wandered over to see us. With a lack of bodies on seats the place was like a fridge and when the heating was asked to be turned up it this was met with a blank stare. We were seated, 2 unavailable dishes were pointed out and orders taken. When she pointed out they had no rigatoni and would substitute it with penne, more alarm bells should have started I guess. The food arrived and it was mediocre to say the least. Not enough meat in the bolognese, too much pesto in the pesto chicken tagliatelle, the chilli penne looked like a child had made it and there is no chance the pasta was anything other than supermarket brand packet pasta. This must be the only restaurant I've been to where no one came to ask if we were happy with our meals ( they must have known the answer already).On a trip to the ladies WC one of the girls had discovered a sock on the floor. Upon returning to our table she discovered the other sock was on the floor in the restaurant. When this was pointed out to the waitress, she just laughed and left it there!So....Food - averageService - averagePrice - averageChance of returning - zero

We came to kitchen italia as the menu looked really nice. The location is excellent right in the heart of covent garden.As we went on a Tuesday, there was no issue with finding us a space and we were pleasantly suprised by the venue.As soon as we sat down we were told half of the menu was not available. So everything we wanted to eat was not there.Our waiter was lovely and the only reason why this place got any stars at all. Even when we had chosen, it seemed thy had run out of ravioli.I went for the bruschetta while my dining companion had chips. Both were a disappointment. My bruschetta was toasted bread with a mountain of tomatoes. It probably cost them 0.40p to make but I could gave easily done this at home. The chips weren't much better, greasy and dehydrated.For main I had the macaroni which was boiled pasta, cheese and milk with flavourless Parmesan. I had to add copious amounts of salt, pepper and used my side rocket as a seasoning. My comment to my friend was I've messed up pasta at home thy tastes better.We wanted dessert (before tasting main and starter) but they had next to nothing.The service was brilliant but with so many places to eat in London, it shouldn't come as a sacrifice to the food.I will not be going back there and have to unfortunately join the reviews that were extremely disappointed with this place.

Made online booking for post theatre dinner. We arrived thirty minutes early to be greeted by the waitress making a gesture akin to cutting her neck indicating restaurant closed. Told her we had booking and it had been confirmed to be greeted by a shrug of the shoulders. AVOID THIS PLACE.

I wrote a dissapointing review of kitchen Italia covent garden in January following a disappointing visit there, but as it has always been a good restaurant for me and my family we visited again in Feb and had a completely different experience so thought it only fair to review it again. The staff were friendly and attentive, it was a quiet evening and the food came very quickly and this time it was back to what i know and loved about it. The quality of the ingredients had improved and all of the dishes were freshly cooked and completely delicious. so my concerns about it are now dismissed and i will continue to visit in the future. sorry kithchen Italia if i misjudged you maybe it was just a bad day in January.

Went on a recommendation from my Brother who works in Covent Garden and it certainly didn't disappoint!The restaurant itself is below ground level and the space has been used to really good effect with lights that give a weird but not unpleasant glow (remember A Plan Insurance offices? The light is a bit like that).Service was quick and attentive and our food was hot and generous - I had a flatbread and the toppings were fresh and plentiful and my wife had a chicken ceasar salad and she said that it was really nice to have a full warm chicken breast instead of the reformed muck you can get in some places. We shared a bottle of wine and the bill came to £38, bargain!Would go again in a heartbeat.

We took our eight year old twins here for a pre-theatre lunch on Wednesday 23rd January 2013. We were just about to order when a big fat rat ran from the direction of the kitchen and ran through the restaurant!! We didn't stay to sample the food.Unacceptable.

Whizzed in for a quick pre-show meal. Service was awful, although the food was quick to come from the kitchen and was of average quality. Not sure if there was an issue with the heating but there certainly wasn't much of it where we were seated.Dessert was a mixed bag, the tiramisu and almond cake got the thumbs up but the chocolate tortaloni was disappointing. Asked for the bill to find service added - 'discretionary', of course for a party of 5(!)That said, was good value for money if you don't mind having to watch out for the waiting staff to get their attentions and shivering at your table.

went as part of theatre meal package, main menu looked okay but the choice for the pre theatre menu was poor. This would not of been an issue but that the quality of the food was poor, there was hardly any bolognaise with the taglataille and the pasta was overcooked, not what I expect from an itallian restaurant. Wish I had read the tripadvisor review before I booked!

i love love love kitchen italia and have eaten there many times but my last vistit 2nd Jan 2013 was very disappointing i dont know if it has changed managment or just menu but its not as it was. Gone are the lovely copper bowls with accomanied salad and in is a reduced menu with what can only be described as bland food. The quality has definatley deteriorated eg not enough sauce on pasta and no flavour eg a chilli dish with no evidence of chilli and a carbonara with a couple of bits of ham.(several dishes tried over a party of 4 ) and little touches like childrens garden salad has changed and no dressing, a poorer quality of ingredients. I really hope this was a one off, a bad evening, but i am reluctant to return now and miss my lovely familiar restaurant (covent garden).

Bought tickets from last minute.com for a show and a meal. Was not sure what to expect but what a great place. First impression was the climb down the stairs and I thought hmmmmm where are we going. Then as you enter the restaurant you start to think wow what a great looking place. Clean, crisp and simple. Menu was simple but still enough choice. Average prices for the area. Great service. Will definitely go again maybe this time for lunch with the family whilst shopping in Covent Garden

We chose Kitchen Italia as it is very close to the Cambridge Theater and we were going on a family trip to see Matilda the Muscial. The menu on their website looked good - especially the 'Chef's Innovation Menu' (their specials). On arrival, we had to ask for the music to be turned down - banging Club tunes at 1pm meaning we had to shout wasn't ideal, especially with 3 generations of a family. Immediately, the drink order was an issue - they didn't even have lemonade and the order took an age to come - we saw it prepared, but then left on a tray on the bar for ten minutes. It was obvious they were understaffed - just two waitresses and the manager on the floor. When it came to to the menu - the choice was somewhat limited. I asked about the Chef's Innovation Menu, as none of the dishes were listed on the menus we were given - I was told 'no specials', Ok, so lasagne? No. Linguine? No. Figg and goats cheese salad? 'No'. It was safer to ask what they did have.We all made our choices - a number of our party had their third choice from the menu. The food came at random intervals (I ate my side order after the kids desserts) and the quality was poor. The 3 cheese macaroni was insipid (the sauce certainly didn't have the strength of three cheeses) and the pasta was congealed, as if it had been left to cool in a pan, then reheated. All the salad dishes were comprised of a mass of rocket and pea shoots - the 'feature' ingredient was always minimal.My pulled ham hock salad was a joke (picture submitted to Trip Advisor) - the ham was clearly sliced, processed ham from a packet. I complained to the manager and he told me that they slice their own ham on the premises. Due to the cut of ham hock (joint from foot end of the shank), it shouldn't slice finely, but should fall apart when 'pulled' - it isn't sliced!We noticed three other table complaining and the staff eventually started turning people away as they clearly couldn't cope even though the restaurant was only half full.To be fair, the waitresses were trying their best but were fighting a losing battle: they had no back-up from the manager and the quality of the food from the kitchen was beyond their control. The manager was not at all sympathetic and appeared aloof and disinterested at all times. When it came to paying the bill, we registered a further complaint. but he still offered no discount or compensation.As we left, one of the waitresses stepped outsdie for a 5 minute break - she couldn't apologise enough and was extremely embarrassed. She admitted they were understaffed and low on stock. Unfortunately, looking at a number of the other reviews on here, this seems to be a common occurence, so if you want to guarantee a good meal I would suggest you don't go to this restaurant. Hit and miss in the heart of the West End isn't good enough - there are plenty of other options out there.

Went as a group of 12 pre theatre - we had booked in advance for lunch. There was no lasagne, no vegetarian lasagne, not enough pea & ham hock salad for three of us, no linguine and no fig & goats cheese salad. These were some of the options I ran through before I found something that was available which was the Courgette pasta salad - had I not chosen that, I may have found other options were not available too. When the salad came, it was a bowl of rocket, with a few bits of mushy courgette buried deep at the bottom of the bown and some pieces of pasta which were inedible - more than al dente but had obviously sat around for some time and the starch and fused them into lumps. There was not a borlotti bean in sight. Needless to say, most of the meal was left in the bowl. My 9 yr old son asked for a lemonade, but they don't have lemonade. We ordered two bowls of chips, one arrived with most of the meals, but the other arrived well after everyone else had finished their food and was half the size of the first bowl.The menu for this restaurant looked so appealing but the reality of the food that was delivered was atrocious. Two of the party had the pea & ham salad (but there wasn't enough for the third person to have the same) - the menu said "pulled ham hock" - the reality was sliced ham processed to within an inch of it's life cut into small squares. The issue of the processed ham was raised with the manager who was not remotedly interested in making amends. He even said that they cut the ham off the hock themselves in the restaurant - we took photographic evidence that the ham was packet, processed sliced ham.We ordered some nibbles before the meal including some marinated tomatoes which had a distinctly "fizzy" sensation to them, as if they had gone off - they were also left uneaten. In spite of all these issues being raised with the management we were not offered any apology or discount. The reason we chose to eat here was because we were booked to see Matilda (brilliant!) and it was recommended by the Cambridge Theatre - would strongly urge the theatre to change their recommendation for this restaurant. We will definitely NOT be returning.

Reading some of the reviews on here make me think the people must have been visiting a different restaurant! The food was all lovely, some of the nicest Italian food we've had, and all generous portion sizes too! The prices were extremely fair also, especially considering the quality and amount of food! The only negative was that we didn't have enough room to fit desert in! Brilliant restaurant and I would definitely visit again if in the area :)

First problem, an Italian restaurant that has run out of pizzas and lasagna! Then all other dishes, salads and pasta were very poor; salads had very little other than the lettuce and pasta dishes had hardly any meat - you really had to search! Service was polite but on almost every occasion something was missing.This restaurant really is a joke!

We visited this restaurant as part of a Shrek dinner and theatre deal we got through last minute.com. On the way to the restaurant we thought we would check out the reviews on Trip Advisor. After reading the review, I can't say that weren't holding out much hope! Unfortunately our experience lived up to the negative reviews! We were sat on a table allocated to those who were also visiting as part of the lastminute.com deal, which was fine. However what we found disappointing was the fact that people were turning up after us, yet receiving their meals much sooner than us! One group who had turned up after us were on dessert before we had even received our starter! I did end up saying something to the waitress, who then went off and got our starters, but from the impression on her face, it had appeared they had us. As for the food... It was pretty mediocre but we were not expecting great things for the price we paid.Overall, I would not go back to this restaurant based on the slow service and only average food quality. If you do go to this restaurant as part of a theatre and dinner deal, make sure you leave loads of time and be prepared to have to ask where your food is..

El sitio esta bien decorado, pero es una pifia ponerlo en el Sótano de un edificio, sin ventanas, luz, etc...La comida es italiana porque dan pasta y pizza, pero lejos esta de ser buena comida italiana. El servicio regular, y solo había 2 mesas!! No vale la pena si lo comparamos con los mil sitios que hay cerca.

We booked this restaurant as it said it was a good place for a meal before the theatre with quick service. We arrived promptly just before 1.00pm and ordered as soon as we could and were still waiting for our food by 1.50 even though the restaurant was almost empty. The food when it came was OK, but we were due at the theatre for a 2.30 performance so ate it a bit of a rush.

We booked for a works evening out and we struggled to find somewhere on a Friday evening leading up to Xmas. It has a wagamama's feel to it with the bench type seating. It was very hard to hear each other in the restaurant as there were a number of large parties there before us, once they left it got better. The choice was ok although they didn't have a pizza menu. I went for crispy ravioli to start which was very tasty and a pasta dish i cant remember for main. It was a bit too spicy for me, although a couple others had it and enjoyed. They were fairly reasonable at bringing the food out although one of our parties starter was forgotten. They were good at bringing more wine out which made the experience more enjoyable!! There was a bit of an issue with one of the teams meal having an ingredient that was not stated on the menu, then the waiter arguing rather than admitting they were wrong. As i write this i'm remembering more things that were bad....there was probably a reason that this had not been fully booked. The food is ok, it is the service and atmosphere that let the place down. I would just like to apologise to the team now and perhaps we should have gone to the Moroccan.

Firstly this place is hard to find, secondly it is not friendly for buggies or those who cannot go up and down stairs easily. The tables are like large canteen refectories with beaches, not easy together in and out of. There were too few staff and they were harassed, especially as this was a per theatre booking. The food was poor, the martini was powerful, the mango crush was purple and we could not taste any mango.the turkey saltimbucca was dry, the chilli penne boring. The best thing was the garlic bread and cheese mac with bacon. I have eaten many per theatre dinners this had to be one of the worst, remember if I like it I come back.

I have often considered signing up to trip advisor to write good and bad reviews, and following my visit on 11th December to Kitchen Italia it had to change from a consideration to a necessity to ensure noone else experiences the horrendous food and service that I did! We were a party of 18 and had preordered from a set menu. Our table was booked for 6 pm and we arrived on time. We ordered wine for the table but were only given a few glasses so half the table were left thirsty, when we asked for more there was no apology and a few extra were just dumped at the end of the table. An hour had passed before the first few starters were served. The soup was stone cold and by the time the last person was served, the first person had finished theirs. It was approximately half an hour after the starter dishes were cleared that we were finally served our main courses. The turkey dish that most people had ordered varied vastly from plate to plate and 3 of us had to return the food as it was once again stone cold. When our 'fresh' turkey was served it was with the original cold potatoes.After waiting 10 minutes for the veg to be served we asked the manager what the delay was, only to be told that the dish didnt come with veg. As much as we tried to convince them that the menu had stated it did, they would not believe us until one of us went outside to get signal and download their menu. Even when we did that there was no veg and no apology.After a number of the group complained the manager agreed to take £5 off each persons £25 food bill, hardly fitting considering the hideous food and hideous service! The icing on the cake has to be when they served us our desserts (which we had asked to be cancelled but they refused) and we enquired where the accompanying cinnamon ice cream was. Firstly thet tried to claim it was inside the baked pannetonne pudding...a likely story? I think not! Then when they accepted it wasnt they put 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on the pudding with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. If I hadn't laughed I think I would have cried! My advice would be to avoid this place like the plauge. I have never witnessed such poor management skills in my entire life, I just hope that when the manager shut herself in the office to avoid the critical comments, she shut the door on the possibility of ever having a successful restaurant.

Terrible food, terrible service, terrible setting. Avoid, avoid, avoid for all the reasons already given by previous reviewers - cold food, cold restautant and staff (including manager) who couldn't care less about customers. Would never recommend.

Poor quality food, served cold & served/cooked by staff that really didn't care about Us as customers. Like others, the time taken is exceptionally long & when we asked about the missing vegetables for the main course & ice cream for the puddings, we just got a shrug of the shoulders. Worst meal I have had for years. Would give a zero if I could n

We booked this as part of a last minute.com deal with a theatre ticket. It took an hour for our main course to arrive. One meal was cold but we did not have time to send it back. One meal was boiling hot, but so hot we didn't have time to eat it. Service was poor, no one gave us any information and the kitchen staff seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. It was cold outside and the cold came in every time the door was opened, with a cold draught. We asked for the bill when the food arrived but it did not come. We had to run to the theatre.

If you read my other reviews you will see good to excellent scores. This is my first really low score. We had phoned all three courses ahead and booked a table and to eat at 6pm. The first course arrived just before 7. Worse though, the mushroom soup was cold (no it wasnt meant to be!). After another long wait the main courses arrived. Half were again cold and had to be sent back (no not even luke warm). There was meat and mash on my plate - ameal advertised with vegetables "Oh I'm sorry - chef says they will take about 20 minutes is that OK?". No it isnt - first there cant have been a chef in the place - and second they didnt know how to cook vegetables and thats why they had "forgotten" them. Finally the sweet course - I had the trifle - i'm still not sure what arrived but it was the first warm item to be delivered - quite the opposite of what I was expecting. One funny moment - we were in a draft at the bench seating and getting cold - wearing our coats. One guest asked if they could turn the heating up. Ten mins later the waitress brought a glass containing mashed chillis!!!!!!!!!!The resturant is below ground level and very central. The food is relatively cheap for Covent Garden. Now we know how they achieved that - by just employing apprentices. Not even half recommended, avoid. If the owners dont close this and start again soon I will suggest that the local environmental health team pay a visit

It is a little surprising to arrive at an Italian Pizza & Pasta "restaurant" in the busy Seven Dials area of London to be told there isn't any bread or any pizzas as the delivery hasn't arrived. not exactly home cooking from Mama! As it was 1.30 on a Saturday & our group were keen to chat we ordered mixed starters & pasta which were fairly standard fare possibly as these catering packs had arrived? It is a big warehouse of a room. last year for our party it was full of atmosphere ( &people). This year we were freezing cold and few other diners and loud background music which they turned up when we sat down. To give the waitress credit she did turn down the music on our request & the positive was we could linger and chat. We ordered desserts and this time no warning of items "not delivered" & about half an hour later when they arrived only then the apology that the almond cake ( withcherry ice cream) had run out. I asked for just the ice cream and was told this had run out as well only for the waitress to return with my friends pineapple served with cherry ice cream (which she detests) instead of the coconut ice cream it was advertised with. I asked for a menu to select something else but was never asked what I wanted instead. The only rapid service came when we asked for the bill which came in seconds with the 12.5% service added. My generous friends are all too kind not to tip and the waitresses were pleasant enough to take our photos for us. If this restaurant survives we won't be back there for our next years Christmas party!

This supposed to be a nice lunch with a friend I didn't see for almost two years. We chosen this place randomly, the menu looks ok and we both love Italian, so it was easy choice. The restaurant is quite airy, long tables with benches in the middle and fancy boxes along the sides. Unfortunately, the look is everything this place got. We waited almost 15 minutes for drinks, and when the waitress brought it on the table I mentioned absence of glasses - and waited another 10 minutes to get it.The menu looked quite average, including almost every Italian food. We ordered garlic bread and olives as starter, lasagne and pasta with asparagus as mains. Well, after we had the starters, they brought the lasagne. The second dish came almost 10 minutes later, after me asking the staff twice about it.. They simply did not care... Overall, the restaurant is not worth recommending at all. Average food and terrible, terrible staff. The management is obviously profiting from the location and plenty tourists. But, believe me, there is plenty of lovely restaurants in Covent Garden, so please forget about this one...

A simple pasta order took 45 minutes to arrive and then only after considerable prompting. One of the lasagnes was burnt, presumably because the order had been incompetently executed in the kitchen. Tables nearby were left uncleared, the place looked scruffy and the seemingly willing waiting staff were undirected. Other tables around us had similar experiences. Dreadful.

This place is so bad words fail me ! We waited over an hour for your food and when it arrived, one person's dish at a time, they had the vegetarian order wrong. When we pointed this out, they took the dish away only for it to reappear 5 minutes later exactly the same, telling us it WAS what we had ordered. When we asked where the peppers were , they said they didn't have any, so the dish was basically a bowl of spaghetti ! We were due at the theatre so couldn't wait any longer so my friend ate her boring and by now cold bowl of spaghetti.We refused to pay for it. Several other diners were also complaining but we recived no real explanation for the delay. I don't think the kitchen could cope, there seemed to be only 2 chefs on duty. None of the waiters seemed to know what was happening . In fact when we arrived and I asked if we could sit in one the various vacant booths along the side I was told ' No as sometimes we forget you're there ' !!. Avoid this place at all costs !

Nothing extraordinary to report on Kitchen Italia I'm afraid. We did dine there as part of a theatre package though, so expectations weren't too high. Service is ok, bruschetta for starter was full of flavour and really nice actually. Macaroni cheese as main was very bland. I would only recommend this place if you need a very quick meal befor seeing a show. There are too many other wonderful restaurants to dine at around Covent Garden...

It was quite an attractive restaurant and the menu was ok. The whole experience would have been a bit nicer, of course, if two out of our four main meals had turned up. It would have been even nicer if when we asked a waitress where the dishes were, someone had come back and told us what had happened. But we waited and watched the chefs in the open kitchen churning out other people's meals whilst waitresses rushed to and from the kitchen. The waitress who we'd spoken to continued to deliver food to other tables without speaking to us until ten minutes later when she murmered something completely illegible as she ran past without stopping.It was my dad's birthday, we weren't allowed to present the cake which we had brought with us because it wasn't bought in the restaurant, and we were told we had to pay for the starters and half the drinks.Incredibly disappointed, both in the service and the way we were treated post-complaining.

We visited the restaurant in Earlham Street last night for my Dad's birthday. Initially they couldn't find our booking, then we asked for them to hide a cake and bring it out at an appropriate time - their response being 'sorry it's not our policy to do this'. We were seated and nobody came to get our order for about 15 minutes. When somebody did come and take the order they shortly returned as they didn't have what I initially wanted. Our starters came - no problem, although my ravioli was disgusting. 2 of the mains then came shortly after - with our starter plates still sitting at the table. We waited approximately 40 minutes for the other 2 mains to show up, alerted a waitress who didn't do a thing, and all the while, the front of house staff were walking past and not even alerting the kitchen that we were missing half the main courses. Eventually, as we were on a tight schedule, we had to refuse the 2 missing main courses. We were offered petty compensation for the disservice.I highly recommend you don't visit this restaurant, even if it is part of a pre-theatre meal. The abmismal service and poor quality food meant that we had to buy food separately for dinner. Horrific.

We went to Kitchen Italia on a theatre & meal package and considering the amount we paid it was good value. It was Mum's 90th birthday and at the end of the main course, the assistant manager brought a chocolate brownie with a candle in it to our table singing the birthday song. Rather a nice impromtu gesture and one to be remembered. Thanks.

We booked this restaurant for my son's sixteenth birthday - big mistake. I informed them beforehand that this was a birthday meal and could we bring a cake. I was assured that they would do something for us. We arrived and it took ages to seat us in one of the booths, even though there were two empty ones available. We ordered drinks, strangely no coke on the menu but when you asked for one, it was available. Drinks came quite a bit later. We ordered a bottle of wine, but the bought out two glasses o wine instead - we were told to have the glasses "on the house" and they came out with the bottle. The main course took about 40 minutes to arrive in the near empty restaurant.The food? They ran out of pizzas - this was 7.30 on a Saturday night - we were to,d this by the waitress who was shrugging lay indifferent, did not have English as her first language and who had an amazing capacity for forgetting wine glasses (after being asked twice, cutlery and food orders).My bruschetta was cold and my goats cheese and fig salad was exactly as said on the menu - nothing inspiring about it at all. That said (and the reason for two rather than one stars in this review) the sardine pasta apparently good and the chocolate brownie was delicious - oh yes the chocolate brownie which was meant to be my son's "cake" and never appeared. I might add that the chocolate brownie was ordered by default as they had run out of the almond cake!The bill arrived, with the two glasses of wine added in as we'll as the bottle of wine and the "optional service" added in at 12.5%. We gently pointed out their error with the wine and politely informed them that we would set our own service charge. When I informed the manager of our experience - shrugging indifference - a very very disappointing experience.

The first impression wasn't great, as we had to wait until the waiter finished a conversation with a friend before we were seated. Our orders were taken after a while of trying to catch someone's eye. We had to ask 3 times before our wine was brought to us. It arrived half way through our meal. One main meal arrived about 10 minutes before the 2nd. The pasta was over done and very oily, I suspect it was pre cooked and was sitting for a while. The fig and goat cheese salad was quite gritty. The garlic bread was stone cold toast with a horrible amount of cold butter scraped over it, we asked for it to be heated, it returned 15 minutes later towards the end of our meal exactly the same - stone cold.Staff were not very knowledgable about the meals and what they contained. Very disappointing experience overall. Would not recommend!

Pre theatre meal for myself, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. Supposed to be a treat. Ordered two children's meals and three adult meals. Vegetable lasagne and meat lasagne were both cold in the middle - food obviously reheated and not freshly cooked. Garlic bread with cheese was cold yet slightly burnt toast with garlic butter and no cheese. All these sent back. Reordered meatballs with spaghetti for two which was OK but nothing special. Garlic bread returned, now warm but still no cheese.Children's pizza tiny but hot. Garlic bread as above. No dessert was offered though it was part of the children' menu.No one came to check that the replaced food was OK. We asked for the bill which came with a 12.5% service charge which we refused to pay. The manager came with the amended bill but spoke not one word to us - how unprofessional and rude.we paid and left. Thankfully the theatre visit to see Matilda was absolutely brilliant and the children were able to have an ice cream there

We booked this restaurant as part of the Meal/Theatre package through Lastminute.com. We were given a set (reduced) menu to choose from which was fine but when the food arrived the bruschetta was tiny with just a few mushrooms on top and the macaroni cheese which was supposed to be baked with 3 different cheeses was basically macaroni with a thin watery sauce that bore no resemblance to any cheese sauce I've ever tasted before and was certainly not baked but probably flashed under a grill for a couple of minutes to give the impression it was baked. The sauce was so thin it didn't even coat the pasta and lay in a pool at the bottom of the bowl! We ordered a glass of wine each at £4.50 and were given the smallest glass of wine I've ever seen! Basically at least half the size of a normal wine glass. It would have been better value to order a bottle but we didn't want that much.The other complaint was all the diners on this package were put together at one long table and they crammed at least 4 people onto a section that was clearly meant for 3 people, which meant you really had no elbow room at all.That said the the staff were polite, service was good - quick (perhaps too quick as they seemed to want to rush us away once we'd finished our meal but hadn't finished) .I eat out a lot and would definitely have gone back to this restaurant and paid full price if I had been impressed on this first visit as the location is great and I liked the decor. However if that's an example of their cuisine then I definitely will not return and won't recommend it either.

Always disconcerting when they take a while to find your booking... Anyway, we got a table. We were there as a birthday treat for our 8 year-old grandson but we were given 3 adult menus - the Kids menu had to be specially requested!We made our choices and ordered. Then... when we noticed that the 3 girls at the next table were served food that we didn't recognise from the menu we asked our waiter - his response was "oh, that's a different menu." No explanation and no offer to bring us whatever the "different menu" was.Our grandson had a starter which was barely recognisable as garlic bread. Quite inedible, too, so he left most of it. My main course - Penne with chicken - arrived in a cold plate (why can't they heat the plates?) and though the pasta was hot and tasty, the chicken was of the 'rubber' variety.I thought the wine list was very reasonably priced - mostly in the £13 - £16 range. However, there were no prices for wine by the glass and I was very surprised when my small glass of Sauvignon Blanc appeared as £5.95 on the bill.The best I can say about the service is that it was "average" and having experienced outstandingly good service the same day (at places as diverse as a Premier Inn and The Athenaeum) the comparison was night and day.We chose Kitchen Italia because it was recommended on a website of the Cambridge Theatre (same street.) They should take down that recommendation immediately as I am sure there must be many better places in the vicinity of Seven Dials.

Having had a good meal here a year ago I took my partner back to share the experience. Oh dear what a disappointment! Our shared starter came along with my main course. My partner's meal didn't arrive at all and only turned up when chased for - it had been forgotten and wasn't even cooked so we ate at completely separate times. Our entertainment was watching other diners share the same fate. The restaurant wasn't even full and had a number of staff but it was chaos. We won't be going back which is a shame as the food itself when we got it was tasty. Don't go here if you have a time deadline.

Went here with a colleague for a working lunch. Despite the place being empty, the service was abysmal. The first waiter spoke so little English that he could not take an order, and when his colleague helped him out, we waited an unacceptable length of time for drinks etc. We ordered a mix of starters and a main course, specifying that we wanted them to come together as sharing plates. Needless to say this didn't happen, and even then my pasta main was undercooked. My colleagues dishes were bland and very unappetisingly presented. Overall very disappointing. Don't bother.

This small restaurant in Earlham st , is a great place for dining , you go down stairs into therestaurant , its warm and inviting , bar one end and kitchen the other , the staff very kind andhelpful, the food is hot and varied, please give it a try

We arrived using our tastecard and were taken to our table. I found the menu to be quite basic. Our drinks took an unreasonable amount of time to get to our table. The starter was ok - we ordered the salad and the ravioli (which clearly came out of a bag) and then fried. The waitress didn't understand the mustard dressing on side which was frustrating. Our main course was quite small. We asked for a substitute instead of salami for the flatbread and it was impossible to get another type of meat and then trying to explain a different type of veg. Again the language was an issue and the waitress did not understand. It was trying for a Saturday evening. The flatbread was very small and not massively filling and the garlic pasta was nice and basic. When we tried to pay the waitress informed us the card machine wasn't working and so my husband had to walk across the restaurant to pay which seems a bit bizarre. Overall the restaurant is not somewhere I would not visit again- basic and far better places to eat in London

My girlfriend brought a voucher from living social to take me out on our weekly date night. i chose this place as it looked wicked with a wide menu.on arrival we were asked if we were living social and we said yes we were given a cut down menu not the one shown on the website with no dishes = 10.55 max spend each dish with voucher. there was about 5 people int the place. it took 20 mins to get some one to take our order the manager was too busy entertaining his friends. the staff were dissintrested in serving us.40 mins after sitting down our food arrived i had orderd the mac and cheese thinking it would be nice how wrong was i. it was cheese flavord water with pasta menu discription was baked this dish had not been baked in the slightest i ate it as i was hungry the drinks the wine we orderd was not what we orderd and turned up 5 mins after the food but as we were on a time rush we dident compane due to thearter calling.we will never use vouchers again as the feeling of being treated so bad as we had a voucher has left a perminent damage and i will never eat here again.

I ate here during the summer for the first time and although we were given the wrong bill, I liked the atmosphere, food and service. So I had no hesitation in booking for a special family meal pre-theatre. Luckily we had plenty of time as the service was virtually non-existent. We had to ask to have our order taken after 20 minutes, had to ask for our third starter, the mains arrived as we were still eating the starters as we'd had to wait for them. I was given short thrift when I questioned the mains arriving while eating the starters. The meal was poor. Across the room, three children of a family outing were allowed to jump and scream all over the place with no correction. We were not the only people to be disturbed by them. Then to cap it all, we had to ask to pay at least three times. I feel very cheated, a special evening was marred and I shall not be returning. I feel so strongly about this that I had to post a review.

We went here prior to our visit to The Fortune Theatre and did actually enjoy some very good pasta. They placed us right next to a table with three small children which as a couple, we didn't appreciate very much - especially when there were plenty of available empty places available. We ordered a bottle of white wine which was actually in a cold container, but had clearly not actually been chilled. The wine was therefore warm and although they did their best to replce it, the new one was only slightly better. That being said, we were very happy with the food we chose. Service was quite fast and the quality was very good

It seems this restaurant is endorsed by the Cambridge Theatre as someplace you can eat before performances. The links are available on the Cambridge Theatre website. Two important things you need to be aware of 1. Unless you have at least four hours in the run up to any performance, I shouldn't bother.Service is non existent. Having chased this after 20 minutes our order was eventually taken.It should be noted that we were not a walk in and had in fact booked a table for 7 as it was our 8 year old daughters birthday party (this included the meal and a trip to Matilda)We arrived at the restaurant to be seated at a table , then as stated we awaited service , until we were forced to approach possibly the Maitre d' who proceeded to take our order. That was about 20minutes after our arrival and we hadn't even been invited to order drinks. It took a further 15 minutes for one of our dishes and drinks to turn up.....then everything was silence as James ,my son, ate his Pizza, ogled by the rest of our group. He was almost finished when a waiter in a pink shirt arrived to ask whether everything was ok. Clearly you can imagine the answer and so he departed.Shortly afterwards the two adult meals turned up, however the Birthday Girl and her friends were still hungry and without food. I approached the pink shirt at the counter to inquire if there was a possibility of the rest of the food arriving before the next millennium to which he Barked....It's Here pointing to four plates of meatballs almost ready on the counter.As for the food this was at best mediocre. The Big thing to note is that the downloadable Menu on line also does not exist. Surprise , there IS NO CHILDRENS MENU. It appears the menu is new and children don't exist, hence perhaps our treatment this Friday at the hands of this restaurants staff.Oh and just to make it more surreal for some intermittent IT issue you may, as we were, be asked to go out and get Cash from a cash machine to pay for your meal.No question but to avoid!

I ate here as part of a cheap theatre ticket deal and was offered a set menu. All of the choices for starter and main featured tomato as a main ingredient which was fine by me but might bother fussier eaters!I had a tomato and mozarella salad followed by penne bolognese. It was all tasty, although the pasta was slightly overcooked for my taste.Staff were friendly and efficient and there was nothing to complain about. Nothing very exciting about this place but nothing wrong with it either. Canteen style eating so you might end up next to strangers if it was busy. Not too crammed together though. Service was very speedy in the pre-theatre slot. Probably a good, easy, reasonably priced place to choose if you were eating with children.

Like others we went as part of a lastminute.com deal. Bad service, bad food, not a single good thing to say - take note of all other lastminute,com reviews - they are all true.

We had tomato and mozzarella with garlic bread and cheese for starters with a bottle of Pinot Gregio then the most wonderful Italian stew only just finished it. The service was first class and the food hot and fresh.n

like others went as part of a last minute.com package.On arrival restaurant looked great, but that is where it ended. the choice was poor ie. only 2 starters & 4 mains. We all had the garlic focaccia which was OK, however I bake my own bread and the texture of this was not that of a focaccia, very heavy . As for the pasta I had the chilli kick, flavour fine, but the pasta was so over cooked, they must make a huge batch and reheat, not in any way shape or form cooked fresh as stated by waitress. This is as unitalian as you can get and will not return or recommend.

Situé en plein cœur de Covent garden, nous avons choisi ce resto pour sa situation avantageuse et surtout sa carte appétissante et variée. Nous sommes vite installés dans la grande salle aux allures de cantine et extrêmement bruyantes. Nous sommes deux adultes et deux enfants et on nous remet 4 menus. Le menu enfant est affiché nulle part, j'interpelle une serveuse qui revient finalement avec les deux menus enfants! Nous commandons. Les plats enfants sont copieux, et les nôtres aussi. Même si nous cherchons encore l'oeuf dans nos pâtes carbonara! C'est bon mais sans plus! La bouteille de vin, dans ce restaurant n'a pas de bouchons de liège mais un bouchon en plastique à vis! L'horreur pour des amateurs de vin!Nous demandons l'addition et surprise, les boissons des enfants nous sont facturés 3£ le verre au lieu de 1,49£ le verre! Je rappelle la serveuse, qui essaie de se justifier mais ne s'excuse pas! Elle finit par rééditer une nouvelle addition.Bref: une cuisine moyenne, même si le menu enfant est plutôt sympa. Le service est médiocre. Nous avons eu l'impression que du début à la fin on a essayé de nous arnaquer, d'abord en ne nous remettant pas de menus enfants et ensuite au moment de l'addition.

Yesterday myself and my friend spent a very pleasant late lunch here. We had gone into London for a general wander about and had been here once about a year ago and I should have done this then bit here I am afer a second visit making sure I do.This is tucked down a street off Seven Dials and you go down into what looks like a converted cellar area which is clean an well furnished - simple tressle tables and booths. The menu provided both pasta and pizza choices - but is not too many to take hours to decide. Staff are very pleasant and dont rush you. We has a shared started of Cheesey garlic bread starter which was 2 slices of thick sofe bread with lovey gooey cheese and garlic topping (could have eaten all 4 slices but would have struggled on main course). Both of use had pasta dishes which were hope, full of flavour and a generous portion - good value for money from a London restaurant. Ice cream a little expensive @ £5.50 for two scoops but it was delicious icecream and unusual to get coconut flaviour. Other desserts look interesting and possibly better value for money.Have an interesting selection of cocktails which looked good when we saw them - not drinking this time ourselves. Drinks could be a little high but still again considering in London probably not so bad.Would we go again - yes definitely and if you happen to have a taste card then it halves the price of main and desserts costs - not apparently starters though. The have a website where you can also look up any special offers but have miss placed yesterdays bill to give exact details so advise look them up.If you do go - hope you enjoy as much as we did

Part of a deal with Lastminute.com saw five of us attend this subterrainian eating place for a limited menu before Shrek. The limited menu shown on the last minute website was even less when we arrived and reduced even further as they revealed they had run out (at 1.00pm) of certain starters - including garlic bread because they had no garlic butter!Seating was on long benches where potentially you sit near others. When we eventually ordered the food was pretty good and staff were friendly. Soft drinks were £2.95 each.I don't intent to go again.

Admittedly, our view was influenced by this being a Lastminute.com theatre meal (included in our ticket price for Singing in the Rain - only £25 for both meal and theatre ticket per person), but this was not a good experience. From being seated to receiving our bill lasted about 30 minutes. No glass was offered for the bottle of beer. Soft drinks were expensive. The package deal included a choice of only two starters and four main courses (both very limited). The waitress also drew our attention to the fact that the food is served when ready - in practice this means meals for different people arrive at different times and the main course can arrive before the started has been eaten. Portions were small. Much of the seating was on benches in very close proximity to people you had never met. It was obviously OK for the price that was included with the theatre ticket, but I would not return to eat off the normal menu based on this experience.

What can I say other than its such a shame this restaurant has gone so down hill since I used to eat here regularly when I worked nearby. I used to like the quite traditional Italian menu with pasta dishes that include several types of pasta with traditional sauces like Italian sausage. Disappointingly this now reads like a bad pub menu....When we visited tonight the restaurant was busy but it's a large restaurant during the pre theatre rush. We were seated quickly by the friendly staff on the door having booked in advance on Top Table. Our order was take after 10 minutes and this is where the service ends.....After 30 minutes waiting for our drinks it took a further 15 minutes to get the attention of the waitress. We had to ask for them to be delivered, when they were they bought the wrong drinks so we had to wait for the third one. We then had to ask for our starters to be delivered with the mains as we were trying to get to the theatre. Our starters and mains finally arrived an hour after getting there which gave us 10 minutes to eat, pay and leave to get to the theatre for curtain up! Even more disappointing was that rich food eaten quickly has made me rather sick. I'm sure as a restaurant to eat in later in the evening this would be fine but I certainly won't be back.

Had a block booking from last minute.com and they could not cope, was shown a table after 10 minutes, not spoken to again for 30 minutes. I spoke to a gentlemen asking for assistance as the waitress was to busy to speak to us. He assured me everything would be ok and he would look after me for the rest of the evening. He took my order and promptly disappeared. I did not see him again! My main course arrived 10 minutes later and was cold resembled something out of a tin, and was cold. I had to beg to get a drink! My partners main course arrived 20 minutes later. The starters never arrived. No one seemed to care about any aspect of the meal and I was surrounded by people complaining. The bill stated no service charge, but should have stated ‘no service!’ I do not see how to put comments on there own website and surprise, no one has complained.

It's a shame, such a brand name you'd think some sort of decent service/food would have been on offer.Booked as a lastminute.com meal deal, we'd turned up pre-show roughly 5 minutes after our supposed booking.Note the value of the meal for two was priced at around £30. What we were given was a cheap set-menu which equated to about 10 per-head.Terrible service (took an hour to serve our food) which we had to complain about a number of times. Even though they operated on you get what is cooked first, our mains arrived well before our starters, both dishes were cold and had to wait a further 15 minutes to get them re-heated.Asked for the bill (and another 4 times) before our we were allowed to leave.Won't be going back.

This little underground palace was full of little treasures, all three courses were absolutely delightful and generous in helpings, so much so I struggled to finish my tiramisu it was that big, but I sneaked it out and took it home, Wasting Italian food is like holidaying in the Maldives and not getting in the water! We went here for my birthday had a bottle of wine with our 3 courses and spent a good few hours admiring the architecture as well as the amazing food and ambiance. The staff were so friendly always smiling at me as they went past, the girls were very attractive too i must say, Everyone loves and Italian girl. Next time im in the area I will be going back, oh and if your a member of the gourmet society its valid here so indulge yourselves in a truly memorable feast and they have basil plants with a variety of olive oils on the table, my nose and eyes were in heaven and stomach was soon to be. I've attached a couple of piccies just to show how nice it is there with the private booths and long wooden Italian tables perfect for family feasting or couples romancing.

Service was slow. My husband's main course was brought to the table and as it was hot I told him to begin, thinking mine would be brought to the table in a couple of minutes. Even though he ate very slowly, he has eaten 3/4 of it before my main course arrived. The Charred pineapple with coconut ice cream arrived with vanilla ice cream. Apart from the very slow service, food was good and reasonably priced. 3 courses for two people, 1 beer and 2 glasses of wine was £48

We had booked for 800pm last Thursday and shared a large space with two other dinersThe menu was limited and the food average whilst service good We left at 930 leaving 17 people in a vast souless space

We found ourselves here on the strength of a special "meal and theatre" deal from Lastminute.com. We were senior citizens on a city break, my wife and I, and upon entering we were astounded at the noise level, as if everyone was shouting. It could have been a horde of teenagers, but in fact many couples were middle-aged or older. We were greeted by a frindly waiter who acknowledged our booking and guided us to our seats at what appeared like a long refectory-style table. We were shown the "Rapido" and the standard menus and as we were in quite a hurry, we chose two quick dishes, spaghetti carbonara and a crostini in sauce dish. Both were delivered quite quickly by smiling staff along with our inclusive glasses of house wine, part of the deal.The food was very good and the wine eminently drinkable and we enjoyed our visit to Kitchen Italia and the Theatre, which only cost us £25 each all-in. The noise became bearable, like being in a school canteen really. Decor pleasant enough and staff efficient and friendly, we thought. However the couple next to us, whom we saw later in our theatre, so they were obviously on the same deal, didn't fare so well. They were in before us, but they had still not been served when we left! They were very unhappy. They had ordered Lasagne, one of the dishes which may have to be specially cooked for you - so be warned !

I have been here twice with my boyfriend, and both times we have loved the food! There is a good variety to chose from, the prices are reasonable, and the portion size generous. The atmosphere is relaxed; it's like an Italian Wagamamas. However... the service really lets this place down. Both times we have been, we have waited ages to be offered drinks, and for our order to be taken. The second time we visited we ordered food and drinks at the same time, as they took so long to come over to us. We also asked for our side pizza to come first, but to bring the pasta out whenever it's done, even if we hadn't finished the pasta. The pizza came out after we received our pasta! The staff are friendly and not rude, but they are just not very attentive. Our plates were cleared away, but no one came to ask if we would like more drinks/desserts/bill, and it took ages to catch someone's eye to ask for the bill. Once received we had to catch someone's eye to say we wanted to pay, and then it took them ages to get the card machine. This happened both times! There were not many staff, but then the staff aren't rushing around, and don't seen to be busy with anything! I would recommend the place for the food, but you definitely need to go with the expectation that you need catch a waiter/waitress for drinks/to order/for the dessert menu/the bill/to pay etc. etc.!!

This is in the basement of a building, and makes a feature of the industrial type of decor, and the views of the kitchen. My husband chose this for his birthday treat - I don't know why! The menu is basically pasta dishes, with a few small pizzas and one or two other standard Italian things, or else quite complicated salads. Side salads are of two ingredients only and cost 3.95. Given the price of the main courses and the cost of the ingredients, they are clearly making a profit! The restaurant operates like Wagamama, if you know that chain, with long shared benches. There are booths around the edge, and as my husband had booked we were allocated one of those. Unfortunately, in order to hear each other speak we couldn't sit around the table, we had to squeeze up one end. They still have uncomfortable bench seats, with a back which is too far to rest against. We did not notice on the paper table mat menus the very fine and hard to see message which not only says what sort of food they cook, but says that you just order dishes to share and they come when they are ready. We ordered a number of 'small plates', but one of them didn't come and my husband asked the waitress. Obviously, if we had noticed the small print we would have known that we should have waited for it. We then all ordered main courses, which were much too filling once we had eaten 4 'small plates'. I should think that ordering a couple of pasta dishes and a couple of small plates to share would work out much cheaper. My linguine with clams was called 'Clams' and had an enormous number of them in the pasta. Sadly, along with white wine and parsley it also had a lot of chopped up garlic and chillis, and was much too spicy. I ate all the clams and most of the pasta, but ended up drinking a lot of wine (and water). My daughter said her spaghetti carbonara was not as good as Prezzo. Macaroni cheese came in little copper pans with handles, and a plate of rocket with parmesan sprinkled onto it on top of the pan. This was one of the 3.95 side salads! There are bottles of differently flavoured olive oil on the table and a pot of parmesan. It is obviously a 'concept' pasta restaurant, and I am sure that the pasta and other things are cooked from fresh, which is good. However, I don't think I would recommend this restaurant to anyone, the food is quite boring and they seem to think adding spices or chilli will make it less boring. Desserts all so unappealing none of us wanted any (even my husband). In the toilets, when we tried to wash our hands the tap had a sensor on and the water shot out and wet the front of our clothes. The angle of the water jet comes out over the edge of the tiny little rectangular basin - again, a problem of design over function!

The restaurant is open and stylish - very modern. The food was excellent. Good portion size and the quality of the food was very good. Expect to wait a while for the fresh food to be cooked for you - the main dishes for my son and I were delivered to the table at different times but this was pointed out to us at the time of ordering - well, if you want your food to be cooked fresh then this is what you would expect. My spaghetti meat balls were very tasty. The icing on the cake is that the dishes are not expensive. I will take my wife here when we next visit London. Ideally situated in Covent Garden - I highly recommend this restaurant.

Jag var där med min 13 årige son. Det var prisvärt, lätt att hitta god mat för 10 pund. Effektiv service, schysst inredning, som kändes omhändertagande. Perfekt ställe om du bor i närheten, men inget du åker över halva stan för.

The first time we went it was part of a pre-theatre deal, and we chose from a specific menu, and service was ok as it was quite early on a week day. I went back recently for a quick meal before the theatre, but not as part of a package so we got the full menu. Again, it was pretty empty so we got our own booth rather than sitting on one of the long tables. We did wait a long time for our drinks, epecially as the first wines were dropped! The food 'comes when it's ready' which works much better when it's freshly cooked and not just reheated pasta. Both meals that I have had have been tasty, but simple pasta dishes.

Me and husband went there tonight, as part of meal + theatre deal from last minute, couldn't get two tickets on it's own, so we were forced to get it on meal deal(definitely a rip off). We get there by 6pm, and were told the place was fully booked, and we have to sit with some people, even though the place wasnt that full. We ordered food from rapido menu, drinks, bread and chips. Drinks came almost 20 mins,we have to asked twice for the drinks. the waitress get my order of lasagne wrong, and when I complained that I asked for vegetable lasagne not meat one, the waitress thatserving our table was angry at me and blaming me because it's my fault for ordering the wrong thing, even though I did said vegetable lasagne, and she said, I'll see what the chef can do! I mean, I know we get cheap deal, but it doesn't mean we can treated like that. And I did order vegetable not meat lasagne. Lasagne finally came, and it's actually not too bad(or I was too hungry?). Overall, we will never go back there again, service is really bad, I would rather go to McDonald ! Just like everybody said here, seriously don't bother to try it.

The service here really puts this place down. We have been few times giving it a go each time but no more. Enough. Dining out is suppose to be a pleasant experience and you'd expect not to served by a huffy annoyed waitress who makes you feel a nuisance for eating there! Shame because as quick decent Italian dishes go, the simplest dish taste pretty good. 1/10 for service. 8/10 for food. Fine for EAT-AND-GO dining. Don't expect a smile.

Very poor quality of food, (the non-alcoholic cocktail was probably the best bit), poor quality wine - our meals didn't arrive at the same time - my partner's arrived 20 minutes after mine and we had to ask before any of the staff even realised. Wouldn't recommend at all.

Me and two friends went to the restaurant last night as it was in with the sevendials events, you would have thought they would be more prepared!There was not many people in the restaurant yet they seemed to have ran out of a lot of things throughout the whole of the menu, they got our order wrong aswell, and they had also ran out of bread in an Italian restaurant. The duck tortellini was dry and the dessert of pasta with chocolate was very odd, with cheese in the centre which was not advertised nor was the riossoto ball starter told that there is tomato in them so someone who was allergic to tomatoes wouldnt have known until they cut them open. Genuinely poor experience and wouldnt recommend it.

This was the worst experience in 40 years of eating out in London. I had booked this restaurant largely because of its location close to the Cambridge Theatre where Matilda is showing. Judging by the others there everyone else had done the same. We arrived promptly for a 5.30 pre-show meal. The restaurant was nearly full and filled up soon after. But there were only 4 waiters, one barman and 4 chefs to cater for 80+ covers. Our order was taken at 5.45. My wife's prawns came at 6.15. My daughter's carbonara at 6.30. Eventually after several requests my asparagus gnocchi came at 6.50. Mine had obviously been reheated and was still lukewarm. The amount of asparagus was less than one stalk. A lady at the same table had a lasagne that was stone cold. That was reheated too but arrived still cold. I complained to the maitre d' about the lack of service and he said he agreed with me. We had to constantly ask for things like water and nothing was served accurately or on time. Even the bill when it came was for somebody else.

When we arrived we did wait 3 or 4 mins till I had to get a member of staffs attention to seat us. Staff kept walking by ignoring us. However once seated the staff serving were friendly and polite.$ things were not on the menu that day, anyhow, we ordered and the starters were fine - but how wrong can you go with garlic bread! The mains were just terrible. Nothing was fresh apart from the rocket leaves on the side of the plate. The food was just bland tasteless frozen pre made rubbish.Would not reccommend and will certainly not go back.

When we arrived we were not asked if we wanted drinks. We kept having to ask when our orders were going to arrive and to remind the waitress about drinks once these had been ordered. We were there at 6pm but they had already run out of lasagnes, both meat and vegetarian. Two of our meals, meatballs, arrived a good ten minutes after the rest. One contained a meatball and the other contained meaty bits. When asked why the meals were staggered, the waitress wasn't very helpful but said that every meal was made from fresh ingredients. We did not think that this adequately explained the deficiency! The food quality was acceptable and well presented but the experience was frustrating, with no attempt on the part of the staff to apologise for their inefficiency. We felt that probably they were understaffed.

Booked through lastminute.com as part of a dinner/theatre package. I won't make that mistake again.You get what you pay for and I should have realised that what seems like a good deal..... value for money...... just isn't.The "rapido" restricted menu given to you as part of the pre-theatre deal is just that....."restricted". Not much choice. Just one course and a drink. Then it's made clear that you just get the main dish with no vegetables or anything. I tried to order a side salad.... a plate of salad we could share. But that was impossible as it was too much trouble for them to depart from the menu even though I was prepared to pay for it. The a la carte menu did have some meagre salad selections at an exhorbitant price and the fuss they made when I asked if they wouldn't mind adding some tomatoes to the "rocket and parmesan salad" made it clear they did not value the pre-theatre customers one iota...... they just wanted us in and out in the shortest possible time without making any demands on them.When the salads arrived in ramekin sized dishes containing a few sorry rocket leaves, parmesam shavings and a couple of tomato slices, I thought someone was really having a laugh at our expense. Then the main lasagne dishes arrived and were stone cold despite being served in sizzling skillets. Obviously pre-prepared (and I am kindly not saying that they were not pre-prepared on the premises!!) and inadequately heated through.They did take them away and the next batch were roasting hot. Then we ordered sweets at extra cost from the a la carte. I really should have learned my lesson by now. The ice cream balls were the size of tiny melon balls and very few in number (one!) with the "chocolate fudge brownie". I doubt they were dairy but cannot say for sure, whilst the tiramisu was quite dreadful such that my wife could not finish it. Complete lack of spirit in it and quite tasteless.The only saving grace was the decent quality (if miniscule size) glass of house white wine included in the deal. Its high alcohol content helped cushion the disappointment of the start to our evening out. I left payment and scarpered as the "waitress" left. I really did not want to leave a tip but even more did not want to wait behind for my change.Really I should mark it as "poor" but for the fact that, as I said earlier, you get what you pay for. If you want decent food, good service and to be valued - you have to pay for it and we hadn't! We paid for what we got, I suppose.

Went on a Last Minute theatre meal deal first in March - service was slow, had to ask where our drinks were 15 minutes after ordering, when they turned up they were wrong. Had to ask where our food was three times. When it arrived the foccacia bread didnt turn up until after we had eaten and had to ask where that was too!! Because the show was so good (Blood Brothers), i thought this may have been a 'one-off' and decided to book again..... how wrong was I!This time - After being shown to our 'table' (more like a bench) we were sat down for ten minutes before I had to grab someones attention to actually order drinks and food. Besides the fact that other people who arrived after us were having their orders taken before us. We were told that the foccacia bread had run out, which i found amazing as it was only just gone 6pm. Another 10 minutes went by before I asked where our drinks were, they turned up a few minutes later. Whilst waiting for our food I noticed that people were still being served the bread (throughout our time there) - obviously they hadnt run out!! Did they tell me this because i was on a 'meal deal'?? After another 10 minutes I had to once again ask where our food was to which they asked what we had ordered. We had already been in there by this time almost 40 minutes. Eventually our food turned up but by this time we were so fed up we couldnt wait to get out of there. So much for their 'Rapido' menu!I for one would not choose to eat here again. Regardless of the fact whether you are on a meal deal or a walk in customer, each should be treated accordingly.Customer service at this place is appalling if not non existent. It really did let the package down, which is a shame because the food is actually lovely!!

Great for pre-theatre dinner, not many restaurants are buzzing at 7.30pm on a Saturday night! Great value (esp, with a taste card), good food, good service.

Food was tasty and good value, but half our diners got meals that included the ingredients listed on the menu, but were quite different from what was expected. My wife had a pasta dish that said "served with goat cheese, celery, diced aubergine, sultanas, and pine nuts." What came out was tortellini covered in something like babaghanoush - everything had been pureed together.Another diner chose "pieces of polenta crusted aubergine topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce, served with a balsamic dressed rocket salad". What she got were some large deep fried aubergine spears sitting on top of a big hunk of mozzarella, sitting in a pool of tomato sauce with some plain rocket on top.Service was inattentive - I had to walk up to a server to get them to take our order. It was Saturday night, so there was a large crowd of theater goers, but they should have been prepared for that.

We found this restaurant to be very nice. Tucked away, it wasn't easy to find as the restaurant itself is underground. Beware if you have difficulty with steps as there are quite alot to go down. My husband and I had purchased a set meal with our theatre tickets...a main meal (pasta dish) with either a glass of wine or soft drink. The deal itself was very reasonable. We sat in one of the booths in the restaurant ( they are quite big, so we shared with another couple). The waiting staff are all very pleasant. The food was very nice indeed. I never normally order pasta in England, as I have been so disappointed in the past. But, I was pleasantly surprised! It was cooked perfectly. The menu is quite limited. We ordered one of there small pizza's to share as a starter. |t was very tasty.....not what I would call a traditional italian pizza, but is was nice. The wine list is reasonably priced as is the food. We enjoyed our eating experience in this restaurant and would recommend it, especially for the location....theatreland. The only downside with this restaurant would be the entrance door........when it gets busy, avoid sitting in the first booth or nearest table as there is a constant bang everytime someone walks in!

this place sucks. period. waited a while to take order, which isn't a huge problem. left waiting for the starters and between 3 of us finished the bottle of wine. When we asked for another one we were met with, "already?" A bit embarrassed we said yes. Then the waitress came back and said they had run out of one of the starters we wanted. So i asked just to cancel the other starter and we would order something else. We literally had to barter to cancel the garlic bread and get a platter... whats that all about. queue the main course 20 min later, first dish arrives, couple of minutes later sec on main arrives and i am sat like an idiot. Who i imagine to be the head waitress is taking payment at another order and as my waitress walks past tells her, you know there is no crab - which i ordered over 40 minutes ago - i assume they didn't realise i heard. Waitress no 1 trots over, sorry no crab do you want to order something else. WTF?! no apologies, very off the cuff and we were advised if she knew she would have communicated earlier. Anyway, new order brought over, no apology and would comp my main course. When paying a group of who i assume to be staff are laughing and joking round a table with a bike - more interested in their own social circle than the one they are paid to ensure is good. And a bike in a restaurant??Long and short.... don't go if you expect any sort of basic waiting standards, food was actually ok, but won't be back. I can get better service at mcdonalds.

We were warned that our order would arrive at different times as this was an "Italian kitchen". Didn't realise that this meant our order for a side salad would not actually turn up. This didn't stop them adding to the bill.Just about everything we ordered came drenched in olive oil, even though every table had a row of different bottles of oil for you to add your own. So much oil had been added to the pizza base that it tasted like fried bread. The pizza also had what appeared to be that cheese typical of Italy, chedder, dumped in big slices on top and then more oil drizzled over it.I ordered chicken Milanese, which I thought would take a little time to cook. It arrived first and had obviously been cooked much earlier as it was very dry. Even the olive oil could not save it.My daughter's Caeser salad arrived only after we prompted the waitress.The staff were quiet friendly and we did feel a little sorry for them as there was not enough of them for so many covers. Really not worth the prices charged.

My girlfriend and I went here solely because they were tastecard participants. We called on a Friday night and were able to get a table in an hour! I ordered the mafaldine with spicy sausage and it was quite savory. My girlfriend ordered the prawns chilli and garlic - she also quite enjoyed her dish. One piece of advice is to stay away from the break sticks with tomato dip. Each of us ended up getting a main dish and an appetizer and the bill was only £15.20 due to the tastecard discount. This isn't a high end expsneive Italian restauran, but well worth the visit given the value and decent food. I would go back with the taste card again!

Kitchen Italia is right next door to Thomas Neal's on Earlham Street, a stone's throw away from Covent Garden. The entrance is unassuming and provides access to the stairs leading down to the actual restaurant, which is in the basement. The seating area is more or less open plan, with the kitchen in one end and the bar in the other. In the center part of the area, there are long, straight tables and around the walls there are booths, seating about 8 people. If you are a larger group, a booth is recommended.The service is efficient, friendly and informal, as is the atmosphere. Most other customers were groups or families out shopping or otherwise enjoying the Covent Garden area. The menu consists of the standard Italian fare, but focuses on pasta. To give you an idea of the prices: the starters/side dishes are around £3-6, the main courses are around £8-12, a glass of wine was about £5 and a bottle £15-20. The food was made from good ingredients and well prepared. Quality-wise a notch above most of the other Italian chain restaurants like Ask or Bella Italia.All in all, this is a very good dining or lunch option if you are in the Covent Garden area.

me and my boyfriend were quiet worried after reading the reviews but there was no need to worry the service was great, we got our drinks order straight away and our food order wasnt far behind and it was steaming hot , all in all no complaints.

Ate here after a trip to theatre on a Wednesday, early evening. Chose the restaurant as we had 2for1 deal with our railcard. We were so pleased we did. Fab food and great service, and great environment. very modern and chic. I guess the food is a little pricey if you are paying full price for it, but was really lovely. Would recommend! The childrens menu was great too.... Very handy for Covent Garden area

I had lunch here yesterday, the veg lasagne was delicious. Main and a drink for £7.95 was delicious. I nice spot for lunch.

it was a good find after a play. the atmosphere is so cool, kinda converted warehouse. very modern italian style. food was very good, portions are smallish. service indeed was bit frustrating. seems perfect for large groups.