La Ballerina

I and five friends had lunch here last week. Our food was OK but nothing to rave about and the bill came to £155.?? (can't remember exact figure) plus £19.?? service charge. As the service had not been that good we paid £27 each (totalling £162) and left the restaurant. The last person in our party was chased down the street by a member of staff saying "there is a problem with your bill". They insisted we had to pay the full service charge - actually insisting that it was vat!! My friend reluctantly handed over another £10. (this still did not come to the full price they wanted to charge us) - surely service charge is discretionary? None of our party will ever go there again, suggest you don’t either.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Six of us went there on the 21st May 2008, didn't realise vat was at the bottom of the bill, this takes place of service so they said, never heard of this before, i think it was that we would not pay the full service charge for not so good service ,so beware and check your bill
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tisha
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I went to La Ballerina by accident with some friends after a walk around Covent Garden.I can express only compliments and satisfaction.I ate sea food spagetti.The portions are big and although I don't eat much I couldn't stop eating until my plate was empty-it was soooo delicious,fantastic.I'll definatelly come again adding the fact that the staff is very friendly,positive,efficient and helpful.Such an enjoyable experience, warmly recommend!
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Natasha
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, May 08, 2008

I ate at La Ballerina last week Tuesday 1st April and had one of the best fillet steaks ever served very simply with some spinach and boiled potateos and washed down with a fine bottle of Trebbiano, the house red. This I followed with a little dolcelatte with some celery - delicious. Not bad - I strongly recommend.
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Donald Jessop
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 07, 2008

Easily booked a table for a saturday night, 5 people. Cramped table, the service was bad, it took 15 minutes to grab the waiter's attention after they forgot our drinks. The food was worse, out of the 5 of us, no one could eat more than half of their maincourses. Bland, flavourless, dry. Undoubtedly one of the worse restaurants in London I have ever eaten at, it wasn't cheap either. We complained as we left, the waitress just strugged. They just didn't care.
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Claymore Richardson
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

We’ve been to La Ballerina five times over the past three years and each time the food has been good to excellent. On our last visit earlier this week the bruschetta starter was as good as any I have had and my wife thoroughly enjoyed her mussels.

For my main course I had the fillet steak in peppercorn sauce, which was cooked exactly as I had asked – delicious. It was served with vegetables as well (not a huge amount but ample and at least we weren’t forced to fork out for an extra side dish, as happens in other restaurants). My wife also enjoyed her breaded chicken.

For dessert we shared a huge portion of tiramisu which, although good, we could not finish. The only minor gripe was that it could have had a little more alcohol, but that’s just nitpicking.

Service was friendly and efficient and, although it did take a while to get the bill at the end, it would be churlish to make a big deal of that.

We’ll definitely go back.
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Ian
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 21, 2008

recently we went to La Ballerina. We were dissapointed by the service the first weekend of the New Year. We had booked for 5 people in the main part of the restaurant and when we got there, the diary had no record of our reservation. The staff quickly made up a table out the back and we were squashed together like sardines and had no space to move. It had been done so quickly that there was still food on the table from the previous customers. As a family, we decided that this wasnt the way we wanted to spend our weekend in London so we went to another restaurant which was lovely. Don't go to La Ballerina because the service not what was expected in a restaurant in Covent Garden.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 14, 2008

I can't believe some of the bad reviews of this lovely restaurant. Four of us walked in pre-theatre last Christmas and although it was busy the service was friendly, welcoming and just the right level of efficiency (everyone's on their way somewhere else!). We were a very mixed age range - from 10 to 70 - and they were courteous and kind in offereing selections and making it a very special occasion. Food was good and well served and we're looking forward to another visit this year.
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Fiona, Ealing
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I think the last review was written ready to save me a job! I thought it was odd that we could get a table for 8 people at 8pm on a Wednesday night from the street, but I thought, maybe everyone is at the theatre or in the Royal Opera House. Nope, they just knew better.

The meal didn't start well, even the bread was poor/cheap. When my friend from China asked for a recomendation the instant reply, without a moments thought, from the waitress was 'Spag Bol'. Uh oh. Food was average, wine was average. One dish was wrong and the waitress then chose to argue rather than change it. Luckily we only had one course each. Bill eventually came with an extra £15 of items we didn't order/have and service added. Got it corrected, paid and left. OK, it was only £20 a head (1 course and 1/2 bottle of wine each), shame we couldn't get into any of the chains next door.

What an absolute waste of the most fantastic location with wonderful views. Poor tourists being disapointed and then there money allowing it to stay open. Come on London - raise your game!!!
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Marc Bridgen
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Thursday, July 26, 2007

This place was abismal. The waiter didn't understand that the lady should order first, then kept interupting as we ordered. The food arrived within three minutes of ordering ("ding cuisine") and was only medeocre at best and they tried to clear it away while we were still eating.

When asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu the waitress was met with an instant and unanimous "No!"

Then it took 20 minutes to attract the waiter's attention for the bill, even though the restaurant was only half full. Needless to say they had already added the service charge.

Don't go: it's rubbish!
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Steve Bice
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, April 01, 2007