Strada (St. Pauls)

Arrived at the restaurant about 8.15, it being a busy Saturday night it was good to get a table and quickly..

All the usual service was offered, none of it intrusive, neither warm or inviting. The decor is ok, like most chains, boring and unimaginative.

The free purified iced water is a nice touch.

My partner ordered ANTIPASTO MISTO followed by POLLO ALLA MILANESE. I opted for INSALATA TOSCANA and POLLO ROMANA.

The starters were quite small, lacking any class or flair. bread needed to be ordered to provide a little more sustenance (bread is not offered) It was ok..

The mains arrived shortly after, mine being totally cold, I sent it back immediately, my partners was also but didnt want to make a fuss.This was a great pity, as the food, albeit miniscule in portion size, tasted very good.

On returning mine, the heat was marginally better but the plate was stone cold, I gave up and ate.

We decided on Pistachio ice cream and chocolate fondant for dessert, these were the hit of the evening.

The meal was very average, as others here have commented, it seems to suffer the chain sickness, having no mama mia effect on customers at all.

The bill came with a lofty 12% service charge, which I dismissed leaving my own contribution reflecting the evening had. Left feeling hungry..
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John John
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 3
Sunday, September 14, 2008

You really notice the fact that Strada has been sold-off, and is now quickly becoming a victim of it's own success.

The pizzas have become pretty standard fodder as far as pizzas go, but the problem is the lack of professionalism of the staff. The atmosphere has become stale, staff appear disinterested, and service is bog standard. Perhaps they need to drop the 'service charge' and allow punters to tip at their own discretion!

Oh how I miss an Italian accent in what is supposed to be an Italian restaurant (especially when half the menu is written in Italian!).
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Keith
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Thursday, August 21, 2008

Over the past few years we have eaten at this branch many times. The last 3 times have been very disappointing. Each time we received virtually no service whilst the food though decent was not anything more and expensive. It is a real shame that this restaurant has gone downhill so quickly. We would not eat there again.
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MK
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, December 17, 2007

The place was hardly full with lots of lovely table in the window free, but we were shown to cramped tables at the rear. The waitress came over in seconds to ask for our orders, I had even looked at the menu at that point. After ordering the waitress came back to say the pizza oven was broken and could I change my choice, which I duly did, then another wait and my main meal turned up - before the starters. This was sent away and yet another wait. Then the starters arrived, mine was ok, I have to say, my partners sunriped vine tomatoes tasted and looked like Somerfield special offer reduced Toms. No flavour at all. No garlic on the meal or seasoning - all fairly vital. we asked for the bill, deciding to leave and cut our losses - they charged us a service charge, I asked for this to be removed - another wait - in fact one so long, we got up an left. The only high point was not paying for the overpriced wine.

Long Wait, Poor Service, Poor Food. Will not be back.
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- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, December 01, 2007

We would like to thank you for an excellant evening!! We booked a table for 14 on 31st December and were so.... impressed. We were served by very friendly and efficient staff - who on what must be a horrible night to work - gave us a great meal and evening. This is the first time I have eaten in a Strada and hope they are all as good as this one!! Please pass on our thanks.
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Andrea Wise - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 01, 2007

Sad to see this restaurant almost completely full considering that such poor value for money was on offer. Service slow when it comes to bill-time: wonder why? Surely they'd like to pack in as many unwary eaters as possible? I mean, £10 for 2 chicken legs, a clump of grassy rucola and half a fistful of nicely-flavoured potato !
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Cate, Richmond
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, December 14, 2006

This is one of our local restaurants and not having been for a while we thought we would drop in for a casual supper with two young guests.

It was quite busy but by no means full when we arrived but we had to wait for some time to even get some water. Service was very slow and, when it came, off hand and brusque. My bruschetta (how can you get this wrong?) was tough and unexciting. When the food finally came it was ok but hardly served with a smile.

What a shame that this hitherto reliable chain has become so poor. We felt unwelcome, uncomfortable and nearly left just prior to ordering. They need to watch themselves as there are now many more places nearby in competition especially the newly opened Cafe Rouge a few doors away.
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Elizabeth
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Monday, September 04, 2006