Strada (Market Place)

It's such a shame - for a generic restaurant chain, Strada's menu is extremely solid and not bad value at all, particularly when you're dining just off Oxford Street like in this branch. But every visit to date has been spoiled by poor service - from inattentive and inconsistent food presentation and waiters/waitresses with such a loose grasp on the English language that they need three attempts to understand each person's order, right through to tonight's saga with a manageress who refused to accept that a member of her staff might have made an honest mistake with regard to us being overcharged by a whole £7 and a surly colleague who eventually slammed the amount we were owed down on the table and walked off in a fit of petulance. (Maybe we were at fault for being un-English and complaining...)

As I say, it's a real shame, because the food is always good for the price (when it turns up) and the location is extremely convenient, within spitting distance of the rat race without being too busy or loud (at weekends, anyway). Will try somewhere less chain-y next time though.
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Martin
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Sunday, July 06, 2008

I work virtually accross the road from this restaurant and as a result, when it is someone's birthday and we all go out for lunch it is often to Strada. Up until a few months ago we always had brilliant meals here with good service.

About 6 weeks ago 10 of us went out for lunch for someone's birthday. We waited one and a quarter hours (during our one hour lunch break) and still the food had not turned up. Having asked where it was repeatedly and every time being told '3 minutes' we all walked out and went to KFC to grab something to take back to work. They did agree to a free meal and so we all went back the next week but as it was no longer my colleague's birthday it was rather ruined.

We then went for another colleague's birthday yesterday lunchtime. This time, the waiter tipped a glass of wine over 3 of us when serving our drinks. Furthermore, after waiting nearly an hour for the food, once it finally turned up there were two meals missing which they had to ask us what they were?!?! This was followed by a frenzy in the kitchen of desperately trying to get these 2 pizzas cooked.

In their defence, in this last instance they did reduce the bill by 50%. However, the level of service has been utterly shambolic. The food (if you can get it) is undeniably good - well presented and always very nice. But the fact that the staff are inept can rather ruin the meal.

My advice, if this is a meal for 2 then I would risk it. But any more than a couple, this is far too much for these people to cope with.
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Becca Hayward
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Friday, May 30, 2008

I visited this branch of Strada with my wife and a friend. We had a very pleasant time. The restaurant was quite small and busy, but didn't feel too cramped or noisy.

The food and wine were excellent and it was good value at about £85 including two bottles of wine and coffee. (One of us didn't have a starter and one didn't have dessert.) The pasta and bean soup I had to start was hearty and tasty, and the pork belly that followed was delicious and different. In particular, the food isn't overelaborate and the flavours were simple and delicate. The pasta and risotto that my companions had were both cooked perfectly. The desserts were nicely presented and appetising, and again not too rich, particularly the strawberry tart.

The only slight criticism I have is that while there were plenty of waiting staff, it felt sometimes that they didn't want to serve us, even when they weren't doing anything else - almost every time we needed help we had to try quite hard to 'flag someone down'! But when they did serve us, they did it very well, and each course arrived at just the right time.

So overall I would recommend Strada - probably not for an intimate dinner for two but for a relaxed meal with a couple of friends.
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Conrad
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 17, 2008

Having trudges all round the streets around the Palladium looking for somewhere to eat, we found this restaurant, and, hurrah, wonderful! The food wash great, service great and good value for monry, I would recommend it and would definitely eat there again.
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Sue Gough
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I took my wife on Saturday for lunch. The food was fresh and tasty; I had the seafood Penne and the sauce was just gorgeous, you can just taste a hint of spicyness there. I would definitely go back when my Italian in-laws are here.
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Lee Yip
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, September 11, 2006

I went to Strada with some uni friends celebrating handing in our dissertations!! Usually I'm a little reserved with whole pizza/pasta generally find them a little predictable. The service was great along with cute waiters (well my friends taste not mine). We all enjoyed our choices pizza or non-pizza! Even though we were all full we still went for desserts to share and the Panettone was to die for!! I would suggest everyone who comes here to try it. We all definitely agreed we are coming here again!
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Ayshea
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Friday, April 21, 2006