Hackney
Bottega Prelibato

Bottega Prelibato

45 Rivington Street, EC2A 3QB, Hackney, United Kingdom

Pasta • Steak • Italian • European


"We went on the recommendation of friends who had been there for dinner three weeks earlier. Apparently, lunch is a different experience. The waiter took our order and had to come back twice to double check what we ordered. Appetisers to share were served with no plates, cutlery or serviettes. One of the wait staff was clearly being trained but not well. I felt badly for her. I ordered the buckwheat ravioli and asked it was possible to try a piece because I had never had buckwheat pasta. I expected they might say no which would have been fine. However, the reason I was told no was because the pasta is frozen and made to order. Very disappointing to hear it's frozen. Two of us had different types of ravioli both were very bland and stodgy. My sauce had Italian sausage far too much and tasteless. One person had luingini with clams which was decent. The barrata and courgette flower bruschetta was also virtually tastless. The bread was quite tasty. Our mains arrived before we were finished our starters and the timing issue was completely unnoticed by the wait staff. Then, the wait staff completely disappeared. About 30 min later we had to go inside and ask someone else if our plates could be cleared and if we could have more water. The staff did ask about the food and was interested in our comments (which were not terribly positive). It was also the first time I have ever asked to have a service charge removed it really was just not worth paying extra for a such minimal, inattentive service. It was a great disappointment and I would not recommend this restaurant nor would I return."

The Ship Of Adventures

The Ship Of Adventures

138 Kingsland High Street, Hackney, United Kingdom

Sushi • Kebab • Cafés • Fast Food


"Myself and a fellow student went along to this place for a catch up over a light lunch and coffee, having stumbled across it on trip advisor. I 'm fairly certain we weren 't the target market but we loved it nonetheless! We were told it is a café aimed at children they also offer some form of tutoring after schools but we loved the theme, food and service! We visited on a Saturday morning when the café was very quiet we were the only eating customers (the café is also a shop) but the café is quiet small so we didn 't feel awkward (as such I wouldn 't recommend coming with a big group as the café probably couldn 't cater for more than 20 at any given time).At first glance the café seemed like one of those expensive art and craft places you get in obscure tourist filled villages as my friend described them, the type of place that charges you £20 to make a key ring for which you had already bought the parts . As such it seemed extraordinarily out of place in the middle of Hackney, and seemed to exist in it 's own little world.We were pleasantly surprised to discover that this was not the case, and that we had entered a reasonably priced café run by friendly staff and is a charity in it 's own right where profits go towards educating the young in Hackney that need it most.We each ordered lunch for £5.50 I was able to have a tasty ham and mozzarella toastie and a small pot of tea (equivalent to about 3 full cups), which isn 't going to win any awards in terms of price, but in London it 's hardly extortionate, especially for a charitable cause. The meal was delightful, though anyone looking for more than lunch might want to look elsewhere beyond 'snacky ' foods such as crisps the menu offered just toasties and salads. Later I did order a second drink a coke bottle for £2.40. The brand was a fair trade one I 'd never heard of, and I must admit I was a touch disappointed at the choice of cold drinks. They were all 'fancy ' drinks juices and soft drinks of obscure brands and aside from one or two at £1.50 none were below £2. A cheaper option wouldn 't have gone amiss, but it definitely did not put too much of a downer on my time at the café.As for the theme, the interior was laid out much like a pirate ship. Clearly a lot of thought had gone into the design and it had certainly paid off, making the café a real stand out place o the street!The staff were friendly throughout and chatted to us when we were being served. I 'd definitely recommend it to a friend if not for the cool pirate theme alone. and will undoubtedly return should I ever be in Hackney again."

Dilara

Dilara

27 Blackstock Rd, Hackney, United Kingdom

Soup • Kebab • Asian • Turkish


"Awful and beyond disappointing. Pay attention to the vast number of negative Google reviews. I was there with two family members, lured by Time Out’s glowing review. However, I should have started asking questions from when I noticed how empty the place was. The food is tasty, but the experience is completely ruined by the shocking service. Staff are not just unkind – I don’t care for extra smiles or ceremony – they are plain rude, aggressive and resentful if you ask any questions or clarifications about the menu. Queries and mild complaints are greeted with denial, accusations that you are a stressful customer, insults and shouts. Also expect to wait at least 45 minutes for your food to start arriving and to be served at least 20 minutes apart – we were watching each other finishing our meals, before the next person was served. No hope to eat together there, unless you share your dishes as they are brought to the table. Also no explanation on the menu about spiciness. Time Out make light of the waiting times, or the abruptness of the service. However, there is no charm in rudeness. Eating out cannot be just about the food in your plate. It’s an experience you pay for, going from the surroundings to the social interactions with people around you. To waive all this, is taking away from all those restaurateurs who put their heart and soul into making their customers enjoy what they pay for. When we left the restaurant, we felt sick with disappointment. Dilara deserve's 1st place on Time Out's Worst Restaurants in London, if there is such a thing."

19 Numara Bos Cirrik Ii

19 Numara Bos Cirrik Ii

194 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 7JD, Hackney, United Kingdom

Pizza • Mexican • Turkish • Vegetarian


"BOOKING Making a reservation for this restaurant on the surface seemed to be straightforward, but was not. Upon making a reservation on their website, a message pops up informing you that a confirmation email will be sent to your designaged email address. That email never came through. On the morning of the day my reservation was booked for, I emailed their general enquiries ' email address to confirm my reservation. Several hours later, after still not hearing back from the restaurant, I called an hour before the time I 'd booked, which revealed in fact that my reservation hadn 't been placed and was then made on the phone at the time. Whilst it wasn 't a problem because the restaurant was relatively empty, if it had been busy it could have been an issue. FOOD My mother who attended with me suffers from Coeliac Disease and a Dairy Allergy, and I 'm Lactose Intolerant. The online and in person menu doesn 't have any allergen information available, so we had to guess and hope for the best with what we could eat. Could be potentially life threating for people with severe allergies; would recommend that info gets added asap. No water was offered to us on the table throughout the entire duration we were there...We weren 't given new knives and forks when our main dish arrived; it is basic hospitality to get new cutlery with each meal and water on the table! Food was ok, not bad not great. I 've tasted far superior Turkish food so was disappointing. Would have liked more seasoning, but that 's personal preference I think they 'anglocised ' the menu to suit the English palette...Also I 've noticed I 've been sick and on the toilet more frequently since eating here, so think that maybe my fish or rice wasn 't cooked properly ? ACCESSIBILITY I have a real problem with the fact it states on Google that it 's wheelchair friendly, when it 's evidently not. Both customer AND staff toilets are up a set of *very* steep stairs which would cause difficulties for customers with mobility needs. Customer toilets were located next to staff toilets which I think is inappropriate, and should remain in separate areas. Only 1 toilet for each sex male female when full would be inconvenient, and no changing facilities for parents. STAFF/CUSTOMER SERVICE This is the area that we had serious problems with. Whilst staff were friendly and attentive, I would dare say that they were excessively it was too full on! Firstly, all the waiting staff were male; at least 1 or 2 female waiting staff is much needed. Secondly, there was 1 waiter in particular who made both me a 19yr old female and my mother who 's 54 feel extremely uncomfortable. This waiter was our main server who took over from the original waiter who seated us: he was polite, however was standing over us nearly the whole time. My mum even made a joke saying he was obsessed! He was staring a lot in a way that could be intepreted as threatening and borderline harassment for females. It was intimidating and made us uncomfortable, putting a downer on our overall experience. He also kept coming back to our table checking in every 5 10 minutes, meanwhile he didn 't do this with any of the other customers who were ironically women with male companions, which made us think he was targeting us 'cause we were 2 women on our own. When eating out, most people want to be left to their own devices it was extremely intrusive. It 's far from the standard of professionalism I would expect from a restaurant rated 4.7/5. DISCREPANCIES WITH ONLINE INFO The info stated on Google isn 't accurate. It says that it 's women led , definitely not when you have no female staff on hand. Free water refills we weren 't even offered water so that 's interesting. Braille menu not true. Fireplace nope, none in sight. It may seem I 'm being nitpicky, but I just don 't see the point of lying online about things that you don 't offer in person not beneficting your brand image in any way. Overall, whilst it was nice as a casual local spot and the food was edible, I wouldn 't recommend and will not be coming back. There are far better Middle Eastern eateries in the area..."