Vecchiomondo Restaurant, or RISTORANTE E PIZZERIA VECCHIOMONDO on 118 Cromwell Road, in London, SW7 4ET (or SW7 4DS) is by far the worst restaurant I've ever been to. For one its never open in the morning, and It seems to only open for dinner. I try going for lunch but the doors are never open and no one ever seems to be inside.
Finally one day I decided to go in (today) at around 8:30 pm on a Thursday night. I walk in, and ask for a table for one. The young waitress with dark hair and pretty blue eyes there tells me "sorry its all full", when there are clearly more than 6 tables open, and I don't see anything signs of the tables actually being reserved. "Fine," I think to myself, and walk off to the Thai place down the street where I have a good meal. Finally its 9:00pm, and I'm walking by the now empty VECCHIOMONDO restaurant and figure I'll come in for dessert.
I show up this time, and am shown a table in the corner (there were only 4 people eating at the restaurant at the time). I'm feeling full from the Thai food, so when the old lady with frizzy hair comes over (whom I think is the owner) asks me what I want. I inquire about the desserts, and she asks me if I want food. I say I'm just looking at the desserts, and she goes "no sorry, we only serve food", and promptly takes the menu and walks away. Meanwhile stunned, another mother and daughter sit down at the table next to me.
The old lady comes back with the menu, and asks if I'm ready to order food. "Fine, let me take a look" I say, thinking that this food better be very good for such lousy service. After for recommendations I ask for a minute, so the old lady goes off to take an order from the mother and daughter speaking in Italian.
When I'm ready to order, the young waitress comes over and I ask her for some recommendations (again the food first policy enforced by the young waitress, I ask about the fish but apparently its not fillet so I'm thinking about a steak), the mother and daughter start to leave. I as them what's going on, and they say, "Oh we just want to pay for the water and leave. The service has been terrible." I'm thinking "me too!" and ask them what happened (since they were speaking in Italian earlier). They say the old lady (who is just the manager, not the owner I find out) was extremely rude, isn't even really Italian, and kept on increasing the price on the spot. "Oh that pasta? Oh its more expensive, more expensive than the price on the menu." Apparently the old lady was trying to raise prices on them on the spot. At this point the young waitress is trying to get them to stay, but the pair are adamant about paying for the water and leaving. I figure its time for me to go too, so I get up and leave as well.
As we're exiting, the young waitress comes back at the pair and says, "Sorry, that was actually 5 pounds for the two waters, and I need a pound more." Really?? At this point the daughter looks for a pound but then decides to just give back the bottle of water that she hasn't even opened. We chat for a bit, talking about how the old lady was rude to me too, and young lady tells me "It's one thing to be rude, and this was just terrible." She said she knows when people are nice but can't do anything, and when people are just downright rude. In retrospect, I should have left immediately after I was refused service because I just wanted dessert. I asked if the old lady was Italian (I thought it was weird that Italians would cheat each other), but the young lady says definitely not by her accent. Not sure what that means, but she then asks me for other restaurants in the area. Fortunately I had just come from a great Thai place, so I point her and her mother in that direction along with two other much nicer Italian restaurants.
Earlier when I sat down I did ask for an explanation from the young waitress, and I do believe she did have a reason (perhaps too busy) when she told me there was no space when there were clearly 6 tables open. I do feel bad for the young waiter, as she couldn't even let a pound go, and I could see the pain on her face when she asked. As for the old lady (who wasn't even the owner) she single-handily makes it the worst dining experience of my life. I couldn't eat there because the restaurant was full, and when I come back for dessert I get told I can't have dessert. I seriously hope the landlord kicks them out- if they weren't in such a prime location they probably wouldn't get any business at all.
If you think its only me (and the young lady and her mother), see the reviews below- I'm not alone. ("We are a restaurant, we only service food" according to the old lady. I'm glad I didn't stay, because the food sucks- see reviews below) AVOID THIS RESTAURANT (if you can tall it that) AT ALL COSTS!!!
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/restaurants/vecchiomondo-restaurant-userreview-5307.html
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-2195.php
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d2251400-Reviews-Ristorante_vecchiomondo-London_England.html
Finally one day I decided to go in (today) at around 8:30 pm on a Thursday night. I walk in, and ask for a table for one. The young waitress with dark hair and pretty blue eyes there tells me "sorry its all full", when there are clearly more than 6 tables open, and I don't see anything signs of the tables actually being reserved. "Fine," I think to myself, and walk off to the Thai place down the street where I have a good meal. Finally its 9:00pm, and I'm walking by the now empty VECCHIOMONDO restaurant and figure I'll come in for dessert.
I show up this time, and am shown a table in the corner (there were only 4 people eating at the restaurant at the time). I'm feeling full from the Thai food, so when the old lady with frizzy hair comes over (whom I think is the owner) asks me what I want. I inquire about the desserts, and she asks me if I want food. I say I'm just looking at the desserts, and she goes "no sorry, we only serve food", and promptly takes the menu and walks away. Meanwhile stunned, another mother and daughter sit down at the table next to me.
The old lady comes back with the menu, and asks if I'm ready to order food. "Fine, let me take a look" I say, thinking that this food better be very good for such lousy service. After for recommendations I ask for a minute, so the old lady goes off to take an order from the mother and daughter speaking in Italian.
When I'm ready to order, the young waitress comes over and I ask her for some recommendations (again the food first policy enforced by the young waitress, I ask about the fish but apparently its not fillet so I'm thinking about a steak), the mother and daughter start to leave. I as them what's going on, and they say, "Oh we just want to pay for the water and leave. The service has been terrible." I'm thinking "me too!" and ask them what happened (since they were speaking in Italian earlier). They say the old lady (who is just the manager, not the owner I find out) was extremely rude, isn't even really Italian, and kept on increasing the price on the spot. "Oh that pasta? Oh its more expensive, more expensive than the price on the menu." Apparently the old lady was trying to raise prices on them on the spot. At this point the young waitress is trying to get them to stay, but the pair are adamant about paying for the water and leaving. I figure its time for me to go too, so I get up and leave as well.
As we're exiting, the young waitress comes back at the pair and says, "Sorry, that was actually 5 pounds for the two waters, and I need a pound more." Really?? At this point the daughter looks for a pound but then decides to just give back the bottle of water that she hasn't even opened. We chat for a bit, talking about how the old lady was rude to me too, and young lady tells me "It's one thing to be rude, and this was just terrible." She said she knows when people are nice but can't do anything, and when people are just downright rude. In retrospect, I should have left immediately after I was refused service because I just wanted dessert. I asked if the old lady was Italian (I thought it was weird that Italians would cheat each other), but the young lady says definitely not by her accent. Not sure what that means, but she then asks me for other restaurants in the area. Fortunately I had just come from a great Thai place, so I point her and her mother in that direction along with two other much nicer Italian restaurants.
Earlier when I sat down I did ask for an explanation from the young waitress, and I do believe she did have a reason (perhaps too busy) when she told me there was no space when there were clearly 6 tables open. I do feel bad for the young waiter, as she couldn't even let a pound go, and I could see the pain on her face when she asked. As for the old lady (who wasn't even the owner) she single-handily makes it the worst dining experience of my life. I couldn't eat there because the restaurant was full, and when I come back for dessert I get told I can't have dessert. I seriously hope the landlord kicks them out- if they weren't in such a prime location they probably wouldn't get any business at all.
If you think its only me (and the young lady and her mother), see the reviews below- I'm not alone. ("We are a restaurant, we only service food" according to the old lady. I'm glad I didn't stay, because the food sucks- see reviews below) AVOID THIS RESTAURANT (if you can tall it that) AT ALL COSTS!!!
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/restaurants/vecchiomondo-restaurant-userreview-5307.html
http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-2195.php
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d2251400-Reviews-Ristorante_vecchiomondo-London_England.html
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