The Italian Kitchen

I arranged our staff Christmas dinner at the Italian Kitchen on Wednesday 15/12/11, before leaving I decided to look at the reviews.

Having read them I was a little concerned as some were not flattering.

I was in contact with Stephanie at the restaurant to make the required plans for the evening, She was very helpful and quick in responding to our needs.

We arrived at 7.30 for 8pm had a few drinks some of the group were late but not a problem for the staff.

The food was served in a friendly and helpful manner, The food was delicious the meats were cooked to perfection and the vegetables were cooked just right not over cooked as in many restaurants.

I would strongly recommend The Italian kitchen for a quite meal or a special party.

Thank you to all the staff.
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Terry Taylor
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 16, 2011

having read some of the reviews on this site prior to writting my own, I cant believe I am writting about the same place!

On closer inspection some of the bad reviews are disturbingly similar? they appear to be the same review inslightly different words , even the format is the same. Is it perhaps the same disgruntled person placing more than one review/

not sure, anyway, my experience was somewhat different (luckily)

We had really quite friendly service, the food, we both had pasta , was great and unpretentious. Service was added to the bill but we were told it was optional.

Had a great view of the sea, reasonable prices, all in all very nice.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, October 24, 2011

I went to the Italian Kitchen on a saturday night and expected it to be reasonably busy given the location and time of day, however upon entering the restaurant i was ushered to a corner table i can only assume because my child was in a pram and then ignored for 10 minutes, the capacity of the restaurant was 20-25% occupied at best. We finally manged to get the attention of the waiter (even though we were seated just outside of the kitchen entrance and in clear view of anyone that passed, but can only assume the mountain of dirty glasses piled on the bar obstructed his sight or maybe the sound of the barking dog that was tied to the adjoining table made it impossible for him to hear us.

After constant requests, the waiter finally came over and took our order, but again it took 20 minutes for them to carry 4 drinks the 8 metres from the bar to our table. a further 15 minutes passed before the substandard starters were brought over by a very unenthusiastic waiter. The king prawns were barely palatable and the stuffed mushrooms were undercooked - hardly gourmet cuisine but you would expect something that took so long to prepare would arrive in a condition worthy of the effort one thought the chef had put in.

We then finished the starters and our drinks and put in another order for drinks (3 times) and sat and watched as various members of staff walked past our table occasionally glancing at the empty plates and glasses sitting there and offering half hearted smiles almost in resignation that the service they provide is non existence.

Our table was cleared by the same cheerful waiter that proceeded to juggle empty plates and cutlery over my daughters pram because there was too much involved for him to move around the table to collect these and again we were left for 30minutes. by now we had been there for slightly under 1 hour and 30 minutes, and as our main dishes (fish and chips) were nowhere in sight we advised the waiter that we were cancelling our order. This prompted the manageress to come over and advise us that our food was infact ready and would be served straight away

We then sat there for a further 5 minutes and as not one person left the Kitchen in that time with our food, we informed the waiter that we wanted the bill and would be leaving. An apologetic waiter bought the bill over which included quite laughably a service charge for £8.00, and so we settled the bill minus this figure. The manageress then approached us and said she was sorry that we had to cut short our dining and suggested that it was because i had a small child and it was now late, I thanked her for her insight but assured her the reason for our departure was because the service given was non existent.

I would not recommend this establishment to anyone.
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MrJayC
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 03, 2011

What a waste of time and money.

I went there with my parter,my child and my brother with his partner and child.

From the outset, I should have realised how poor the serviice was. A very unkempt manager dithered about and took 5 minutes to recognize that we were standing there waiting for service.

We were finally seated and the waiter (if you can call him that) took 20 minutes to take the order (drinks and food) and we waited a further 25 minutes for the drinks to arrive. The drinks were probably lost in the mountain of used, empty glasses over the bar.

Considering the restaurant was only about 1/8th of it's capacity, this in any restaurant and bar is unacceptable.

We had almost finished our drinks and then the starters arrived. What can be only described as mediocre, bland, over priced rot was placed on our plates for consumption.

At an average of £7 per starter, which is a reasonable price for any establishment, You would expect something decent.

The calamari rings were not cooked properly, the king prawns were to be desired - the only saving grace was the bread with olives - at least this couldn't be ruined!

After the starters were finished, we were waiting and waiting for the plates to ber removed and for the mains to arrive.. Drinks were ordered before the starters had arrived and they still had not come to the table.

In all, we had now been there an hour and a half, we had 1 round of drinks and poor starters. We decided we will not be continuing our service there as we would not be waiting any longer (and unless they are fishing for our fish we had ordered) waiting an hour and a half for fish and chips is not really on!!

We told the waiting staff and then the manager came over and said the food was ready, she went away and 5 minutes later still hadn't come back. This was then repeated which we declined anything further from them.

The bill arrived, which they had decided to add charges to also.I paid the bill less there charges and left and had a great meal at the local chippy next door.

In short, this restaurant should be assigned to the restaurants from hell. I would not ever go there again and with the power of the word of mouth,hopefully many others will not go there too.

Further to add, keeping a dog in the restaurant, no matter how small is not good hygiene!
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David
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 02, 2011

A disgrace! An understaffed mess of a restaurant with poor service and no value for money. Generally bad atmosphere with the majority of other customers also leaving unhappy. Will not be eating here again.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, October 01, 2011

My husband and I were attracted to this restaurant on Sunday 28th August 2011.

We were enticed inside by very reasonable prices. We were immediately offered a drink (there was no menu for that, only a wine/alcohol list). Our food was very reasonable priced but we were charged £2.30 each for a small glass of coke and £2.20 each for a pot of tea.

The food and service was lovely but I really object to being charged that amount for drinks.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Had to wait 1 hour and half for food. Second waiter asked for our order has he did not know what our original one was.

Drinks served we're not from the original brands despite the menu stating they were and prices reflecting this.

10% service charge unfair as there was no service. We had to keep reminding the waiter that we wanted to pay our bill.

Food wise, the portion of fish was very small.... I should have gone to a local fish and chip shop instead.

My partner was spoken down to like child when just questioning why there was no mozzarella in her burger. She had requested chicken instead of beef. The response was that the chicken was more costly compared to the beef burger and that she shouldn't have even had it.

Very disappointing as our first restaurant in Brighton. Despite lunch on this particual day.... Brighton, the pavilion and sea was fab!!
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Mr A Stevenson
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, August 14, 2011

This restaurant was really awful, staff was rude and slow, we were waiting for food 55 minutes and there was hardly any people in. The price was high for what is was... and staff was very very unpleasant. During that time we were there several people had problem about their food or bill. I would never visit this place again.
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Tina
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, July 26, 2011

i have read some of the reviews for the plaza and some are horrid. all i can say is that we went there last tues and wed night the 12th and 13th july and the food was great, the staff were helpful and very friendly, and the price was reasonable. and when we are in Brighton again will eat there.
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Mrs Sue Clarke
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 18, 2011

What a joke this place is.went there with my b,friend and had a night from hell. Rude staff, rude manager, very poor quality food and very expensive.it has changed the name to Italian Kitchen now so be aware do not get trapped on the idea that it has changed owner or managment, no it is still owned by the same rude woman because we were here last year and we had the same experience but when we heard that it is a new place opened we thought we will give it a try, but we were very shocked to see her there. you have been warned do not waste your money in Plaza/Italian kitchen.
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Marie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, May 02, 2011