Lena Restaurant

We were welcomed with a big friendly smile which was lovely. I had booked a table for five two weeks earlier and we were more than surprised to be seated at a drinking table, these tables are very high and it would be a almost impossible to eat comfortably off it.
We mentioned this to our waiter who moved us quickly to a dining table and told that we should have never been seated there in the first place. Service then went downhill, extremely slow and many of the staff wondered around looking as if they didn’t have a clue what to do. The food, antipasti plate was nice and good value but we did have to ask for bread that should have accompanied it. The Carpaccio’s were thick (3/4mm) slabs of meat – if we had of wanted a rare steak we would off asked. One plate was kindly removed and replaced with exactly the same thing. Pasta dishes were average and passable. One of the Carpaccio’s were not on the bill when it arrived which was appreciated.
It is such a shame about the food as it is a lovely room with a nice vibe. This place could be so much better.

Went to Lena for a midweek business lunch. Received a warm welcome from the staff (although they'd have struggled not to spot me – I was the ONLY diner there at 1:00pm until my host arrived).

Lena has a nice feel; interesting – but not distracting decor – lots of light, and importantly, comfortable seating.

Service was good from the outset. Our waiter was attentive without being a too frequent visitor to the table, and our glasses were regularly topped up.

I ate from the express lunch menu which offered a good vegetarian option for each course. Sadly their website doesn't have the current menu on it, so I'm not sure of the details of the cauliflower soup (served with shaved parmesan and truffles) or the ravioli (ricotta and aubergine with a rich butter/rosemary gloss), other than both courses arrived quickly. Presentation was good, and I'm going to back for more soup sometime soon.

The only disappointment was the desert, a sub-standard panna cotta. I didn't think it was possible to serve a “poor” one, but mine just didn't match the standard of the preceeding dishes. That said, it wasn't worth sending back.

Well i've read many reviews for this restaurant and decided to check it out. I must say most of those who have written may not be as into italian food as they should be ; This is not the usual pretence that masquerades in this city of London.
Real Italian food with flavour! Punch; Opriginal, great service though the atmosphere and decdoration set the scene. Go when ever you can , with the offer or not ; it's too good.

3 COURSES FOR £14!!! Lena is not only a cool and tasty Italian it is a generous Italian.!!The £14, 3 course set menu was incredible; the quality of the food is the same standard as the al la carte and the service was friendly as ever. If you haven't been to Lena I suggest you do; it's not often you can sit in such luxury for only £14!!!

Visited Lena restaurant on Friday (14th August) for a work Summer party, and just want to congratulate the restaurant team for making it a memorable visit. The food was top quality and the service faultless.

Will be bringing back more of my clients in the future!

Definitely one of the better Italian restaurants I have been to. The service is friendly and efficient. The food is great; I was a little disappointed by the size of my starter but this was made up for when I recieved my main course! It is a little more exspensive than some Italians but that is because you are paying for better food and a much better collection of wines. I was very happy and will definitely go back in the future.

Lena is by far one of my favourite Italian restaurants. The menu offers the traditional dishes along with house-specials allowing you to try original, inventive Italian food and the decor is chic and stylish. The decor is not fuelled with red, green and white wallpaper and hanging sausages etc – the food and service are enough make this a great Italian!

This place had a good shot at ruining my Friday evening. We arrived at 9pm, on time for our booking, having been told that the only tables were available at 7pm or 9pm; but were then asked to wait in the bar area (for over 50 minutes as it turned out) only to be told that the table wouldn't be coming free after all. The previous diners would not move and nothing could be done. After some shrugging a table was set up at 10pm in the noisy and crowded bar area downstairs. But we were forgotten again: the main course (which was passable) arrived around 11pm, 45 minutes after we had finished the starters. The owner attempted to elicit sympathy rather than sort things out, and the manager was frankly unhelpful. When I suggested that they make a gesture on the bill, the offer was quite inadequate. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Food was average and the service the worse in London.
The waiters had no understanding of who Lena was, about the dishes and let alone the wine.
They desperatly need training especially the owner Francis which recommended wine only because it must be good if it's exspensive.