Lena

Awful, The pasta dishes we had were different but tasted the same, £75 for one starter two mains and a bottle of wine. I could of made better pasta at home and I can't cook. Expect more when going out to a restaurant .

We booked a table for 2 with the 50% off food offer. On arrival the place looked very nice, we were seated and made sure we were happy. We ordered starters, both of ours were incredibly under-seasoned. All I could taste of my main was garlic and my roast veg were so undercooked they were inedible. When I complained to our waitress she just gave me an apologetic smile and nodded then went on her merry way! Dessert was also very disappointing. My chocolate torte was more like a very very dry brownie. We felt hassled by staff making sure we were ok, but when it came to the bill we were left sitting there for ages. Sub standard food and awful waiting staff. I will not be visiting again.

After reading some of the reviews and comments below I am wondering if I have been to the same restaurant as my experience was great. The food was tip top (home made pasta the best I have ever had and a perfect cod with clams), service was very friendly and attentive and the bill was more than reasonable especially considering you can go downstairs and listen to the band for free all night. I would definitely recommend and will be going back!!

After reading some of the reviews below I am wondering if I have been to the same place because by experience was great. Food was all tip top (homemade pasta was the best I have ever had), service was friendly and attentive and the final bill was more than reasonable especially considering you can sit and listen to live jazz downstairs for nothing! I couldn't have wanted for more.

There are mixed reviews on here for Lena, so it's always hard to tell and I guess everyone has their own opinion, but I thought it was really rather nice and very good value. The decor is stunning and it looks as if it's going to be expensive, but the prices are quite reasonable. The burrata was delicious, as was my partners mussels, and the homemade bread is quite irresistable. For our main course, the venison and polenta was delicious and nice to have something different. The chicken, although simple was really tasty and fresh. We didn't have room for pudding unfortunately...so I will be visiting again to try that and a few of the rather delicious looking pastas. I think the verdict on this one has to be try it for yourself...the ambience is lovely and it's a nice spot in that area.

Boring and pretty expensive food, rude staff and noisy environment. Definitely not coming back.

So........Been here a few times now and always superb

So... Two enthusiastic ladies from Lena approached us at our office block one working day a few weeks back... As charming as they were they encouraged us to re-visit Lena (since we had been previously disappointed by waiting times)... We were told Lena now had fanstastic attentive waiting staff and the new food menu was to die for! Well, they were right... the food WAS to die for! Compliments to the Chef! However, the standard of waiting staff has NOT changed! We waited just over half an hour between starter and main course with no contact from the waiter explaining the hold up. We had to chase our mains. This is a big shame in what could be a fab restaurant! Like I say, the food was delicious, the service is such a let down.

Bit of a mixed experience at Lena last night, we waited quite a while (about 20 mins) for the starter to turn up, mine was a fantastic starter really nice mussels in a tomato sauce, whereas my boyfriends squid was merely ok. The main course took an age to come, at least another 30-40 mins after the starter was cleared away, but as we were having a romantic meal and weren't exactly clock watching and I didn't really want to ruin the vibe by complaining. When they finally did turn up they were a bit disappointing, my pork belly was not great but not bad, however the canellini beans served with it were so salty I couldn't finish them which is unheard of for me! My boyfriends fish was also over seasoned but he said it was quite nice. The waiting staff were really nice though and the wine was good, served at exactly the right temperature, although there was a little too much topping up done for my liking and you do get the impression that they want you to order 2 bottles. If it wasn't for the mussels I would have only given them 2 stars. We won't be going back.

I am not a regular reviewer of restaurants, but then again I can't remember having such a disappointing meal in a long while. I was taken out for my birthday and whilst the company of my friend was wonderful, the food was dreadful and the service lack lustre. Our starter was the 'Lena salad' - the ingredients of which were listed as white chicory, watercress leaves, walnuts, pistachio pecorino, radicchio & pears. It arrived after a 20 minute wait. It was simply a large pile of radicchio that was so bitter that it was inedible, with a couple of pear slices and 3 wilted chicory leaves. I had to hunt around for any sign of the walnuts and pecorino. And there was certainly no sign of any watercress leaves at all. When I complained to the waitress she said "oh dear, it can be bitter can't it?" and simply cleared our plates. For our main courses we ordered the Tagliolini with Taleggio cheese, white truffle oil & black truffle shavings and the Spaghetti with Welsh lamb ragu. These had still not arrived after nearly half an hour so we asked the waitress where they were. She said she would find out but she never returned to our table to give us an update. 10 minutes later the main courses arrived. The portions were disappointingly small and the sauces over seasoned. We had to ask one of the waiters for parmesan cheese as none was offered to us. The wine was delicious and ice cold, however, the waiter and waitress were only ever attentive when they rushed to fill up our glasses. To the point that we had to ask them to stop. This is clearly a restaurant where they try to get you to order several bottles of wine through a combination of topping up your glass until the bottle is empty and by taking so long to serve each course. After the poor standard of the first 2 courses, we decided to forego desserts and coffees at Lena's. Instead, we went to Carluccio's in Spitalfield's Market where we were served melt in the mouth pastries, coffees and ice cold limoncellos with a smile and real warmth by the adorable waitress. My advice to anyone considering going to Lena's is.....DON'T! Avoid it at all costs and spend your hard earned cash somewhere far more deserving!