Frankie & Benny's New York Italian Restaurant & Bar - Ilford

Iain (19 July 2007)

Nice relaxed atmosphere. I ordered a glass of wine which arrived promptly. It took ages, before I was able to make my food order - soup of the day and NY steak. It was Wednesday evening 8.00 pm. Twenty minutes later the soup arrived the saucer was very hot but the soup was cold - what does that tell you? I was hungry so didn't complain. 45 minutes later, despite alerting to staff of my annoyance nothing happened. I got up and asked to settle the bill - I'd had enough - but they couldn't even do that efficiently. Now I was feeling really angry, and may be I showed it - all I wanted was for someone to say sorry, I'd pay for them to let me get away from the place. I eventually left hungry, angry and out of pocket. I will never ever go to F and B again.

Bob Pickett (1 February 2006)

The décor is lovely, and there is a really nice atmosphere. The tables are also spaced well enough apart so that you get background noise, but you are not so close that you can overhear conversations. The food is also of a very good quality and is well prepared and presented. So far so good. But there is a downside.

The speed of service is appalling. Having eaten there five or so times now, I find that each time you are spotted and shown to a table quickly. But that is where the speed and efficiency ends. You will either be asked what you want before you have had time to look at the menu, or you will be ignored completely for ages. Your drinks order will turn up about a minute before your food, by which time you are gasping. If the drinks arrived quickly, then you'd settle in, have them and probably want something else by the time the food arrives. But no, this simple concept seems to pass them by. If they were busy, I'd understand a few delays. But every time I have eaten there, it has been half-empty at least. But the drinks and food still take an eternity to arrive and service is hit and miss.

For a restaurant that is deliberately placed near to the Cineworld, a lot of their trade has to come from people dropping in for a meal before going to see a film, so time is of the essence. Again, they do not seem to appreciate this concept. One other complaint - it had to be three months between visits, but the Ladies Toilet was still out of order!

Summary: nice layout, lovely food, but the service needs to get better and faster - all the good points are ruined by the general levels of apathy.

Rating: As for points out of 10 - food: 8, decor: 7, service: 2 (only score 2 as the chap who brought the food to our table was friendly and helpful - unlike the waitress who went to take my plate away while I was still eating!).