We took my son and daughter-in-law to the Chingford branch of Frankie and Benny's for a treat " we were really looking forward to this. It was a complete and utter disappointment right from the start and VERY embarrassing to have invited everyone out to a substandard restaurant.
. The calamari was tough, the bruschetta was a very small serving of chopped tomato and onion - no olive oil, no basil and the serving was far too small to eat with the 4 pieces of bread that had been "squirted" with what appeared to be some sort of balsamic "syrup".
-Californian pizza - very bland, Margherita pizza with an extra topping of mushrooms - the base was undercooked and very white - the tomato base was splodged on and didn't even reach the edge of the base and the cheese topping was even smaller than that and was barely melted never mind cooked. As for the ' mushroom topping '" this took the form of 3 sliced BUTTON mushrooms which were not fresh, shrivelled and thrown on at random.
-The NY chicken was a small, very dry and tasteless meal and of a very poor standard.
-The vegetarian risotto was overcooked, dry and a complete stodge - in fact it looked like the rice had been frozen and the topping had been quickly fried and thrown on top.
-Drinks: The mojito ordered had lime cordial added as a substitute for fresh lime and when a second one was ordered, a manager informed us that the restaurant had no limes and would lime CORDIAL be okay as a substitute??? NO! We actually started to laugh at this point as the whole evening was turning into a complete disaster. The Mojito was politely declined yet arrived anyway - about 5 minutes later.
Wild horses would never drag us back.
This was a stark contrast to the O2 branch which I would highly recommend
Frankie & Benny's has a traditional 1950s New York feel to it with its original family photographs, traditional wooden furniture and period music. They serve a wide range of authentic American and Italian dishes at their restaurant including pizzas, pasta, burgers, ribs and fries. They also cater for vegetarians and serve cocktails, beers, wines and spirits at their bar. It is an ideal party or pre-cinema venue.