Arena Bar&Pizzeria

"I am giving this restaurant 2 stars. Here are the 3 reasons why knocked off the three stars: 1. Expensive, and bland food that comes in a small portion, and some ingredients missing. I ordered the 'Penne Al Funghi Con Pollo' which is basically chicken breast, mushroom, tomato sauce, & cream; As described in the menu. I was amazed at how quickly the food I ordered came to my table. But then I was surprised how small the portion of the food was, it was on such a big plate. The food was barely the size of a hand. The pasta came with very few pieces of chicken, mushroom, mixed with cream, but there was no tomato sauce as it said in the menu. I kind of felt cheated there. The whole meal was bland. It had no flavour. I know it's not Italian etiquette to do such a thing but I had to ask for some Parmesan cheese to improve the taste of what I ordered. The price doesn't justify the small portion. My suspicion was this must have been microwaved. Any other Italian restaurant made their dinner fresh, but this seemed like a pre-cooked meal pulled out from cold storage and heated in a microwave for a few minutes. This did not taste like a high standard freshly cooked meal to justify the extortionate price. 2. The staff were rude and incompetent. The waiter doesn't seem to understand English. When I ordered a Coke, they told me they didn't have one. So I settled for a Seven Up. This demonstrates they cannot keep an eye on their supply of drinks. I would understand if this was in the middle of the week when they run low on beverages, but this is on a Friday night when everyone is going out for the night. This is not what I want to see. Stock up your drinks properly. When I wanted to make a card payment, he couldn't even get the card reader to work properly. The waitress seemed indifferent throughout. I know a fake smile when I see one, let alone a lack of a positive attitude. She clearly wasn't happy to see me. It's clear she doesn't want to be there, maybe she should do something else instead. The one thing I expect in every restaurant is good hospitality. But here, there was none. They were both not keen. The staff simply do not care. 3. The interior design doesn't look good, neither does the atmosphere, or the music. Light blue chairs with black tables to go with a whitish-grey/beige floor and walls with a fake brick-wall texture. These things do not match for me. There is nothing Italian about the interior design. There is no consistency here. There was no Italian music. What I mean by that is there was no traditional Italian music. The music was hip-hop & R&B with Italian lyrics. It was coming from some TV playing some music videos on YouTube. This is lazy and crude. They could have at least selected a traditional Italian playlist. The whole point of music is to set the right mood to go with the food in order to create a nice authentic atmosphere. There is none of it here. I have been to lots of Italian restaurants. I love Italian restaurants. I am partially Italian myself. I came to this restaurant hoping to treat myself and give this restaurant a try. But with this one, I came out very disappointed. Never in my life have ever left a restaurant feeling this deeply upset before. Shortly after I left, I felt hungry. It wasn't even filling after paying such an expensive meal. It's not fair. I'm not coming to this place again. Avoid."

"This place is a hidden gem! Some of the best seafood I’ve ever had. The grilled octopus was delicious & the seafood sharing platter was amazing. So glad we have found this place. We will definitely be back regularly. Also staff were extremely friendly & attentive"

"Came here with my fiancée and we had a lovely meal. Its a nice atmosphere and very spacious inside, easily able to accommodate large groups. We shared, mussels and octopus for starters and lobster and Dover sole for mains. It was all really fresh and very tasty. The desserts are also lovely and told all homemade. Prices are very reasonable for a seafood based restaurant. There are also kebabs and steaks on the menu if you want to stray away from seafood. The owner was very friendly and service was great. Very quiet when we were there but I really hope this place does well. A welcome addition to Southgate."

"Great decor and stylish place, had a lovely seafood platter (lobster, calamari, mussels and king prawns) with a delightful sticky toffee pudding for dessert. The service was really good and attentive too."