Francesca

Another chain…
A fairly satisfying, well-​priced meal in the genre Italian. This one is a few hundred feet away from the Beatles store and 221B Baker Street, Sherlock’s place.
Meals on our journey were determined by the elements, time of day, knee conditions and tube stations. This stop was a display of our remarkable skill at stumbling into chains, usually after most other eateries closed.
The style and decoration are appealing, light and warmth in a city that sometimes decorates in grays, blues and burgundys.
The place had lots of people, some young families, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the setting and food.
We sampled the tomato-​basil soup, meat ball spaghetti, vegetarian and meat lasagna. By the time the veggie lasagna was cut from its pan in the display case, placed carefully on the plate, reheated and served, it was dry around the edges, somewhat limp and unappealing. The rest was fine, no dissatisfaction expressed. The tomato-​basil soup appeared and tasted like the tomato-​basil soup at two US chains. The breads served with the meal were good.

I am quite a fan of this place. It is proper Italian, no frills, no fluff. It is quick, casual and delicious. Proper fresh pasta with a variety of sauces, served cafeteria style. The tiramisu is fresh and delicious. Not a place for a fancy date, but if you crave Italian quick, casual and cheap, this is better quality than most fancy Italian restaurants.

Good fast fresh Italian.

I live about as close as possible to this place, so I eat there probably more often than I should. All-​in-​all, it’s dependably solid food at a reasonable price. It’s not gourmet true-​Italian food, but for fast-​casual its tasty and fresh.
The core competency of this place is pasta with various sauces, though they also offer soups, pizzas, salads, sandwiches and a few other main-​course items. The menu has been in flux slightly as of late; it’s all good, though the salads could use a bit more… excitement? The smoothies and coffee drinks are also hidden gems; I’ve never tried the pastries but they look decent.
Breakfast here is also a real deal — it’s ~£3 for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. This is dangerous on Saturdays and Sundays when I go over «just to get some fresh coffee» and inevitably come back with an unnecessary bacon butty.
P. S. I’m probably the only one who goes here enough to notice, but the new promotional signs out front are partially in French rather than Italian. This bugs me, but don’t let it stop you from trying the tasty, affordable food!

Francesca is an Italian fast food restaurant, with a hint of Vapiano. (If you don’t know Vapiano, it’s a successful restaurant chain/​concept that combines quality food, fresh preparation, speed and convenience all in one.)
We came here for lunch and being in a mood for pasta (which is kind if their core business) I ordered the fusili with mushroom sauce. You basically have a choice of different kinds of shapes of pasta and then you choose from the various pots containing different kinds of sauces., Bolognese, Mushroom, Carbonara etc
Overall I felt like it was an ok experience. The texture and taste of my pasta and my side salad was good. Although, I have to say that I felt not quite satiated afterwards… the portion could’ve been a bit bigger. (Even my two female companions finished their plates and that tells me a lot!)
The deserts did look quite nice, I have to say, but instead we ended up buying a yummy cinnamon roll from the nearby Nordic Bakery.

Discovered this place after walking to the park yesterday (Regents Park), I only went there today for lunch. First Pasta place I have discovered in Baker street, that’s stupidly cheap. You can pay £3.90 for spaghetti and 3 meatballs, or £6.90 for 5 (I went for 3, seemed a bit of a rip, £2 for 2 more meatballs.) 3 seemed fine. it was still amazingly nice! I Love my pasta, like, I could it eat it every day if I had to (I’d get bored eventually … maybe)!
I had the Spaghetti Bolognese (Correct me if I am wrong on the spelling), it was, as you would expect from spag bol, pure mouth watering, awesomeness! The sauce was hot and very very fresh, at least thats what I got in the taste, either way, if it wasn’t it tasted like it. The Spaghetti, was made there, not just preheated, but literally boiled there and then! I cannot put into words how good this place was.
The service, was great. Even though I had to answer the phone, the person behind the till, she was patient enough to deal with me, by repeating questions, as I had someone talking in my ear while I was trying to listen. Amazing service!
The only reason I haven’t given it a 5 star was because at the bottom of the little box, there was a pool of sauce, which is due to them pouring so much! But hey, more is better sometimes, I just wish I had a roll to scoop the sauce up with, that mad me sad. And they also had a layer of Parmesan cheese, which upon cleaning the first layer of food, tasted very over powering.
Overall, great food, great service, amazing amount of food, very very cheap! All round amazing.