Mixed Appetizer Mixed Appetizer
Spaghetti House Sicilian Avenue

Spaghetti House Sicilian Avenue

20 Sicilian Avenue Vernon Place London, WC1A 2QD, WC1B 5HJ, United Kingdom

Pasta • Pizza • Italian • Burgers


"Haven't visited this place recently, as we've not had many warm summer evenings of late, but and these seem few and far between.The restaurant is one of a chain of Spaghetti Houses in central London and is within easy walking distance of the British Museum. Its charm is the large, open air shopping arcade in which it is situated.It itself, this restaurant is a decent, run-of-the-mill outlet specialising in simple, Italian dishes, all suitably tuned to the average, British taste. The wine list is standard and has a good range of low-budget wines to suit just about any non-discerning wine buff. The menu is simple and not too detailed, but with enough choice to cater for (almost) every carnivore, with vegetarian options available too. The choice of pasta dishes is extensive and they always seem to find special shapes of pasta that you just cannot buy in any shop! The quality of the food has never disappointed.The thing that has always attracted us to this place is not just the tasty pasta dishes, but also the wide, quite grand, Victorian' arcade. It is lined with small shops and book stores and the restaurant has created a very pleasant and comfortable dining area with rows of tables and chairs to the side of the walkway. So simple, yet very useful if you don't want to sit inside a warm, crowded restaurant in the summer or if you have a pushchair and young children, or if you have an elderly relative with a zimmer frame or in a wheelchair.The staff are always really good with young children and very friendly. Each time we've visited they have always been an all-Italian crew. And very jolly they are too!"

Positano

Positano

124 High Street, Guildford, United Kingdom

Pizza • Sushi • Mexican • European


"Lovely historic building, not overly large so space limited and would recommend booking during busy periods. Very friendly and attentive staff who also had a good knowledge of the building history which was nice to hear. Went for a late lunch and took advantage of their fixed price two course menu, a couple of cocktails and some bread and olives. Very large bowl of olives which was nice, they were pitted and we do prefer non pitted as tend to be more flavourful, however these were still enjoyable and a good sized portion. Bread was reasonable but nothing outstanding. Bruschetta nice, sweet tomatoes and fresh, street pizza found a little sloppy and a bit bland personally. Mains an Arrabiata sauce they kindly changed penne to spaghetti for my partner, pasta nicely cooked, sauce could have used a little more chilli, simple but tasty overall. I had the Carbonara which tasted creamy but as I had a little bit of a cold I'm not sure if it actually had a touch of cream but it certainly wasn't a full cream base which was good. I did find it although rich slightly bland in both the pancetta and the cheese, again I had a slight cold but expected the flavours to be a bit more punchy. Couldn't manage a dessert but we did both go for a liqueur coffee, myself a Scottish and my partner an Italian, both were pleasant and well made. The two cocktails as well had a decent measure of alcohol, quite well balanced flavour wise and whilst I've had much better they were certainly enjoyable. Definitely would give it a try again, sniffle free to give a fair shot. The staff and the very reasonable price for lunch would make a visit attractive, but would also like to go for an evening meal and a more relaxed experience."