Cacciucco
The Powell

The Powell

11 The Square, CT7 0AW, Thanet, United Kingdom

Steak • Vegan • British • Vegetarian


"We have been eating at this restaurant for a number of years and it’s such a great find. We are a half Persian family and so grew up with Persian stews and kebabs eaten both at home or in restaurants in London and of all the Persian restaurants we’d tried, the kebabs and hospitality at this place are the best. No ifs, no buts. It really feels like we’re eating at a friends house because there’s so much care and attention in both the food and the service. It tastes just like my aunty’s delicious food when she visited from Iran I’m baffled that others can say it’s not authentic on here when they’ve not grown up with Iranian food.Last night I brought some friends to try, many had never tried Persian food before and were blown away. The only disappointment was that they couldn’t finish their plates because they’d ate too much of the starters (not a bad problem to have! All of the food was delicious from the kashke badamjan to the joojeh kebab koobideh. Each time we visit, Ali always says to call in advance if there’s any items not on the menu we’d like them to cook you just don’t get that level of attention at other places.Thank you for hosting my friends and I last night and every other time we’ve been to your restaurant with family friends. We drive an hour each time from Maidstone/the Isle of Sheppey to come and we wouldn’t bother making the trip if it wasn’t worth it each time. Keep doing what you’re doing.Looking forward to seeing you all again next time I think we’re planning a trip next for my brother’s birthday in November and probably a few more in between to get our Persian fix!Ian Hajyzamanali"

Osteria del Portico

Osteria del Portico

7A, The Green, High St, London, W55DA, W5 5DA, United Kingdom

Pasta • Pizza • Steak • Seafood


"I don’t know how it has the stars that it has and how it gathers the reviews that it does, but it’s all unmerited. Frozen fish, cheap wines, frozen babà with nowhere near the classic level of rum required. A friend ordered spaghetti al ragù which showed up like a plate of leftover pasta overcooked, thrown together in the manner a teenager would present it and some of the spaghetti looked broken, I suspect recycled from someone else’s leftovers. I’ve never seen anything like this. I was given a taste of wine before deciding and it came in an overly refrigerated bottled with almost spit level at the end and needless to say, it tasted burned from the cold and acidic. As a southern Italian, this place is a gimmick for British people who have zero taste in food and who are quite happy to spend their money for the sake of saying they went to an Italian restaurant. Nothing authentic about this place whatsoever, in fact a tragedy to state that it represents our cuisine, as it does not. No Italian restaurant delivers fritto misto or any fried fish dish with tar tar sauce, which you actually need in this instance to disguise the chewy, frozen calamari and the prawn that burst frozen water in the mouth. I’m sure they can recycle my leftovers. What an insult. Disgraceful on all fronts. Never again. Scappate è andatevi a mangiare un McDonalds che almeno sapete già di rimanerci delusi."