Fettuccine Alla Bolognese Fettuccine Alla Bolognese
Essenza

Essenza

210 Kensington Park Road Notting Hill Gate London, W11 1NR, 03710, United Kingdom

Pasta • Pizza • Italian • Seafood


"The cook should hang his hat up and move on. Everything was frozen not fresh, garlic prawns were smelly and the chef must have known this as he tried to disguise the smell by smothering paprika all over it! Gambas al ajillo is one of my fav dishes and I order it a lot, never seen it served like this before so it leads me to believe he was covering up the bad smell. We didn’t eat the dish and the barely awake waiter didn’t bother to ask why we didn’t eat it, just took it away. Calamari al andaluz was dry, rubbery 100% pre fried then frozen then refried. Horrible. We told sleepy, (our waiter) that we would be sharing the starters and he smiled and said ok, like I was asking for his permission, no side plates, nothing. We were all eating out of the plates in the center of the table. The mains spaghetti bolognese (bolognese from a tin tastes better! Pasta dry crunchy in places, the pizza hard as a rock with no authenticity at all but worst of all was the mustard chicken!!! Vomit worthy!!! Chucks of re heated chicken, some pieces cooked but still cold in the middle smothered in this onion mustard concoction that looked like slimy mucus! Absolutely inedible, we did not touch it. Of course the servers just took it away without even asking as if they knew if they asked it was going to be bad. Taking advantage of unsuspecting tourists like this is just not on. Absolutely rubbish,"

Il Vesuvio

Il Vesuvio

112 Camden Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells, TN12QX, TN1 2QL, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, United Kingdom

Cafés • Pizza • Seafood • Mexican


"Firstly I would like to say that this restaurant has just been refurbished, and it didn’t feel like an Italian restaurant, more like a cafe at the beach somewhere! It felt very sparse and most Italian restaurants I e been to have proper tablecloths on the table but these were plastic and I noticed one table it was tapped up underneath, in my opinion it needs to be made more warmly and have more of a family feel. The food was really nice,although I would advise anyone to make sure they double check their order as I chose chicken in a sauce really nice which came with vegetables but I also asked for a separate portion of potatoes, when it arrived I just had chicken with a few cut up potatoes and a very very small garnish of salad ! I mentioned this to the waitress who had taken our order and she said I know but the chef had given you extra salad !! Sorry but salad is not vegetables , it clearly said on the menu it came with vegetables. Having said about the above issue, the meals we all had were nice and the staff gave us a very warm welcome and because of the blip they said we could have a free pudding…..not sure if we all did or it was just mine but I never see the bill as we were treated to this. To finish the evening off we were given a lovely limoncello shot. We would definitely go back. Thankyou for a lovely evening in your restaurant"

Mamma Mia

Mamma Mia

4 High St, ME1 1PT, Rochester, United Kingdom

Pizza • Sushi • Pasta • Italian


"I booked a table having read in reviews about Rochester restaurants that it's wise to do so. The three of us went on a Friday evening. The place did get pretty crowded so I was glad I'd booked. The restaurant is nice inside, didn't notice any smells as another recent reviewer said. I liked the mural on the wall. All the waiting staff were friendly. The manager even offered to take a couple of photos for us. The atmosphere was convivial. The manager asked everyone to join in when he brought out a birthday cake and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday. Service was a little slow but we didn't mind as we were chatting and could see the restaurant was busy. And we did appreciate not being chivvied along to finish. We shared an appetiser of Garlic Bread pizza dough which was nice. Our first courses were delicious. My friends had Salmone ai Porcini. They especially liked that the salmon wasn't swamped in sauce. I had a special homemade ravioli with mushroom and sausage. Our first courses were so good we were really looking forward to our desserts. One friend had Banoffi Pie which was served in a glass dish. My sister and I had cheesecake with a fruit coulis. Sadly, we were all a little disappointed with the desserts. They were okay but we were expecting something outstanding after the first course. While chatting to the waitress, we discovered that they normally have 2 sittings, 6:30 and 8:30. However, due to one of the chefs having just had an operation, they were only doing one sitting. So, that explained the relaxed attitude. I'd definitely be happy to go back there again. I think another time, I'd have a starter rather than a dessert. And definitely remember to book a table!"