Panna Cotta Panna Cotta

Creamy, silky Italian dessert with a hint of vanilla, topped with berry coulis or fresh fruit.

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!"

The Gables Restaurant

The Gables Restaurant

14-16 Newgate Street Village Hertford, Hertfordshire SG13 8RA, United Kingdom

Steak • Pasta • Italian • Seafood


"Firstly, I am somewhat amazed at the reviews theis venue has based on our visit on Saturday evening. We arrived 45 minutes early for our table for 4 persons at 7.30pm as I had called ahead at lunchtime asking if they had a bar area that we could sit and select from the menu in advance of being seated in the restaurant. I was given the impression that they had a lavish area for this purpose. However, this was not the case and we were shown to our table on arrival which was probably the worst location in the restaurant that was sparse of diners at that time. I will elaborate on our table location as it made for a negative night. It was a circular table placed in a “gap” between the original restaurant area and what appeared to be an extension to the restaurant. This gap did have curtains that could have been closed which would have curtailed guests and staff squeezing between the wall and one of our chairs but when asked the Owner said he would not close them……. In fairness, “Theo” the Owner did offer the choice another two alternative tables but both were in no better location! We sat and ordered drinks and were provided with menus. The drinks arrived in a timely fashion and were made fine. I also ordered some wine which was decanted and allowed time to breath before being served. The wine was an Amorone but the year did not warrant the price he was charging but nonetheless was quite good. We placed our food order and in doing so I asked if chef would add a simple fried egg to top the steak I had ordered. I was told by Theo that he was down a number of staff on the evening shift and could not provide the egg. How many people would we have needed to fry an egg???? To be honest the whole experience was not worth almost £500.00 even though the food fine. We also found it disturbing the way Theo tried to control the waiting staff this may have been because they were young or new to the role but we felt that the staff did a good job and didn’t need micro managing! I am always curious when a front of house individual, who gives the impression he is in total control, loses the plot mid service. I did tell Theo I would give a poor review and he pretty much dismissed me so I dug a little deeper and it would appear the restaurant has suffered financial issues in the very recent past…….. this information is in the public domaine through Google. All in all we were so disappointed with a venue that appears to have a wealth of happy diners from their reviews……. It’s NOT that good Guys!!!"

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."