"This was the same night that we transferred over to the San Carlo restaurant after a bad experience at the sister restaurant next door at Fumo (see other review) We were greeted professionally and taken to a table, sat next to the kitchen. Unfortunately, this restaurant had the same view as Fumo of quantity versus customer experience. All the tables were so tightly positioned that even the staff couldn’t walk between them to serve the customers. The waiter who took our drinks order, was very friendly and provided good advice on wines . The waitress who took our food order was very friendly accommodating. We started the meal with calamari and bruschetta. Both were delicious. Unfortunately, the main courses ruined our entire experience. My husband ordered the surf and turf style lobster and steak combo what a treat for our special occasion. What a shame more like! The steak was overcooked for his request of medium and the lobster was cold. When we advised the waitress, she came and took the lobster off his plate, leaving him with the steak. Five minutes later, returned with the same piece of lobster that had she told us had “been put under the grill for five minutes” to heat it up. This meant that the lobster was completely dried out and inedible. I ordered the gnocchi with beef Ragu. Because the plates had not been warmed, my dish was cold around the outside and a warm in the middle. It also only contained 10 pieces of gnocchi, and that is it. We were asked if we wanted anything else to eat, but we declined as we had theatre tickets and were aware that all the staff were now talking about us. When presented with the bill, both of the dishes were on there, but they had taken off the service charge . I had advised that we should not be paying for the lobster and steak or the gnocchi, as neither dish had met expectation or was edible. The female supervisor got very defensive with me and basically told me, that I would be paying for it at which point, I asked to speak to the General Manager. He was more understanding and removed the 2 dishes from the bill. Unfortunately, we had a gift voucher so now we have a credit to reuse at another one of their chain restaurants. After trying 2 in one night , we are reluctant to try another one again."
Penne Arrabbiata
